June 15, 2026 – New
Power – Isaiah 43:18-19 – “Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing.” Joyce understands, “Many people are stuck in the past…. they believe they can never get beyond it. This is exactly what the devil wants people to believe, but according to God’s Word, it is not true…. God is a Redeemer, which means He takes anything bad in us or in our lives and turns that into something beautiful….”
New – Luke 4:36-37 MSG – “That set everyone back on their heels, whispering and wondering, ‘What’s going on here? Someone whose words make things happen? Someone who orders demonic spirits to get out and they go?’ Jesus was the talk of the town.” Slawson reminds us that, “The power of the word is carried in the authority of the one who speaks it. Jesus’ words in Luke 4 are powerful…. He has power over evil, illness, and even death…. His Word makes things happen. His Word gives life. His word liberates us. Praise God today that by His Word we are set free to follow Him.”
Streams – Genesis 41:52 – “God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” Cowman looks to J. M. M. (who Google identifies as J. M. MacMillan) to point out that “…the poet, in his mind’s eye, sees more than a rain shower falling. He sees a myriad of lovely flowers raining down, soon breaking forth from the freshly watered earth…. Perhaps you are undergoing some trial as God’s child…. God is not raining rain on you – He is raining blessings. If you will only believe your Father’s Word, you will realize that springing up beneath the pounding rain are spiritual flowers…. You can see the rain, but can you also see the flowers? …You try to escape the pain, yet God sees tender compassion for other sufferers finding birth in your soul… It is raining tenderness, love, compassion, patience, and a thousand other flowers and fruits of the blessed Holy Spirit. And they are bringing to your life spiritual enrichment that all the prosperity and ease of this world could never produce in your innermost being.”
JC – “Spending time alone with Me is the best way to develop seeing eyes and hearing ears. The goal is to be aware of unseen things even as you live out your life in the visible world.” See 2 Corinthians 4:18, Isaiah 6:3, and Psalm 130:5.
Utmost – 2 Peter 1:5 – “And beside this, …add….” Chambers has a lot to say about the new character that is in us as believers, “You have inherited the Divine nature, says Peter (v. 4), now screw your attention down and form habits, give diligence, concentrate…. No man is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; he has to make character. Nor are we born with habits; we have to form habits on the basis of the new life God has put into us…. Drudgery is the touchstone of character. The great hindrance in spiritual life is that we will look for big things to do…. Routine is God’s way of saving us between our times of inspiration…. If I do my duty, not for duty’s sake, but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience the whole superb grace of God is mine through Atonement.”
Days – “Grow up into Him in all things” (Eph. iv. 15). Simpson explains, “Harvest is a time of ripeness. Then the fruit and grain are fully developed…. So Christian life ought to be. There are many things in life that need to be mellowed and ripened. Many Christians have orchards full of fruit, but they are all green and sharp to the taste…. Perhaps something goes wrong in your domestic life, and you get flurried and cross and lose your confidence in God, and then, of course, your Christian joy. These things produce regret and all kinds of misery…. You cannot bring the sweetness in. It must be wrought out from within.”
JA – “The more of Me you have in your life – through staying close to Me – the more joyful you will be and the more I can bless others through you.”
JL – “My loving God, …Help me to keep moving forward step by step – and to trust wholeheartedly that You know what You are doing. I’m learning that perseverance and trust make a potent combination! In Your strong Name, Jesus, Amen.” See Isaiah 41:13 and Philippians 4:13.
