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Wednesday, January 13th, 2016Seeking God for His Presence: Drawing Near -- The SearchScripture: Psalm 139:1-18Over 22 years ago, our daughter, then a toddler, was with us at a large churchbowling fellowship. A group of teen girls were headed to the bathroom and someparents asked them to take the little girls along. Kira ran after them so I hollered toone of the older teens to keep an eye on her. I found out later that she never heardme. The group returned and I began looking around. I realized some of the kidsmust still be in the bathroom. I began counting heads and realized that everyonewas back except our 3-year-old daughter.I ran to the restroom, sure that I would find her in there, dawdling. She wasn’t there.I looked through the entire facility and enlisted some parents to help. She simplywasn’t anywhere to be found!Just months before, our unit had been transferred from one military installation inGermany to this one. At the last base, a 3-year-old girl had been abducted from military housing and killed—themurderer was never found. The news story flashed through my mind as minutes turned into hours. The MP’s werecalled and alerted the gates. We had gone through every building in the shopping complex with no sign of her.Desperate, I crumpled to my knees in the grassy area outside of the PX and raised my hands to the sky. In full view ofthe public I cried out, “Oh God, You know where she is! Bring her back to me—I can’t bear to lose her!” Two youngsoldiers were passing by in a jeep and jumped out, ran up to me, and asked if they could help. They started to help ussearch and, within ten minutes, they had located her happily looking at the sparkly greeting cards in the Hallmarknook of the PX (the last place we had visited before walking to the bowling center). She had asked me if she couldlook at the cards earlier in the day and I had told her, “later.” She took me literally! When she realized she was alone,she had begun to cry, and was then located by our valiant helpers. When they brought her out to me, I ran up andtook her in my arms, sobbing. She said calmly but tearfully, “Why did you lose me?”I think of that story so often, and how we sometimes treat our relationship with the Lord the same way. We wanderoff, we get lost or in trouble, and then we blame Him. I also think about how those 2 hours felt when I thought shemight be gone forever. I would have done anything to get her back. I would have gone anywhere to find her. Iwouldn’t rest until she was safe, because she is mine.In this psalm, David acknowledges that the Lord is with him always and knows everything about him. We hear theinner ponderings of a man who has wandered off and has been found. “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or wherecan I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,And Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light aboutme; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light areboth alike to You.” Whether you are drawing near to Him or wandering, the Lord knows where you are, and He isever searching and seeking you, saying, “I am here.”Prayer: Lord, You know where I am. In the times that I am close and in the times I feel far away, You remain thesame loving Father and Friend that sticks closer than a brother. You are seeking me today, to draw me closer, toremind of how desperately I need Your Presence. I surrender to You, completely, anew, saying, “You have found me.”Lord Jesus, we pray for those who are struggling with darkness in their lives: depression, brokenness, loneliness, fear,or anything that would draw them away from You. Bring Your comfort to them. Light the dark places with YourPresence and bring Your wayward sons and daughters home today.

Thursday, January 14th, 2016Seeking God for His Presence: Renewed Spiritual Desire – As The DeerScriptures: Psalm 42:1-2, Matthew 5:6.“Have we the desire that presses us to close communion with God, which isfilled with unutterable burnings, and holds us there through the agony ofan intense and soul-stirred supplication? Our hearts need much to beworked over, not only to get the evil out of them, but to get the goodinto them. And the foundation and inspiration to the incoming good isstrong, propelling desire. This holy and fervent flame in the soulawakens the interest of heaven, attracts the attention of God, and placesat the disposal of those who exercise it, the exhaustless riches ofdivine grace.”E.M. BoundsA sheep and a wolf have little in common. Their natures are completely opposite. If you put a wolf in a pen filledwith fresh grass and beautiful clover, it would pace day after day and become weaker and weaker. No matter howhungry it gets, the wolf will never eat the grass and clover. By nature, it is a carnivore and it must have meat. But if asheep were penned up with nothing to eat except rabbits, squirrels and fresh red meat, it will not eat them. Thesheep will starve to death before eating meat. By nature, it is an herbivore.Religion says that following Christ means one must change his/her behavior. But saving faith in Jesus Christ in usmeans He has changed our nature. The desires in us, our inner “wanter” begins towant what it never wanted before. The wolf is transformed into the lamb, losing itstaste for the flesh and desiring what is pleasing to God.It is up to us to analyze how deep our desire for God really is. How much does my“wanter” really want Him? How much of the flesh are we willing to turn away from tocreate a greater hunger for Him? We have to want to want Him.The psalmist declares that his soul is like a deer panting after water. The deer knowsit is in need and it will not be content until the need is met. How well do we know ourown spiritual need? Perhaps it is more dangerous for the elder Christian whomeasures himself by what he doesn’t want anymore, the sins he has overcome,instead of measuring himself by the degree of desire he now has for the Lord. Is thedesire greater than any other single day of your life? Do you search after him like thedeer pants for water? Are you content to have a meager thirst or will you pray forrenewed desire so that you run with desperation daily to the only One who satisfies?Prayer: Lord, search my heart. Show me the areas that my desire for You is waning. I confess that I want to want Youmore. Renew my hunger for Your word, for prayer, for worship, for intimacy with You. Awaken us as a people thatwe would desire You more than anything else. Show us the dry places in our lives, in our families, in our ministriesand saturate us with revival! We confess that we need a greater hunger and thirst for righteousness. We confessthat we have allowed the culture around us to deter our thirst. Bring revival to the MTTM and to each of our lives,that we would desire You and run after You as never before. After all, it’s in our nature.

Friday, January 15th, 2016Seeking God for His Presence: Praise and Remembrance – You Like That!Scriptures: Psalm 103“Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that iswithin me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless theLORD, O my soul, And forget not all Hisbenefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities,Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeemsyour life from destruction, Who crowns youwith lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Whosatisfies your mouth with good things, So thatyour youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”Praise causes us to remember Who we are extoling, why He is worthy, that He is God alone and besides Himthere is no other, and causes us to reflect upon the mercies and great works that He has provided for us! Thepsalmist is prophesying to his own soul and to everything within him (his distracted mind, scattered emotions,troubled heart ) and is commanding them to concentrate on the Lord and to bless Him.For you football fans, you may have noticed Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins this year. Following in thefootsteps of RGIII as QB, Cousins started the season slowly and came under a barrage of criticism. Walkingthrough the lower level of the stadium after the Redskins biggest comeback in franchise history, Cousins facedhis greatest critics, the reporters who had been tearing him up in the news. He shouted passionately, “You likethat? You like that!” Now an anthem across the NFL this season, it brings a smile to the face of football fans. Itmay be a strange illustration for praise, but can you imagine that same passion bursting from the psalmist as hewrote those words, shouting to his soul, “Bless the Lord, you soul within me! Bless His Holy Name!”We face ourselves daily, our greatest critic, who lists our faults and failures and can stifle out our passion forpraise. This year, let’s make a comeback in our daily praise to God, remembering all His benefits, rememberingHis tender mercies and how He alone satisfies. Let us remind ourselves and shout unto our souls, “You like that?You like that!”Prayer: Lord, as I set my eyes upon You, all I see if Your goodness, Your faithfulness, and I have to praise andbless You! I bring myself into remembrance of all You have done for me, and I am overwhelmed. How good Youare to me!Father God, here in the MTTM, let us remember Your faithfulness through many generations, many times of warand peace, many seasons and challenges—through it all, You have never failed us--no, not once! Remind us,one and all, of the power of praise and the necessity for us to be prais-ers. As we go through 2016, may praiserise up over every home, every church, and every military installation. May Your praises ring out through everydeployment zone, in every country our Armed Forces are throughout the world. Your Name and Your renown isthe desire of our hearts. Remind us to be people of praise in our own personal lives and in corporate worship.

Saturday, January 16th, 2016Seeking God for His Presence: Thanksgiving -- Upraised HandsScriptures: Leviticus 9:22,“Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he steppeddown after making the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings.”; Exodus 17:13, “So it cameabout when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed.”;1 Kings 8:54, “When Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and supplication to the LORD, he arosefrom before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven.”; Psalm28:2, “Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help, When I lift up my hands toward Your holysanctuary.”; Psalm 134:2, “Lift up your hands to the sanctuary And bless the LORD.”; Habakkuk 3:10, “Themountains saw You and quaked; The downpour of waters swept by. The deep uttered forth its voice, It liftedhigh its hands.”; Luke 24:50, “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessedthem.”We see in the Holy Bible that when God raises His own hand, it is to signify His power, His judgement and Hispromise (oath) to His creation. When we see people raising their hands, it is to swear an oath, to pray, to praise,and to bless. In our culture, it is a symbol of surrender, of taking an oath (such as in a court of law), and aposition of utmost vulnerability, as the heart and essential organs are exposed. We raise our hands to ask oranswer questions, to make a bodily exclamation at a sporting event, or in preparation of a joyous embrace."’Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms’ (Psa. 95:2). Theword thanksgiving (todah), according to Strong's No. 8426, is derived from the verb yadah (Strong's H3034). Itmeans to hold out the hand, an extension of the hand, especially to revere or worship with extended hands. It isto thank and praise God with one's hands extended.” (Dr. Steve Green)As we seek the Presence of the Lord for today and throughout 2016, let us lift up our hands as we pray, worship,as we bless. Let us raise our hands to heaven today, reminding ourselves of the Lord’s promises and oath to us.Let us remember the Lord’s hands, stretched out for us, in the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the ultimate gift—eternal life.Prayer: Lord Jesus, we need Your presence so desperately. Your word tells us to enter Your gates withthanksgiving (Psalm 100:4), with hands stretched out to You. We remember Your promises today, and ourhearts are grateful. We remember the judgements You pronounce on a Christ-rejecting world, and we areawakened to proclaim Your hope to those around us. We raise and hands and remember Your faithfulness, Yourblessing, how Your arm was not too short to save us, and we are moved to worship You all the more.As we pray, as we worship and praise You, let us stretch our hands to heaven. Let us find times throughout theday to steal away a private moment and raise a hand to You, to simply say, “I acknowledge Your Lordship hereand now.” May you find us, as individuals and as a ministry, with our hands lifted high to you all over the world.

Sunday, January 17th, 2016Seeking God for His Presence: Be FullScripture: Joel 2:28-32; Luke 24:49; Acts 2:1-12; Ephesians 5:18I was driving late at night, praying for the youth we had been workingwith and noting their worldliness, casual attitude about their relationshipwith the Lord, lack of devotion to the Lord or concern for others, and,suddenly, I felt completely helpless and overwhelmed. I prayed, “God, Idon’t know how to reach them anymore.” At that moment, I looked up.In the sky, directly in front of me, was a spectacularly bright full moon. Atthat moment, I heard the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit saying, “Be Full.”The promise of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, given in the Book of Joel and fulfilled in the Book of Acts is apresent reality. As a Pentecostal ministry, we understand that this promise is for today, just as much as it wasfor the Apostles and first century church.As I drove along that day, I realized that I had experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit many years ago, amoment which changed my life forever, but was I continually experiencing fresh fillings of His Spirit?Ephesians 5:18, when read in the original Greek, can be read as, “Keep on being filled, constantly andcontinually.” Or, “be in a constant state of being filled.”The only hope we have to live triumphantly and fulfill God’s will on this earth is to be filled with His Holy Spiritand continue to BE FULL. Spirit Filled Christian is a condition, not a title. May we constantly seek to live in thepresent condition of being filled.Prayer: Father, we need Your Holy Spirit! Jesus told us we must be, “clothed with power from on high,” and weneed this power desperately. Lord, we pray for those who have not received the promised baptism of the HolySpirit, that they would seek You until they are filled. For those who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, we areasking for a fresh re-filling, that we would receive wave after wave of Your presence and power and live in stateof being constantly full.Pour out Your Spirit on MTTM in 2016 like no time ever before! Show forth the fruit of Your Spirit in andthrough us. We pray that every MTTM Center will thrive in the authenticity and power of the Holy Spirit.Renew us that we would not just be a Pentecostal ministry in name, but a ministry which demonstrates thepower of Pentecost every day!

Monday, January 18th, 2016Seeking God for His People: Heroes – To Be People of Faith“Perfect faith is always in keeping with what perfect prayerasks for.”“Faith is an operation of God, a divine illumination, a holyenergy implanted by the Word of God and the Spirit in thehuman soul—a spiritual, divine, principle which takes of thesupernatural and makes it a thing apprehendable by thefaculties of time and sense.”“Faith gives birth to prayer, and grows stronger, strikesdeeper, rises higher, in the struggles and wrestlings ofmighty petitioning.”E.M. BoundsFaith manifests in desire—the desire to study God’s word, worship and pray, the desire to seek His will and obeyit. And in this obedience comes the desire to act upon what is learned, inspired, implanted through time withGod and His people. Hebrews 11 gives us a brief outline of great and faithful individuals, some named, othersunnamed but christened with the most illustrious description of all (vs. 38), that, “the world was not worthy ofthem.” Oh, that we would aspire to be named as such!Lord Jesus, our movement in Freedom Outreach International, Ministry to the Military, is called to serve formerand current military service members. We understand sacrifice and heroics. These are not people who backdown from giants in the land or cower when battles come. Yet, we cry out to You to make us heroes as of old!We desire to be a people of faith that the history books of heaven record as mighty men and women of valor!Father God, move in our midst like never before and strengthen our faith and resolve. The times are too darkand the task is too big for us to rely on what we know or where we’ve been. Strengthen the people serving inthis ministry and the people being served, that one and all, we would be people of great faith, a people of whomYou would say, “the world is not worthy of them.”

Tuesday, January 19th, 2016Seeking God for His People: And If I Perish – To Be A Faithful People(people of faith must be a faithful people--in prayer, gathering together to worship, personal Bible study)Scriptures: Esther 4:15 - 5:1-8Esther gives us an example of a woman of faith, but also a faithfulwoman. She was faithful even when her intercession may well havecost her everything. To be people of faith, we must be faithful people,to not just be hearers of the word of God, but doers.True faith is proved right by action (James 2:18).Faith begins the work and the faithful act upon it. Faith is thereconnaissance officer of personal and corporate prayer. It goes aheadof the petition and presents before the throne of God proof in HisWord (the Law of Heaven and Earth) that the request is right, inaccordance with His will, and must be granted on those grounds. Faithmeets the King of Kings on His own terms: it is the scepter extendedthat grants the pray-er full access. It is the power to win the favor andheart of the Almighty, that He must grant a righteous request,bestowing upon the petitioner what He has desired to give all along.May we be found faithful to pray and intercede for one another, to give of the currency of our lives (our time) toapproach the throne of God on behalf of one another. Esther was moved to compassion through the preachingof her uncle, Mordacai, and saw that her people were in danger and she was in a royal position for, “such a timeas this.” We have full access to the throne of the King of all Kings, the One of greater mercy and power than anymortal ruler. As we intercede for one another, we enter simultaneously into the very work of Jesus Christ, as Heever lives to intercede for us.Prayer: Lord, find us faithful, as individuals, as local congregations, as a greater movement in the MTTM, as theBride You love and gave Yourself for. We want to be more fruitful than ever, to not just be people of faith, butpeople whom You find faithful.We pray for those who are struggling to be faithful to You today, those whose faith is being tried—the stressedour parent, the deployed soldier, the disgruntled youth. Renew them by Your Spirit today. Renew us allbecause we all need to be more faithful. Cause us to see one another as, “my people,” and to stand in the gapfor one another, and to take the holy prerogative we have to intercede for each other in such a time as this.

Wednesday, January 20th, 2016Seeking God for His People: One Thing--To Be People of FocusScripture: Psalm 27Psalm 27:4-8, “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek:that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, togaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 Forin the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he willhide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon arock. 6Then my head will be exalted above the enemies whosurround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; Iwill sing and make music to the LORD. 7 Hear my voice when I call,LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you,“Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek.”David, as King ruling a nation and a world leader, had a multitudeof concerns and responsibilities. Troubles surrounded him in daysof war and in days of peace. Yet, in this psalm he seeks and desires one thing. His focus is upon one thing alone,to be nearer to the Lord, to seek Him and find Him. The whole of our Christian experience hinges upon this onething: Is Christ our first and only focus?In focus, we see the Word of God as a now word, the key that unhinges a problem in this moment. Christbecomes a now Savior, touching, healing, saving at this very moment. In focus, unceasing prayer becomes anatural part of every day—a conversation in the car, sharing the humor or sweetness of a moment with a friend,walking in the cool of the day with a constant companion with our mouths closed and hearts open, conversing ata level too intimate for mortal words.Focusing solely on Christ enhances, and does not obstruct, our vision to the world around us. Not only is Heconstantly in view, He is the view by which we see all else. We see the people we would have otherwiseoverlooked, and we see them with His eyes of concern and compassion. We see the needs we would have neverrecognized befor

year to focus on fasting, prayer and consecration. This three-week daily devotional is meant as a guide, so we can take this journey together. There are daily scripture readings to supplement your study time, a short devotional that coincides, and insightful and challenging excerpts from, The Complete