ThunderHeart Ministries

ThunderHeart Ministries Allen “Thunder” Scott is the founder of ThunderHeart Ministries. Thunder has taken his gospel m

08/28/2026

Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zephaniah was an Old Testament prophet and his original purpose was to shake the people of Judah out of their complacency and encourage them to return to God. In our verse, Zephaniah makes a profound point regarding God’s love and joy for His people. He uses some very interesting language when he writes “in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

The first thing we need to understand is that singing represents God’s joy. The Hebrew phrase that is translated can also be stated as “He rejoices over you with a shout of joy.” The second thing is this phrase parallels what we learn in verse 14 which says “Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem!” So Zephaniah begins by telling the people of Jerusalem to sing praises to God and then he tells the people that God will sing over His people! God celebrates with joy when His people sing praises to Him.

So if God’s people had grown complacent and disobedient, why is Zephaniah writing about God taking great delight in His people? Remember, Zephaniah is a prophet and as such, he is writing about a future time where God will end His judgement on Israel. All enemies will be destroyed and His people will return to a time of safety and blessings. In fact, this prophecy goes beyond Judah and is a prophetical reference to the coming millennial reign of the Messiah. Revelation 20:1-6 teaches us “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”

While scripture is very clear that there will be times of difficulty, it is equally clear that Jesus will wipe away all of His peoples tears, He will comfort them, and usher them into a new world. In fact, Jesus tells us in in Luke 15:10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” While we are unsure as to whether God will actually be singing, we do know, without a doubt, that God rejoices when the lost repent and enter into a personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ! AMEN AND AMEN

08/27/2026

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 “ Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”

It is interesting that Paul writes in verse 13 “If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.” Paul is saying “we are not crazy!” He is sharing the transformative power of Jesus Christ’s love and its impact on a believer’s life. Paul emphasizes that when we truly grasp the incredible depth of Jesus love, we are moved to live a life of obedience, devotion and commitment to Him! Paul is directing us to move from trying to please our own selfish desires to a life focused on glorifying God.

We are compelled to action based on the genuine love of Christ! We should be driven just as Paul was to share the love of Christ to everyone. Paul has surrendered his life and life choices to the Lord as a result of Jesus’ tremendous love. This love has taken Paul captive, willingly, so that he can do the work of the Lord regardless of what his previous plans may have been. It is a purposeful life choice each of us as believers have the opportunity to make, and, if we choose it, our lives become focused on serving others in order to bring honor and glory to our Heavenly Father. AMEN AND AMEN

08/26/2026

James 1:16 “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.”

Have you ever had a situation where something seemed really wrong and your immediate reaction is to blame God for what has happened? James, brother of Jesus, is writing to believers and in a very straightforward way he exposes the hypocritical practices that we can allow to creep in to our daily Christian living. In verses 14 and 15, he makes a very important point when he writes “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.” It has become a practice among some believers when they are tempted, they immediately place the blame upon God and accuse Him of encouraging us to sin. It is as if we are saying God is trying to use sin to lure us away from our relationship with Him! Play that over in your mind. Does that make any sort of rational sense that God would use such a tactic? James lets us know that this is not who God is and He would never use such an approach.

When James writes “Don’t be deceived,” he is addressing how we talk to ourselves. It is a caution to believers that we must be careful of misrepresenting God’s role in our trials and challenges. To make his point James writes in verses 2 through 4 “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” It is through these spiritual struggles that we grow in our faith and trust in the Lord.

James emphasizes that God is indeed the giver of all good gifts! In this chapter he wants us to focus on our self-talk regardless of whether it is about bad things or good things. While often these trials strike an emotional nerve, we can, in fact, exercise control over our emotions. Our perspective can be a very strong influencer of our feelings. When we focus on truth, we can be in much better position to recognize that it is indeed our own sinful desires that lead to temptation and not God! Be encouraged that God has given us His Holy Word to test our thoughts and beliefs that might lead us to false conclusions of who our God is and His ever present nature in all things! AMEN AND AMEN

08/25/2026

Isaiah 26:3-4 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”

The prophet Isaiah is writing of the peace God provides to those who believe and trust in Him. There is an emphasis placed on perfect peace being attained by keeping our minds steadfast on our Heavenly Father! Isaiah assures us that believers who keep their faith in God will establish a rock solid foundation that will allow them to remain calm regardless of the life challenges that come their way.

While the world defines peace as the absence of conflict, God’s perfect peace remains even in times of conflict. Regardless of what may be going on around us, God gives us a profound feeling of comfort and completeness through our relationship with Him. Isaiah makes it clear in this verse that this can only be accomplished if we keep our minds steadfast on Him. This must be a deliberate act on the part of the believer and it doesn’t just happen by any other means. When we trust in God’s character and promises, everything else pales in comparison.

Paul gives us a similar message when he writes in Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It is when we turn our anxieties and woes over to the Lord that we find true peace that guards our hearts and minds. In the gospel of John we find Jesus saying “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27) Once again, Jesus is reinforcing that when we trust God with all of our cares, we find peace unlike any other.

So as you examine yourself today, are you surrendering all your cares and challenges to the Lord or are you still trying to tackle them on your own? We can find true inner peace when we fully and completely trust in the Lord and remain steadfast in His promises. When we align our hearts and minds with God, we gain a peace that endures forever! AMEN AND AMEN.

08/24/2026

2 Timothy 3:12 “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Paul’s persecution is well documented, so as he prepares Timothy to move forward in ministry he is blatantly honest about what to expect. There is nothing vague about the words “everyone that wants to live a godly life” will suffer persecution. After all, we live in an ungodly world that fully intends on finding ways to defend their sinful living and what better way than trying to tear down those that live for the Lord! This flies straight into the face of the ideology of those preaching the “prosperity gospel.” God never said it was a “name it and claim it” relationship. Scripture states that we can ask anything our hearts desire but unfortunately people have taken these words out of context. We must align these words with other scripture that tells us our hearts should be in one accord with God’s will and not our own.

Not only Paul but other apostles in the early church suffered persecution as well. All except John were executed for their unwillingness to deny Christ and the gospel. John was sentenced exile on the Isle of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation. John reminds us in his gospel the words of Jesus (John 15:18-20) which say “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” Belonging to Christ makes us an enemy to this world!

While in our world today we may not face the same level of physical persecution as the early Christians, living a consistently devoted life to Christ can still bring on some significant challenges. Believe it or not, living a life of integrity grows more difficult by the day simply because our world values material possessions and success over living a righteous life. This makes Paul’s message to Timothy all the more important to us today. Living a life for Christ brings both blessings and challenges. This increases the need for us to find a body of likeminded believers so that we can support one another through the challenges and they can celebrate our blessings with us. We must always have at the forefront our minds the fact that our efforts to live a godly life are recognized, known, and valued by our Heavenly Father. And most importantly, they are not only of value in this world but for our eternal heavenly home! AMEN AND AMEN

08/22/2026

Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

This is a frequently quoted verse in sermons, Sunday school lessons, conferences, and other gatherings designed to help those in attendance understand that God did not create us to be in spiritual isolation. The key to understanding this verse is the fact that there is mutual benefit to both giving and receiving feedback and at times correction from someone that has our spiritual best interest at heart. Iron against iron can only improve the quality of the end product. The same is true for Followers of Jesus Christ. When we are in a community of believers where there is no fear of providing feedback, and yes even correction when needed, can only make the community stronger and wiser.

John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible says it this way “A sword or knife made of iron is sharpened by it; so butchers sharpen their knives; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend; by conversation with him; thus learned men sharpen one another's minds, and excite each other to learned studies; Christians sharpen one another's graces, or stir up each other to the exercise of them, and the gifts which are bestowed on them, and to love and to good works.” … Some render the words, "as iron delighteth in iron, so a man rejoiceth the countenance of his friend: by his company and conversation.”

A critical element of this passage of scripture is that the parties involved are open and willing to accept the feedback being provided. No one particularly enjoys being corrected yet it is essential to our spiritual growth that we recognize and receive the feedback as being given for our own benefit. There are multiple examples where people in the Bible openly accepted the feedback/correction being given by a person who genuinely cared about their spiritual growth and it led the person receiving feedback to grow spiritually and allow them to handle even greater spiritual assignments. We also see occasions where there were those that were offended by the feedback, even when it was given with genuine care and love, and the receiver of the feedback acted out in a childish manner and allowed the feedback/correction to irritate them and fuel their wrath. Iron sharpens iron only if we allow it to. If we do as this verse instructs and in the manner God intended it to be done then we have the opportunity to grow in wisdom and spiritual understanding. As believers, we should seek out those that are unafraid to help us sharpen our spiritual iron and in turn, we should be ready and available to help them sharpen their iron. By doing so, we make our community of believers spiritually equipped and ready for spiritual warfare. AMEN AND AMEN

08/20/2026

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

The word “faith” is used in a variety of ways in our current culture, some correctly, some incorrectly. It is very important that believers have a clear understanding of what God means by faith in scripture and Hebrews 11:1 gives us a concise but accurate definition for us to use in our daily lives. It is faith that gives us the assurance that things hoped for will come to fruition. Faith and hope go together and the things we hope for are a byproduct of our faith. Faith gives us the confidence that what God has promised can be counted as fact. When believers exercise faith, God gives them peace and joy. It is by faith that Christ dwells in us and it is Christ who sustains us through our faith.

Our verse goes on to say “and assurance about what we do not see.” Faith allows us to see through our spiritual eyes rather than trusting in our physical eyes. Our Heavenly Father reveals things to us that cannot be seen by the physical eyes but it is by our spiritual eyes that we can see God’s revelations of what is to come are true. Faith leads us to spiritual vision that allows us to know spiritual truth and should guide the believer despite what the physical eyes may interpret. In addition, faith serves the believer the same way the senses serve the body. Faith becomes the critical tool for spiritual confidence so we can accept as fact and believe God’s promises even when we do not see them. A great verse to put with today’s verse is 2 Corinthians 5:7 which tells us “For we live by faith, not by sight.” AMEN AND AMEN

08/19/2026

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Fear is often the result of us depending on our own thoughts and abilities rather than God’s power and authority. Our verse states God has not given us a spirit of fear yet there are those who live in fear. There are even those that profess to be Followers of Jesus Christ that have not spiritually matured to a level where they can battle fear. If God did not give us fear, then the logical conclusion is that fear comes from the enemy. Satan loves to put us in situations where fear would be the carnal response but when we enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and we grow closer to Him, we no longer allow the enemy to have control. Psalm 56:3 tells us “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” (NIV) So how do we avoid the spirit of fear, we put our trust in the Lord. In order for us to be of service to the Lord, which is what all Believers should desire, we cannot allow fear to have any place in our lives (mind or heart). Isaiah 12:2 gives us a good reminder when Isaiah says “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” (NIV) Probably well worth highlighting or underlining this verse and make a note to remind you of where you can go to find comfort when fear begins to rear its ugly head.

Our verse proceeds with the fact that God has given us power, love, and a sound mind. As we live our daily lives we have two choices; I can choose to live the day by faith or I can choose to live the day by fear. The sinful world will put plenty of situations in our way that could easily result in fear but we must remember that God is always with us and will never forsake us so why live in fear? Today’s culture is full of those who desire to persecute Believers and there are those that are preaching false teachings that are contrary to what God’s Word tells us. We must consistently build our relationship with our Lord and Savior so we do not allow ourselves to be defeated by fear but by faith we do what our Heavenly Father has instructed us to do. God has given us the power to face the world of sin courageously, He has provided us an example of true love and how it can be used to show compassion to those caught in the traps of sin, and He has given us a sound mind so that we can demonstrate self-control even in the most difficult of situations. Living by faith will allow us to demonstrate God’s gifts of power, love and sound mind to the sinful world around us and by doing so we give a living example of Who lives in us. AMEN AND AMEN

(NOTE: THE JEREMIAH STUDY BIBLE was used to assist with today’s devotion.)

08/18/2026

Job 19:25 “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.”

Scripture does not tell us specifically how Job knew this but clearly God had placed in his heart the confidence of believing that his redeemer lives. We hear the word “redeemer” often in hymns, sermons, and Sunday school lessons but it is not always defined clearly as to what it means. The Holman Bible Dictionary tells us “The verbal form in the Old Testament is always used in a religious sense such as the covering of sin, or the making of atonement for sin, or ransom.” We most frequently associate with the meaning of a “go between;” Someone or something that will serve as the atonement for a wrong. In the Old Testament the Hebrews were raised with specific, non-negotiable concepts to define redemption. It was a process of buying back something which formerly belonged to the purchaser but for some reason had passed into the ownership of another. The original owner could regain ownership by paying a redemption price for it. During Old testament days the concepts were used symbolically to demonstrate the redemptive power of God. Psalm 19:14 tells us “ May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Throughout the Old Testament there are numerous examples of God redeeming His people. Parting of the Red Sea and delivering His people from captivity are only a couple of examples where God demonstrated His redemptive and saving power” (Holman Bible Dictionary). This passage shows us that Job knew he had a living Redeemer that he could place his faith and trust in no matter what was happening to him personally. Throughout the Old Testament, the consistent testimony is that there was a living God that served as the strength and redemptive power for those that put their faith and trust in YAHWEH, Jehovah God! AMEN AND AMEN

08/17/2026

2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

At the time of this writing, there are still those that were trying to live by the Old Testament law which led to a mindset of living by rules and rituals. Paul is emphasizing that now, the Holy Spirit gives us freedom from sin, judgement and death. Romans 8:1 tells us “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” In the previous verses he describes the one and only way to have the eternal promise of eternal life. Paul emphasizes that the veil that once separated human understanding and God’s glory has been removed.

The power to remove the veil and opening the human mind to the glory of God is accomplished through the Holy Spirit! For emphasis, Paul states that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” It is through our faith in Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that the veil is fully removed and we can see the wonderful glory of God! It is by this freedom that our hardened minds and spiritual blindness are capable of distinguishing the difference between life and death. It is through the Spirit that believers are able to reflect the glory of God and begin the transition of sanctification.

Paul uses these words to contrast the old covenant and its limitations against the new covenant and its promise of eternity in the Kingdom of God! AMEN AND AMEN

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