Category: 2015 at 08:00AM

By Ashley Shepherd

Many times in life we come to a cross road and we’re left to decide, resist change or take a leap of faith. It’s an uncomfortable feeling because it means leaving our comfort zone, the familiar. Change is scary and because of this we tend to straddle the line giving way to compromise. The thing is, you can’t move forward with one foot in the past.

Philippians 3:13b I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

Will you dare to move forward today? He’ll be with you every step of the way.

Blessings!

Tweet By Dustin Hedrick
Devo/Thought Of The Day By Ashley Shepherd, Team DHM

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By Ashley Shepherd

Ecclesiastes 3:1

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

It’s only a season, the short and simple phrase whispered in my spirit. Sometimes we forget, I forgot. You see God isn’t withholding the blessing. He releases the blessing with the answer of a yes in accordance to the seasons of our lives. He answers line upon line, precept upon precept until the fulfillment of the promise is accomplished in our lives.

The deferring of of one promise is to accomplish another in our lives lest one promise cancel out another. One promise builds upon another. The cultivation of a promise takes time.

Think about it, some of the least inhabitable places are those which fail to experience all of the seasons. The clearest of example is that of a desert. Little if anything grows in the desert and promises require our spiritual growth in order to have the capacity to receive them . If we are to grow we must be willing to experience the seasons.

So whatever season you are facing know it is not without purpose. He has wonderful plans for your life.

Blessings!

Tweet By Dustin Hedrick
Devo/Thought Of The Day By Ashley Shepherd, Team DHM

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By Ashley Shepherd

Each night before my head hits the pillow I sneak in and take one last peak of my kiddos and tuck them in. As I stand there and stare at them intently in awe they are mine I study their features and wonder what they will grow to be. These are precious times and I’m overwhelmed with love for them knowing they are a part of me, they are mine.

I see all to often photos of other peoples kiddos captured during similar sacred moments and can’t help but think how our father in heaven who knitted us together in our mothers very womb must do the same. Do you know how special and cherished you are? Take some time today and read Psalms 134, you wont be sorry.

Blessings!

Tweet By Dustin Hedrick
Devo/Thought Of The Day By Ashley Shepherd, Team DHM

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By Ashley Shepherd

Psalms 91:15 When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.

I love this tweet. It reminded me of all the different State Farm Commercials where they show people in harms way and then all of a sudden they call their insurance agency and “poof” they come to the rescue. I especially love the buffalo commercial where two guys are stuck in a car with buffalo charging at them and when the insurer arrives he says, sing it again, sing it again, and so they sing the famous jingle, “like a good neighbor, state farm is there” adding, “in my office” in which case they are teleported to the office.

Though funny in nature, I think this is a great depiction of just what exactly Christ does for us. We call on Him and He rescues us and plucks us up from the mire. If you find yourself in a sticky situation, won’t you call on Him today?

Blessings!

Tweet By Dustin Hedrick
Devo/Thought Of The Day By Ashley Shepherd, Team DHM

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By Ashley Shepherd

Ephesians 2:8-9Amplified Bible (AMP)

For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].

Another definition of grace is, the ability to do what you can’t do in and of yourself.

In other words, He Jesus, did only what He could do through His sacrifice on the cross. There was no other way, for in the garden that dreadful night He said, if there be any other way take this cup from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. A second time He prayed, saying, My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done. And a third time, saying the same thing once more.

He asked crying aloud in angst till He bled, not once, not twice, but three times for His cup to be taken from Him yet it was not. Why is it then we strive to earn His love and forgiveness. We’ve got to stop this, as when we do, it’s as if His dying was for not. We don’t have to earn it. There is nothing we can do to deserve it. We just need to accept it. He made His decision long ago on the cross and died for you and me while we were yet in sin. It is finished!

Blessings!

Passage References: Matthew 28:39,42,44 & Romans 5:8

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Devo/Thought Of The Day By Ashley Shepherd, Team DHM

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By Ashley Shepherd

Proverbs 24:16 For though he falls seven times, he will get up again; it’s the wicked who fail under stress.

As Dustin always says, “push back the push back.” Don’t succumb to the stressors in life, God is waiting for you to get back up again.

Remember:

He is for you, not against you. Romans 8:31

You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Phillippians 4:13

You are more than a conquer. Romans 8:37

Blessings!

Tweet By Dustin Hedrick
Devo/Thought Of The Day By Ashley Shepherd, Team DHM

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By Ashley Shepherd

If you’ve ever been in a relationship than you know that most go through stages. The first stage of many is infatuation where anything and everything about the person intrigues you and you wait in response to their every move. When they’re not around you, you’re love sick and it’s as if a piece of you is missing. Over time, however, if not careful, one of the other parties will wane in their passion taking for granted the other, the love slowly dissipates, and the longing rescinds. What was passion aflame becomes ashes.

How does this happen, one stops pursuing. The sad part is, He is never the one to stop pursuing, we are. He longs in anticipation to see us return. Those close moments when He’s heard clearest are but moments away if we only return.

Jeremiah 31:3b “I have loved you, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”

Blessings!

Tweet By Dustin Hedrick
Devo/Thought Of The Day By Ashley Shepherd, Team DHM

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By Ashley Shepherd

The one thing you’re to afraid to ask for is the one thing God is waiting for you to ask so He can answer. Don’t stop asking because He hasn’t answered. If it’s in your heart, keep asking, seeking, and knocking (Matthew 7:7-12). Don’t get restless in the waiting, the answer is for an appointed time. In the end it will all make sense.

Habakkuk 2:3

This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

Blessings!

Tweet By Dustin Hedrick
Devo/Thought Of The Day By Ashley Shepherd, Team DHM

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By Ashley Shepherd

What does it mean to thrive?

1. To grow (expand and or develop) vigorously, flourish
2. To be successful or make steady progress
3. Increase in stature (respect)

To some this idea of thriving seems impossible because you’ve been in survival mode for far to long, but I’m here to tell you, you are resilient. Resiliency is the ability of something to return to its original shape after it has been pulled, stretched, pressed, bent. The pulling back you feel is but temporal, it will be the momentum that pushes you forward. This is your Joshua moment.

Joshua 1:1-9

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Go inherit your promise.

Blessings!

Tweet By Dustin Hedrick
Devo/Thought Of The Day By Ashley Shepherd, Team DHM

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By Ashley Shepherd

Psalms 139:17-18b NIV

“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.”

I love how the Expanded version ends verse 18, “But when I finished, I would have just begun”

You see David understood the vastness of God’s love for Him. He knew it to be unquantifiable. The problem today is, we don’t know this to be true in our own lives. We mirror the lenses of God’s love with those whom we long to love us but are incapable. We seek out expectations in flawed human beings who fail us and as such our perceptions have been distorted. Will you dare to take off the lenses of past failures, hurts, and disappointments so His love and His plans can shine through? Will you dare to look past the pain and see who is standing behind it all with your new beginning? His thoughts, His ways, His plans are all waiting for you.

Blessings!

Tweet By Dustin Hedrick
Devo/Thought Of The Day By Ashley Shepherd, Team DHM

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