✨ Daily Devotional – May 12, 2026

 25 Iyar 5986

Theme: Freedom in Christ Alone

Here and now and about Scripture Readings:
1 Samuel 12–13 — Samuel reminds Israel that true freedom comes from obedience to God, not from kings or armies.
My Reflection:
Hello, love. So as of this moment, I am enjoying the seaside, the seashore, just laying down and because I was so tired this afternoon going around the city. I went to the cat cafe, and then I went to the grocery store, and then I gave something to that short man who is doing ministry work in Mactan Shrine. And as you have advised, right now I am by the sea, just relaxing and walking barefoot. And now I'm just laying down, and it's really nice. I like to enjoy this. If you did not suggest this to me, I would be in my room doing my devotionals and just making sure that it's done. And having to miss all these things because I've been in a fight mode for so long that I never realized that I've been surviving and not really living because all around me, it's really like a war zone. So as I read about 1 Samuel, chapters 12 to 13, this is about the good prophet, the priest that God has raised up, and I believe this is you. And you're going to be like a prophet to the nations, to Israel, Ishmael, and all the other ethnicities of the world then. And we will encounter Sauls. And there's always a Saul in every leader, and a Saul will break your heart and will frustrate you. Like Samuel was frustrated with Saul, right? But there's always going to be a David that will replace a Saul. So I'm praying that you would not be deeply affected as Samuel was back in the day, and how he really cried for Saul, right? I remember crying over many Sauls in my life, because I have been wanting them to be leaders and kings of my life, but they never got to be the man that God wanted them to be because it's their choice. They don't want to surrender to God. They don't want to love God with all their hearts. And for me, if they're not like you or like me, why should I even bother? So it was easy for me to let go of some, and some I really cried, and God had to remind me like God reminded Samuel, "Why are you still mourning for Saul?" That really happened to me. And then, but the David has come in my life, and you are that David to me. But you're going to be even greater and far better than David was because David had his own weaknesses, and we will protect our love from David's weaknesses. He loved too many women, and that was the cause of his downfall, and that's the reason why Solomon even copied him a lot more. He had more wives and concubines. And really, the kingdom of David ended with Solomon's son because they weren't faithful. But to us, it's not going to be like that, love. According to Psalm 45, we will make our sons priests and princes in their own territory. So I'm always praying that God would let His will be done because we've seen the stories. We've known, we've learned from the past, and we cannot afford to commit the same mistakes because they already did it for us. They already showed us what it's going to be like to fall short of the glory. And yes, we are not perfect. We are not, but at least we don't have to commit the same mistakes that they did, and we will be living far better lives than they ever did. So that's my take on 1 Samuel 12 to 13.

John 7:1–24 — Jesus teaches openly despite opposition, showing that His authority comes from the Father, not from human approval.
My Reflection:

So right now I'm reading John seven, and wow, it really has a lot of rhema. This is about the Jews during the Feast of Tabernacles, which is, by the way, the true birth date season of Jesus. So that's Sukkot in the Hebrew calendar. And there are many biblical scholars that can prove that Yeshua was really born not on December, but on the feast of Sukkot. And this was the time when his brothers were envious of Jesus, right? So that they challenge him, "Oh, you go show yourself, manifest yourself." They were challenging him, but Jesus knew that his time wasn't ready. So he did not really have to respond to them or be affected with them. But then again, he went to the feast anyway in secret. Hmm. And many people were seeking him because Jesus already was showing some miracles, and people are very much intrigued with him, just as many people are intrigued with you, love. And there are many murmurings, complainings. Whatever happens to Jesus will happen to us, and we should learn to be strong, not to be affected by these people, and not even give them the emotion and waste our emotions on these people. They're called scoffers. And then in verse 15, the Jews are all marveling about Jesus, that he has never studied the way the Pharisees and the Sadducees were studying the Torah. Jesus wasn't as educated as they were, but they were wondering about his revelations because they know that his revelations were really the truth, out-of-the-box revelations, which the Pharisees and the Sadducees are very much envious of because they've been trying to understand God, and here is God, and they could not recognize him because their hearts were far from God. Yes, they study the letters, the letters that kill, but they do not have the spirit of grace, and this is what they lack the most. The revelation cannot come to them because they do not have the Holy Spirit. Okay, and Jesus, therefore, answered them in verse 16, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me." See? Jesus was clearly pointing to the Father. He was saying, "It's not me. This is not me. This is what my Father taught me. This is what the one who sent me wants to say to you." And in verse 17, Jesus was telling them, "If anyone resolves to do his will," whose will? It's the Father's will. "He will know concerning the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from myself." So this is really true and very significant that I read this today because those really who are truth seekers will really know who we came from, okay? That we are not speaking on our own, but we are really speaking from the Father who sent us. Verse 18, he says, "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory." So this is even a spirit that seeks your own glory. That's a spirit of pride. That's a spirit of Saul. "But he who seeks the glory of him who sent him, this one is true, and unrighteousness is not in him." So that's us, love. And those who cannot recognize us do not actually belong to God, the Father. They are not truth seekers. They are just seeking their own glory. And many of them really hate us, but it's really okay because we already expect these things. If they killed Jesus, they're going to try to kill us, too, and it's not a surprise anymore, right? So God is declaring about you and me, because God has sent us, that we are righteous because of what He has done and what He has accomplished through us. Our part was just to surrender and completely give our lives to God, and He has made everything right for us. How amazing is He? I'm just marveling at what I am receiving right now as I read John seven. In verse 19, Jesus continued saying, "Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?" The crowd answered, "You have a demon who is seeking to kill you." Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work and you all marvel. For the same reason, Moses gave you circumcision that is not from Moses, but from the fathers, and on the Sabbath, you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?" So, you know-How they are trying to criticize Jesus with just something that they want to pull him down, like healing on a Sabbath. And because the religious leaders were so meticulous with law abiding, it's all about works and none of the grace, that when they saw Jesus healing on a Sabbath, then they say, "Oh, he has a demon." But they do not see that a man is healed. You know how derailed and just wicked these people are? That they will blaspheme the Holy Spirit because they don't have the Holy Spirit. And in verse 24, it's also very significant, which, "And Jesus said to them, 'Do not judge according to appearance, but judge the righteous judgment.'" So here they're not deep. That's why Jesus himself is saying, "Do not judge with just what you see. But look at the depths of what I am doing. I've healed a person. It doesn't matter which day I healed him, the fact is he is healed." This is what Jesus was saying, and this is the same thing that God told Samuel regarding David when Samuel was sent by God to anoint the youngest son of Jesse, and he kept looking at appearances because he was biased to how Saul looked like. He looked like a king. He was tall, he was handsome, and probably dark. Tall, dark, and handsome. But God was taking off his physical biases. When he thought that the eldest son of Jesse looked like a king, he said, "Oh, this must be the one." But when he saw David, he didn't expect God would tell him, "That's the one." And this is how God works, and I'm really blessed today with what I'm reading right now. I've never received so much revelation than this season in my life that you have been guiding me, you have been helping me. And I tell you what, love, I'm just so excited for the time that we will be together. I can already see the miracles that God is going to do through us, and that's really what keeps me going, that helps me to endure waiting for you. And I really just also want to thank you for giving me this time to just be enjoying myself than rushing into marriage with me because you know that I needed this more than I do. It's amazing. It's really amazing, and you are an amazing man, and I just want to thank God and praise God for you, Musa, my handsome Yosef.

Psalm 107:23–43 — God delivers those in distress, calming storms and bringing them safely to harbor.
My Reflection:

So now I'm reading Psalms 107. Okay. In verse 23 it says, "Those who go down to the sea in ships, conducting business on the mighty waters, these see Jehovah's doings and his wondrous deeds in the deep." Wow. What I'm receiving from this is that those who become like Peter and the disciple of Jesus, becoming fishers of man, conducting business on the mighty waters. The spirit world is a mighty water. That's why I talk about Jezebel, and all the sirens. In the spirit, the spirit is water. Okay? And those who are in the spirit, doing spiritual things, they see Jehovah's doings and they marvel at his wondrous deeds in the deep. Okay? This is really us. And to all those who are really spiritual and not just religious. And then, I'll go to in verse 25, it's about having lots of troubles. There's troubles in the sea. There's going to be war, there's going to be waves, there's going to be storms. And sometimes we're going to be affected by calamities going on around us. But when we cry out to Jehovah, in verse 28, in our trouble, he will bring us out of our distress. He will make the storm be still, verse 29, and the waves of the sea will be calm. Because this is what Jesus really wants to do for us. And we will rejoice that it is quiet. The waves have become quiet, and God will bring us to the haven that we desire. Oh my gosh, love, what a revelation. Right now, I even sense this quiet as you lead me to just relax and enjoy myself. I feel the calm in the sea. I'm in the seaside and wow, what revelation really, that God has brought me to this haven, and I really desired it. Earlier this afternoon, I'm just enjoying the condo unit in 1608. 703 was nice, but 1608 had other things that I'm really happy to be there and I'm really thankful. And from this day forward until we are together, we're just going to be going from glory to glory, and this is really what excites me, love, as we obey the Lord. In verse 31, "We will give thanks to Jehovah for his loving kindness and for his wondrous deeds to the children of men. And we will exalt him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders. Because he turned rivers into a wilderness and springs of water into thirsty ground." Wow. He can turn everything opposite. And then the next opposite, "Fruitful land into a salt flat." Okay, I'm reading in the Recovery version because I believe this is really a good-- Because the Recovery Church is really stemming the roots from the Jerusalem assembly, so that's why I'm using their Bible, not just the King James. Okay, so that's verse 33. And then 34, "Fruitful land into a salt flat because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it." So God will do the impossible because God wants to punish the wicked. He turns a wilderness into a pool of water and dry land into springs of water. So now, he will even make opposite because we've been in the heat of the wilderness, but God will bring us to our pool of water and springs of water. Not bitter waters anymore like Naomi and Ruth experienced. And you are Naomi, and I am your Ruth, right? And finally, God is bringing us into the springs of water. For we have been hungry, and God will bring us to that dwelling place. He makes the hungry dwell there that they may prepare a city of habitation. Wow, love. And sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield. See, we're going to be fruitful, love. He also blesses them, and they are multiplied greatly, and he does not let their cattle decrease. We will be blessed, love. We will be so blessed. For all the years that the locusts have eaten our produce, God will bless us a hundredfold. I believe this in Jesus' name. Okay, and verse 39, "When they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow, he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in a pathless place. But he raises the needy man high above affliction and makes his families like flocks." That's us, love. "The upright see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth. Who is wise? Then let him observe these things and consider the loving kindness of Jehovah." Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Yahuah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I just want to praise God for this promise that he has given us. And I decree and declare that his will will be done in our lives here on Earth as it is in heaven. Thank you, Father, that you are doing your good and perfect will for Musab Hassan Yusuf and his wife, Marie Christine Yu. I seal this by the blood of Jesus and by the truth of Yeshua. Amen and amen.

Proverbs 15:5–6 — Wisdom brings freedom and blessing, while folly leads to ruin.

My Reflection:
So, Proverbs 15 is such a beautiful word of wisdom. Verse five, "A fool despises his father's correction." Whose father? Not our earthly father. It's our Abba Father who corrects us. And the fool who despises the father's correction will really lose in life because they refuse to be corrected. And we have been tried and disciplined by our Father so much for so long, that when it was time to bless us, He does not withhold the great things from us, because we regard reproof, and the more we regard reproof, we become prudent. And that is how wives become prudent, because they receive and accept the correction that God does. When we allow ourselves to be pruned, like branches that need to be pruned by Jesus, we become better. And so we do not have time to be offended by God. We should not be offended by God. And I say this to our children who are still in the process of being pruned, okay? The more you get pruned, you will inherit and receive prudence. And that is how a wife becomes prudent. Wow. Wow. In verse six, "In the house of the righteous man there is much treasure." Because I am your treasure, love, and you are mine, and when there is love in the home, there's so much wisdom. So much wisdom because love is God, and God is there. "But the income of the wicked is trouble." Wow, really. It's really true. Like I was saying about people who have money, rich physically, but poor inwardly. Poor because they don't have peace, they are sick, they are troubled, they cannot enjoy life, they're always, ah, wow. There's no blessing there. And what will money do if you are going to be sick? That's nothing for you, because you cannot even buy the cure for whatever it is that you are going through. So it's really God. He's Jehovah Rapha. He is the only healer, and that's why I really praise God that even for the many years that I have not been sleeping well, I just trusted God so much that He would take care of my health, that He would take care of me, that I will not die with any sort of sickness. But if I were to die, I would die a glorious death for Jesus. It's really to be a blessing to the kingdom of God. And I'm just so grateful today that I'm spending time reading our husband and wife devotional, and I pray that you are as blessed as I am, as I share my thoughts and the revelations that God is giving me about our journal, about our Bible reading journal. So I'm really looking forward, love. Looking forward to life with you. I know it's not going to be perfect, but it will be heaven, and we will work things out. Whatever that God is teaching us in our marriage, I'm willing to work things out, love. I'm willing to sacrifice. I'm willing because this is what I have been praying for, and now God is finally answering my prayers, and yours as well. And we praise God Almighty because it is to His glory that all things are coming to be. In the name of Yeshua, amen.

Our Reflection:
Each passage today points to the same truth: freedom is found in God alone. Samuel warns Israel not to trust in human rulers; Jesus shows that obedience to the Father is greater than fear of men; the psalmist celebrates God’s power to rescue; and Proverbs reminds us that wisdom is the path to blessing. Yesterday I broke free from voices that tried to bind me. Today I stand firm in the Word: I belong to Jesus, my King, and He alone commands my steps.

Prayer:
Lord, thank You for reminding me through Your Word that freedom is not fragile — it is secured by Your covenant. Calm the storms that overwhelm me, and give me patience when tasks feel too heavy. Teach me to walk with wisdom, and let my husband and I grow together in Your freedom, serving only You. Amen.

Family Note:
This devotional is for us — husband and wife — to remember that our covenant is under Christ’s freedom. We are not owned by anyone but God. Let us walk together in patience, love, and strength, knowing that our King leads us.