Rick Joyner's Daily Devotional - MorningStar Ministries

Day 68 - Friends of God

Day 68 - Friends of God — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:09:07 -0500

Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7).

This Scripture is amazing. Why would the Creator of the universe obligate Himself not to do anything without first revealing it to the prophets? The reason for this is understood in His purpose for creating man. He created man for fellowship. He created man to walk and talk with Him, and to have the ability to both understand and appreciate the Lord and His purposes.

The prophets have been one of the primary ways that the Lord has continued to call man back to this fellowship. Therefore, the Lord declares that He will disclose His purposes to the prophets, who are to convey them so that man can return to the place of fellowship and appreciation of his Maker.

For this reason we should understand that what the Lord is saying through prophecy is always important, but the most important thing of all is the fact that He is still speaking to us. The quality of any relationship is determined by the quality of the communication. For this reason the Lord said in John 10:4, "When he puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." We will follow Him to the degree that we know His voice.

The first man who prophesied in Scripture was Enoch (see Jude 14). Enoch was a remarkable man whom very little is said about except that he walked with God, and the Lord took him so that he should not see death. Enoch was from the seventh generation after Adam, but since Adam lived over nine hundred years, Adam was still alive during Enoch's life. It is likely that Enoch talked with Adam and was stirred by the relationship that Adam had with the Lord before the Fall. Something in Enoch must have determined that he was going to try to recover that relationship, and he did.

Enoch became so close to God that the Lord just took him so he would not have to taste death, which was the sure consequence of the Fall. This infers that by walking with God, Enoch rose above the sin nature, and escaped the consequences of it. He must have done this by seeing the salvation through Jesus and His cross, because there is no other way for man to overcome the power of death except through the cross. How did this happen?

Those who walk with God will prophesy, just as Enoch did. As we are told in Revelation 19:10, "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." For Enoch to have prophesied he had to have the testimony of Jesus. All of the prophets had to have the testimony of Jesus, and that is why they all prophesied of His coming. They saw Him, and believed in Him, looking ahead to the cross just as we look back at it.

Though Enoch was the first man that is said to have prophesied, the first man called a prophet in Scripture is Abraham, in Genesis 20:7. This is also the very first verse in which prayer is mentioned in Scripture. It is no accident that the first mention of both prophet and prayer are together. Prayer is communication. The development of communication with God, both to Him and from Him, is the foundation upon which all true prophetic ministry is based.

Abraham was also the first to be called the "friend of God" (see James 2:23). This is the essence of true prophetic ministry. The reason why the Lord said that He would not do anything unless He first revealed it to His servants the prophets is because the prophets are His friends, and He does not want to do anything without sharing it with His friends. This fellowship is the essence of why He created man. This is why Paul the Apostle said: "you may all prophesy" (see I Corinthians 14:31). Because of the cross, the veil has been rent. We can now all enter into the most intimate fellowship with Him. We can all walk with God and be such friends of His that He does not want to do anything without sharing it with us. That is the essence of the true prophetic ministry—simple friendship with God.

Day 67 - Fear and Love

Day 67 - Fear and Love — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:09:07 -0500

In John 7:17, the Lord gives us a most basic principle for understanding truth, "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself." If we are going to know the truth, we must be committed to living that truth. It is not those who just know the truth about the cross who are saved, but those who have had the truth of the cross applied to their lives. When this truth is applied to our lives, we are born again into a life of union and obedience to God. As we are told in Psalm 25:12-13:

Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

His soul will abide in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.

The fear of the Lord is required if we are to receive His guidance and instruction, or receive our inheritance. The goal of truth is not just so we can know the way, but also so that we will walk in the way. Without a solid foundation of the pure and holy fear of the Lord, we will build our lives on the weak foundation of knowing the truth but not doing it. Therefore, the true nature of our spiritual lives is revealed in the way we behave when no one is looking, and when know no one could find out. Who we are in secret before God is who we are.

As the next verse states, the one who fears the Lord and receives His instruction will abide in prosperity and His children will inherit the land. This is the foundation of the true nobility. The original purpose of the nobility was to plant righteous families in the earth who would be righteous generation after generation. These were also the land owners, because the righteous were to inherit the land. Of course, this was perverted whenever a generation did not walk in the fear of the Lord. However, to plant a family in the earth that walks in the fear of the Lord is still our calling, and should be the goal of every Christian. As we walk in the fear of the Lord, and pass this on to our children, our families will prosper, inherit the land, and be righteous seeds in the earth.

As we are told in Proverbs 22:1, "A good name is to be more desired than great riches, favor is better than silver and gold." Those who fear the Lord determine that they will establish a name that is esteemed for truth, honor, integrity, and true Christian charity. We must impart to our children the knowledge that the true fear of the Lord is our most valuable possession, and that to live our lives to serve and obey Him is the highest calling. Those who walk in this are the true nobility. Their names are not just known on the earth, they are written in the book of Life.

The first Adam had a bride who lived in a perfect world, yet chose to sin. The "last Adam," Jesus, will have a bride who lived in a most imperfect world, but chose to obey. This is our calling, and is a success whose treasure will last forever.

Day 66 - A Special Grace

Day 66 - A Special Grace — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 16:09:07 -0500

Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found;

surely in a flood of great waters they shall not reach him (Psalm 32:6).

There is often a tendency in Christians not to really seek the Lord until we get into a crisis situation. Then we seek Him earnestly. We see this same pattern with Israel in the Old Testament. This is a primary reason why many stay in a seemingly perpetual state of crisis. As we are told in Matthew 7:21-27:

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven;

but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.

"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in Your name,

and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'

"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them,

may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house;

and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.

"And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them,

will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,

and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."

As we read here, just calling Jesus Lord does not guarantee that we will enter the kingdom of heaven. We must do His will. To call Him Lord and not do what He says disqualifies us from being believers, and makes us obvious unbelievers. How could we really know the glorious King of kings and not do what He says? To know that He is God and not obey Him is an ultimate delusion. This delusion leads to many tragedies and failures when the floods of life come.

One of our ultimate quests should therefore be to hear the words of the Lord. As we are told in John 10:4: "When he (the good Shepherd) puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." The obvious counterpoint here is that if we do not know His voice we will not follow Him. However, hearing His words and obeying them are two different things. Many glory in how well they hear the Lord, but they do not do what He says. We must count His words as the unfathomable treasures that they are. When the Lord gives us direction we should write it in a journal, reviewing it often to see how we have complied with our King's directives.

If you are in confusion about how to hear from the Lord, go back and review the things that you know He has directed you to do. These are things like prayer, reading the Bible, fellowship, etc., all of which are directives that are clearly given to us in Scripture. As we obey these we will begin walking in the light, and the light will make our paths, and His voice, increasingly clear. As we are told in Proverbs 4:18:

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

If we are on the right road, things should be getting brighter. If we are on the wrong road, things will be getting darker and more confused. If our path is not getting brighter and clearer every day, then we have departed from the right path somewhere. In the Lord the wrong path never turns into the right path. The only way for us to get back on the right path is to go back to the point where we made the wrong turn. That is called repentance.

Repentance is not only a good thing—it is one of the greatest Christian truths. In Christ we can actually go back to where we made a mistake and start over and get it right. In Acts 11:18 we read the response of the Jewish believers after hearing Peter's testimony about going to the house of Cornelius: "And when they heard this, they quieted down, and glorified God, saying, 'Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.'" Eight of the most powerful words in Scripture are found in this verse: "God has granted . . . the repentance that leads to life." Repentance is a special grace that God grants, and it leads to life.

Day 65 - Ascending on the Path of Life

Day 65 - Ascending on the Path of Life — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 16:09:07 -0500

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches the humble His way (Psalm 25:8-9).

It takes humility to know God's ways. The Lord teaches the humble His ways because one must be willing to learn in order to be taught, and as we covered previously, one definition of humility could be teachableness. To be open and able to learn is one of the most valuable characteristics that anyone can have.

In this text, right after we are told that the Lord will teach the humble His way, the next verse gives us one of the most basic insights into the Lord's ways:

All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies (Psalm 25:10).

If we will stay on the Lord's paths, we can know that those paths will be lovingkindness and truth. If you are ever in doubt as to the way of the Lord, then choose the way of mercy and truth. There are limits to the Lord's mercy, which if reached will result in judgment. However, throughout the Scriptures we see that the Lord is usually far more merciful than His people tend to be. Therefore, we have this warning and this hope from James 2:13:

For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

We are also told in Galatians 6:7, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." Therefore if we want to receive mercy, we should learn to sow mercy every opportunity that we get.

Just as the President gives out pardons every New Year, the Lord will freely pass out pardons to all who ask, and to all who trust in His mercy because of the cross. We can start all over again, erasing every failure and mistake. That is one of the greatest benefits of Christianity that has no match in any other religion or philosophy on earth. However, we are also instructed that if we are walking in His ways we will also freely pass out pardons to those whom we might be able to hold something against.

It takes humility to ask for forgiveness, which is to acknowledge our sin. It takes the knowledge of the Lord's ways, and a union of our hearts with them, to forgive others. However, if we are going to remain on the path of life, these are fundamental. So let us give mercy just as it has been freely given to us. One of the greatest freedoms we can ever have is when we know that we have been forgiven our sins. The second greatest freedom that we can ever know is when we forgive others.

The paths of the Lord are always ascending, carrying us higher and higher into the Spirit. Because "all of the paths of the Lord are loving-kindness and truth" (see Psalm 25:10), we will ascend in life as we grow in lovingkindness and truth. Let us look today for the opportunities that we have to show these, and to grow in each. We are the ones who will benefit, who will soar higher, and find even more freedom.

Day 64 - The Reward of Confidence

Day 64 - The Reward of Confidence — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 16:09:07 -0500

Hebrews 10:35 states, "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward." In every sphere of life, confidence can be a primary factor that makes the difference between victory or defeat. Successful sports teams will quickly tell what a significant part confidence played in their victories. Successful generals will often point to the confidence they had in their troops as a reason for military victory. Victorious troops will usually point to the confidence they had in their generals. Successful businessmen will usually point to the confidence that have in their people, or products, as the reason for their success. The reward of confidence is success.

More than any other people on earth, Christians should go through life with confidence. We have the best Leader. There is nothing that the world could ever produce more valuable than the gospel that we have been given, and He is making His people into the greatest souls who ever walked the earth.

Yet many Christians still live their lives in fear, timidity, and defeat. Regardless of who you are, or your present circumstances, if you are a Christian this can and must change. Not only can you have victory, but overwhelming victory in every area of your life. This does not mean that our lives will be without trials. In fact, victory is the consequence of one thing—battle! However, Christians are to live as "more than conquerors" (see Romans 8:37 KJV).

A conqueror is one who is actually looking for battles in order to take more territory. That should be the mentality of every Christian—we should always be looking for a fight against the evil spiritual strongholds that are hindering our own lives, and then against the ones that are hindering others. That is why Christians are often referred to as an "army." We have been called to battle. Every trial or battle that we have in life is an opportunity to fight the good fight of faith, but only those with confidence will see them as such.

Confidence is a powerful word, and biblical confidence is a powerful force. Some of the most important biblical teachings center around this word. Confidence is the key to perceiving the will and victory God has for us. Paul said, "Overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us enough to die for us" (Romans 8:37 LB). This verse reflects the depth and power of a conviction that was the foundation of the apostle's life. Despite distress, persecution, tribulation, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword, Paul lived above it all as more than a conqueror. We too can live as more than conquerors because Jesus conquered and spoiled Satan at Calvary (see Colossians 2:15). The power of this great truth is the power to live an overcoming life. The victory of the cross is the source of our confidence, and if we live by it we will always eventually see triumph.