RAISE UP THE STANDARD!
"To Him Who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious Presence without fault and with great joy - to the Only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." (Jude 24)
Morning Devotion: Feasting in His Presence - Read John 16:17-24
Happy Glorious and Victorious Resurrection Morning! As the light breaks on the dawn of a new day we rejoice in the power and majesty of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the victory we have in Him! Praise God for the work He has finished, and for the new life we now have because He was crucified, buried, and is now ALIVE! Beloved, we know and serve a Risen Lord! Today, let us offer Him all the adoration and worship that He deserves! He has Risen! He has Risen, Indeed!
"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."
(Isaiah 9:2)
The Lord's final message to His disciples before going to the cross was a reminder that their sorrow would be turned to joy. "Weeping may remain for a night but rejoicing comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5b). The cross would appear to them to be a terrible defeat, but for those who continue to walk by faith, they would be given eyes to see that it is quite the contrary, for the cross achieved the greatest victory (reference Colossians 2:15)! "I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy...Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy" (John 16:20, 22).
As believers in Jesus Christ, we worship, follow, and serve a Risen Lord! Our God came into the world as a humble servant, but has become for us a conquering King who has won for us victory over sin and death, and through the cross has stomped on the enemy and the grave. Because of His work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, we, who believe, have been rescued from a life of sin and now have eternal life with Him! Beloved, we have absolute victory in Him! All the power which raised Jesus Christ from the dead is now at work in and through us as we live and walk this new life with Him (reference Ephesians 1:18-20). May we lift up our eyes each and every day, look beyond our present circumstances no matter how painful or difficult they may be, and praise Him for the work He has done and continues to do on our behalf. We have no reason to doubt or fear or be downcast in anyway, our Savior has delivered us from bondage in this world and has set us free to live and walk in confidence with and for Him. "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).
What more could we possibly ask of the Lord who has given us everything we could possibly need? May we ask only for those things that will bless and glorify His Name, and resolve to live the life He has given us to the glory and praise of His blessed name! "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:11-14).
Beloved, if we suffer at all in this world may it be for the sake of the gospel message, if we grow tired or weary from our work may it be because we have worn ourselves out for the glory of His name, and if we have anything to say at all in this life, may our message be simple and the praise of the Lord always on our lips as we preach Christ alone and Him Crucified! For "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). We know the truth and the truth has set us free, now let us take the key we have been given and go out and proclaim His glorious message of salvation to the world (reference Matthew 28:18-20)!
"In that day you will no longer ask Me anything.
I tell you the truth, My Father will give you whatever you ask in My name.
Until now you have not asked for anything in My name.
Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete."
(John 16:23-24)
___________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
REVOLUTIONIZE THE WORLD!
"Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6)
Afternoon Devotion: Filled with His Power - Read Matthew 28:1-10
Early on that glorious morning of the Resurrection the women arrived at the tomb to find the stone has already been rolled away. Their concern has already been met, but now they were met with an even greater concern, where could their Lord possibly be?
"There was a violent earthquake,
for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and,
going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.
His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.
The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid,
for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.
come and see the place where He lay."
(Matthew 28:2-6)
The angel did not come and roll away the stone so Jesus could come out from the grave, for He was already risen; the angel opened the door so the people could see for themselves that the tomb was indeed empty. Our Lord is always opening doors for us to come and see the wondrous works He is doing on our behalf, but many times we stand before the door and refuse to enter because we don't have the faith to believe (reference Revelation 3:20). We are not called to believe in our faith, we are called to believe in Jesus Christ. The object of our faith is the crucified and risen Lord! There is no greater power available on this earth, and all that power is available to us who will believe in Him. The stone was rolled away so we could enter in by faith and experience His salvation power and receive new life in Him!
When God wants to get a message across He will often use an earthquake to get the people's attention. When the Lord gave the Law at Mount Sinai there was a great earthquake: "On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled...Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder" (reference Exodus 19:16, 18); when our Lord died on the cross there was another great earthquake: "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in tow from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split....When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, 'Surely He was the Son of God!'" (Matthew 27:51, 54); and when the angel of the Lord came down from heaven to roll away the stone from the tomb where our Savior's body had laid there was another great earthquake: "There was a violent earthquake...The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men" (Matthew 28:2-4). These earthquakes not only shook the earth, they shook the people who were there to experience them. God had something to say and He wanted to make sure His message got across to the people.
The message of the cross is meant to shake the world. To some, their lives will be so shaken with being confronted by the holiness and glory of God that they will fall on their face in worship and lay down their lives to follow Jesus Christ; to others, the message of the cross will only make them stumble and fall further away from God (reference 1 Corinthians 1:18, 23-24). May we who believe not be afraid of our great Mountain Mover, but rather stand firm on His solid rock foundation and allow Him to do the work in our lives so that we can have the faith to move mountains with Him. Beloved, time is of the essence, He has given us this promise that He will come again (reference Matthew 24:29-35)! May we have the faith in these last days to remain steadfast in, and hold fast, to Him (reference Luke 18:8). "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come...There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me...Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:6, 7b-9, 12-13).
May we keep watch and be found faithful as we await with expectancy the return of our Lord. May we not waste the time we have been given to share the glorious message of our Risen Lord with a world that is dying to know the hope that we have found in Him (reference 1 Peter 3:15). Be blessed, dear saint, as you go forward, to share His good news with the world, clothed in the glorious garment of His salvation (reference Isaiah 61:10)!
"At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised,
'Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.'
The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken -
that is, created things - so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,
let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,
for our 'God is a consuming fire.' "
(Hebrews 12:26-29)
__________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
RESTORE PRAISE!
"Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever, Amen!" (Revelation 7:12)
Evening Devotion: Focused on His Praise - Read Luke 2:29-31
This evening, as we come to the close of our amazing forty-plus day journey with the Lord, we have so much to praise Him for. Let us rejoice that He has shown Himself so personally and intimately with each of us and has, first and foremost, opened our eyes to see the light of His glorious salvation. How truly blessed we are! There was another man in the gospel story who was waiting to see the salvation of the Lord before he died; the Lord was faithful to show Him His glory because it is our Lord's desire that none would perish before coming to the light of His salvation. Simeon's words are brief, but he embraced the Son of God in his arms and offered his Savior his praise. May the testimony and message of our lives be like his, that we would spend our lives to know and glorify the Lord as we wait upon Him (reference Psalm 27):
"Sovereign Lord, as You have promised,
You now dismiss Your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
which You have prepared in the sight of all people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to Your people Israel."
(Luke 2: 29-31)
_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Heavenly Father,
There is no better place to begin or end,
then in praise to Your glorious and powerful name.
Thank You, Lord for saving me!
"The LORD lives!
Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!
(2 Samuel 2:47)
"I will praise You, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all Your wonders.
I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name,
O Most High."
(Psalm 9:1, 2)
"Sing to the LORD, you saints of His;
praise His holy name."
(Psalm 30:4)
"Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise Him."
(Psalm 33:1)
"He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD."
(Psalm 40:3)
"I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of You among the peoples.
For great is Your love, reaching to the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let Your glory be over all the earth."
(Psalm 57:9-11)
"Shout with joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious!
(Psalm 66:1, 2)
"I will praise God's name in song
and glorify Him with thanksgiving."
(Psalm 69:30)
"My mouth is filled with Your praise,
declaring Your splendor all day long."
(Psalm 71:8)
"I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart:
I will glorify Your name forever.
For great is Your love toward me;
You have delivered me from the depths of the grave."
(Psalm 86:12-13)
"Sing to the LORD, praise His name;
proclaim His salvation day after day.
Declare His glory among the nations,
His marvelous deeds among all peoples."
(Psalm 96:2-3)
"Praise the LORD, all you nations;
extol Him, all you peoples.
For great is His love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD."
(Psalm 117:1-2)
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"
(Revelation 5:12)
"To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"
(Revelation 5:13b)
"Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"
(Revelation 7:12)
In the glorious, mighty, holy, and wonderful name of Jesus Christ,
I pray. Amen.
__________________________________
Thank You for your commitment to fast and pray
and seek the Lord these past 47 days!
I am so grateful for your friendship and encouragement
along the way as we walked together with
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
and experienced the Victory we have
in Him through the Power of the Cross.
May the message we have been given
be the trumpet call of our lives and
may we sound it loud and clear as we
resolve to know nothing, and proclaim no other message,
except Jesus Christ and Him crucified!
_________________________________________
The entire CRUCIFIED journey will be available
online in a few days. To access the first 10 days of this journey
go to www.trumpetandtorch.org and
click on the Year of Jubilee seal on the home page.
When the Jubilee page opens up simply go to the
calendar to your right and scroll down to
March/April and click on CRUCIFIED.
Click on the CRUCIFIED image in the center of
your screen to access the pdf and download
and print out the journey.
Additional prayer and fasting journeys are available
online at www.trumpetandtorch.org
under the "HOW TO FAST" button at the
top of the website home page.
If this is your first time participating in a 40-day fast
it is recommended that you begin with
"EAT at the Table of the King"
This journey can be downloaded and printed out
under the How To Fast button
or accessed online in the Temple at LOGIN.
_____________________________________________
