This devotional takes us back to the story of creation and lessons learned from the first chapter of the Bible. It took some time to put this together and I truly hope this blesses you in many ways to remember the true heart of our Creator.

To kick it off, read the book of Genesis, chapter 1. As you read it don’t just glance at the words like you have seen them before, but read it intently, slow it down, and allow each word and phrase to take root.

Are you done reading? Now, let’s begin :)

In Genesis 1:2 it says: Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

In the midst of darkness we see that the Spirit of God was still very much active, this is also the love of God assuring us that He is always available and not too far away if we need His help. We are introduced to the Spirit of God here also known as the Holy Spirit; but who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do?

The Holy Spirit is the comforter that Jesus promised to send to His own, He is the third person of the Godhead, He knows all things and is always ready to teach us all things and He is the gift that Jesus promised to give to us.

Some of the advantages we have as God's children is the gift of having someone in our corner (the Holy Spirit). Life may not be going the way we want it but if we can take advantage of the service that the Holy Spirit brings, we will begin to live and experience life in a new dimension.

Imagine living with someone who has the map that navigates you to your dream, who can tell you things before they happen, who comforts you, and is a constant friend. Imagine living life without fear and confusion based on the ability of the Holy Spirit . 

John 14:26 says: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Jesus is the word and speaks things to us that we may not always understand or even remember. But the Holy Spirit can break it down for us and remind us. That is why it is so important to have a consistent lifestyle of studying the word of God if we want to effectively communicate with the Holy Spirit.

We have to learn how to communicate with the Spirit of God, and follow and submit to His leadership. He is the spirit of truth and will tell us the truth about our lives if we allow Him. 

He speaks through our spirit. Romans 8:16 tells us that: The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. It assures us that we have a Father who loves us and is ready to lavish His greatness on us.

Today if we open our hearts to him, He will come and dwell with us, He will impact our lives positively and help us change a dark situation into a new day. 

Today's Prayer: Lord, we yield to your leadership as we fellowship with you. Help us to be one with the Holy Spirit that we may indeed be your children. 

I often wonder why speaking (confession) is directly connected to salvation. 

Romans 10:9 says: if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  

God’s creative ability is first introduced by His ability to speak things that are contrary to His environment in Genesis 1. God did not intend for the world to stay dark and void, but rather He wanted something beautiful to come out of it. Similarly, we can speak the word of God to situations to bring good outcomes out of them. In this way, you will know a defeated mind by the things they say.  

Do you know that Proverbs 18:21 says Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit? So if we want to eat the good fruit, we must say good things. 

In John 11, they approached Jesus saying that His friend Lazarus had died. Jesus replied that this sickness would not be to death, but for God to be glorified. He even went further to say Lazarus was only sleeping. Here he was presented with an option between death or life, sadness or happiness, panic or calm, weeping or joy, fear or faith but Jesus chose to speak life. Everyday we are presented with these same options to either be depressed, oppressed, fearful, sad, defeated but we can choose to reject the plan of the devil and hold on to what the word says. Let that take precedence over the affairs of your day. If your confessions have been from fear, it’s time for a new day. 

Now how do you live a life of consistently speaking from faith? Joel 3:10 says: Let the weak say I am strong. It starts by professing the good within the word of God for us. Meaning no matter the situation, you should always confess positively according to the word of God.

Today’s Prayer: Lord, teach us to mind what we say. May our words be based on what your words have spoken concerning us, that we may eat the good fruit. 

Joshua 1:8 says: This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

The word of God contains directions, instructions, and Godly principles that you can apply to any situation.

The word of God gives you boldness and brings light. Psalms 119:130 says: The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. The word of God brings faith, and faith is needed to believe God and to receive from Him. 

We have to be intentional about studying the word of God consistently if we want to communicate with God effectively because He always speaks through His word, and only in agreement with His word.

We have to make time out of our busy schedule to study the word of God. It profits more to invest your time in studying the word than spending hours on social media just scrolling through people’s pictures and comedy videos. 

Do you want to make your way prosperous and have good success on a daily basis? You have to meditate on the word, and actively study it. 

Let's look into a more extensive passage to understand why it is important to be students of the word, Matthew 4:3-8 which says: And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

We are faced with temptations every day. The devil also speaks to our hearts, and the things he says are never God's plans for us ultimately. The devil knows how to take things that sound like the word of God and twist them. He is very deceitful and his words are sure to lead to destruction. What gives us an edge over all he says is what we know. Just like Jesus was able to overcome this temptation by what He knows, we also are able to overcome our daily temptations by what we know. 

Today's prayer: Lord may we have the desire to study your word and give ourselves consistently to the study of your word to flee temptation and achieve good success.

We do not walk by sight but by faith. In this kingdom what we use to see is faith not our physical eyes. Mark 4:12 talks about having eyes but can not perceive, ears but can not understand, this refers to those who have not activated their faith. In 1 Kings 18:41-45, Elijah heard the sound of rain, and permit me to say he saw it and was so sure of it, but his servant never saw it because he was using his natural eyes. So Elijah told him to go again and again until there was a manifestation of what Elijah heard and saw. 

Sometimes we remain in the past, not moving forward with our dreams and purpose because we are afraid to walk in the reality of what God has for us. We lack faith. Walking by faith can make you look or sound crazy to natural minded people but that’s your reality. 

How can the weak say I am strong? How can I say I am rich when I have a negative account balance? How can I say I am the righteousness of God when my life is filled with all kinds of shameful things? How can I have bold faith that the word of Jesus will heal me or a loved one? How do I believe a dream God has given me when nothing about my current state is pointing in that direction?

Matthew 6:22-23 tells us: The eye is the lamb of the body. If your eyes are good, your body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness. 

If you look at yourself and all you see is failure, rejection, loser, depression or any negative thing you can think of, it is time for a new place. When God sees you, He sees a winner, a perfect child, a child He bought with His blood that can not fail. Let’s fix our eyes on God and how He views us and begin to see ourselves like God sees us. 

To move mountains and do extraordinary things, we need faith. To build that faith we can listen to good faith building messages and play songs of worship from gospel artists like Jumbo (who I hear is an amazing artist) and many others.

Today's prayer: Lord help me to see things as you see them. Open my eyes to the realm of possibilities unlocked through faith. 

One of the weapons we have as children of God is prayer and we are told in 

1 Thessalonians 5:17 to Pray without ceasing.

Prayer is giving our attention to God in a two-way spiritual relationship where we talk to God and also listen to Him. Prayer is like a child’s conversation with their father. It is natural for a child to ask His father for the things they need, or to ask for advice or guidance.

We pray on our own, and alongside other Christians throughout the world and through the ages. Prayer brings us in touch with God and one another. As we pray, we offer every situation to God, and God uses our prayers to bring love and solutions into our lives and the lives of others, even bringing compassion and justice around the world.

There is no ‘hidden secret’ when it comes to prayer. God knows everything even before we pray but He loves when we fellowship with Him and talk to Him about everything. People in relationships love to communicate and spend quality time together. This is how God wants us to relate with Him too. 

Praying without ceasing means both passively and actively. We should want God to consistently be a part of our lives. And if God be for us who can be against us?

With prayer we can make our request known to God and even in our lowest place we can talk to Him about it. Paul and Silas made use of this weapon called prayer in Acts 16:25, And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

In the place of prayer we have seen impossible things made possible by God. Through praise and prayer, Paul and Silas were able to break prison doors and shake foundations.

Today if you are worried, going through a dark place or have something you can’t seem to resolve, you can talk to God about it. He is the best Person to bring into any situation, and with Him, you have all you need. Even if you can’t take the situation to a friend, a mentor, a loved one or a pastor, you can always take it to God. The Spirit of God is the gift that’s available to everyone who is saved.

Today's prayer: Lord let me trust in the power of prayer and make it a daily habit to pray and listen to hear from you, without ceasing.