Month: April 2016

Breaking the Strongholds of Fear and Unbelief

Psalm 41:7
All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me.
Is the devil whispering in your ear?  He may sound something like this: 
  • You are not good enough to minister to others.  Let someone else do it.
  • Why are you trying this?  You will fail.
  • Why would God have a place for a sinner like you?  You will be embarrassed if you do that.

Unfortunately, these same whispers of the devil may even come to you through the voices of those you know, you love and you trust.
We must take on the full armor of God when the enemy begins whispering defeat into our lives.  Our victory and our anointing in Christ has already been set.  We need to seize the anointing on our lives that will break off the yokes of insecurity, inferiority, fear, and unbelief.
When Satan accused Joshua, listen to how Jesus responded, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”  Zechariah 3:2  We need to respond in the same manner every time Satan accuses us.  We must learn to recognize his attacks and respond immediately under the authority of Our King, Jesus Christ.  Otherwise, we will become comfortable with the lies spoken against us.  The victory is ours in the name of the Lord, Jesus.  We must learn to claim it.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the armor that You provide us.  We thank You that the enemy cannot lead us astray when we take on the armor of protection that is ours through our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.  Thank You, Jesus, for providing our victory over all evil.  Teach us how to live our lives in victory.  Strengthen us through our faith in Your promises.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who is our stronghold in our times of trouble, Jesus Christ.

Preaching the Word is More About How We Live Than What We Say

2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.
We are commanded to preach the Word of God.  Are we prepared?
Jesus Christ, the Living Word, came to earth to teach about His Father in heaven and to reveal the salvation plan.  A large portion of His message was presented through the way that He lived and loved among the people.  He used His miracles to exhibit His love and to gain attention for His message – especially for those that would not listen to His message otherwise.
So it is with us.  Because most of the world now has hardened hearts for the spoken Word, we must draw them to the Word by the way that we live our lives.  Our living testimony of the miracle that occurred in our lives through Jesus Christ must be the message that those around us see day in and day out.  Once they see the miraculous way that our lives have changed and they see the joy that we have regardless of circumstances, the comfort we have regardless of our trials and the love that we share through good times and bad, they will be drawn to the fount that sustains us.  The way we live will say more and teach more than we could convey with eloquent speech.  To preach the Word is more about how we live than how we orate.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the living presence of Your Son in our lives.  We bless the name of Jesus who dwells within us so that we may be vessels of His perfect love.  We pray that we may become broken vessels, surrendered to Our Savior, so that the world may be drawn to Him by the Light that lives within us and shines forth from us.  Once those around us have been drawn to us by the lives in Christ that we are living, we pray that You give us the strength and the boldness to proclaim the gospel.  We ask that You open the ears of those around us and prepare their hearts to receive their Savior.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who made us fishers of men, Jesus Christ.

Settling for Less Than Canaan

Genesis 11:31
Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
In this passage we find Abraham travelling with his father and their extended family.  Most writers seem to believe that Terah was moving his family based on the calling on Abraham’s life.  In obedience to the calling of Almighty God, they have left Ur of the Chaldeans and are travelling to the land of Canaan. But for some unexplained reason, they do not complete the journey to Canaan.  They end their journey half way to Canaan.  They remain in Haran until Terah’s death.

There are two lessons that can be taken away from this passage.  The first has to do with falling short of Canaan.  How often do we miss out on what God has set aside for us because we quit before we reached His intended favor for us?  We must be careful not to rely on our own thoughts and ways and settle for less than what God has planned for us because what we have achieved is pleasing to us and seems good in our own eyes.

The second lesson from this passage teaches us that we can get up and go again even if we have given up or quit on something that God has set aside for us.  Just as Abraham continued on to Canaan after the death of His father, we can continue on to the calling that God has given us after we have settled for something less.  Our Father in Heaven will provide a reward for us that will be much greater than what we may have settled for.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating each of us to fulfill a special calling.  We rejoice in knowing that You will stand by us even when we falter on our journey.  We exalt Your name for providing Your Holy Spirit to lift us back up when we weaken, to redirect us when we go off course and to inspire us to go further when we settle for less than Your plan for us.  We pray that we will settle for nothing less than our own Canaan.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who provides our future and our hope, Jesus Christ.

Living and Acting in Accordance with Our Faith

2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
From time to time, we truly experience the exhilarating feeling of God’s presence in our lives.  We cannot see God, but we know that He is with us.  These moments are precious.  These moments are important building blocks in the foundation of our faith.  These moments are glimpses of things not seen, but things that are eternal.  These are the moments that will carry us through our daily duties and trials when we do not feel the presence of God with us. 
On the other hand, the things that we see are only temporary.  How can we put our faith in the things of the flesh that will be here today and gone tomorrow?  How can we put our faith in the calamities of life?  How can we put our faith in all those things that will be stripped away at our death? 
Let us be governed by the things of eternal hope and not by the appearance and lure of present things.  Let us walk by faith as we look to Jesus Christ for righteousness, peace, pardon, and eternal life.  Let us live in the fullness of life offered by Our Savior.  Let us live in confident expectation of the things that are to come.  Let us live and act based on our faith which reveals to us that all the promises of God’s Holy Word are true.
 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the times that You allow us to experience Your presence in our lives.  We pray that You will use those moments to build our faith in You.  We pray that You will use those moments to strengthen us when our burdens are heavy and we do not feel Your presence.  We ask, Lord, that we will be filled with joy even when You have called us to tedious tasks.  May the Holy Spirit remind us how pleasing it is to You when we are obedient to Your calling in our lives.  We pray that we will be living vessels of those moments in Your presence so that the world around us may experience who You are.  May the strength of our faith draw others to Your Son, Jesus.  We ask all these things in the name of our eternally faithful king, Jesus Christ.

Is It Hope That We Need Today?

Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Is it hope that we need today?  Are we seeking hope to relieve the pain that we are suffering?  Are we seeking hope to relieve the concern over the financial woes that are hounding us?  Or, perhaps, are we seeking hope to ease the torment of conflict in a relationship that we are feeling?
In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.  There is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God.  He sent the fallen angels from His kingdom forever because of their sins.  He flooded the earth because of the violence and evil of all mankind.  He destroyed all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness.  Yet He spared us from our sins by giving us His Son.  Through His Son, He provides us with all our temporal needs and all of our spiritual blessings.  It is all given freely according to His good will and pleasure.
For while we are without strength, all that we need is provided through Our Savior.  While we are sorrowful, we can always rejoice.  While we are poor, we can experience His abundant riches.  While we may have nothing, we can possess everything through the sacrificial offering of the Son of Almighty God, Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing us with all of our needs, both temporal and spiritual.  We exalt the name of Jesus for providing us with that which we do not deserve and could never earn except through His death for our sins.  We praise You, Father, for the hope and assurance that we have through Our Savior.  He is all that we need.  We pray that through Your grace and through the aid of the Holy Spirit, we will find the peace and strength that we need in all circumstances.  We ask all these things in the name of the Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

We Are Given Hope Through God’s Love for Us

1 Corinthians 13:7
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  
God is love.  His love is unconditional and without end.  His love for us is expressed explicitly through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.

God’s love bears all things.  Through His love for us, He provides the blood of His Son to wash away all of our iniquities.  He forgives all of our sins.  

God’s love believes all things to be good in accordance with His promises in His Holy Word.  He views all His children in the best and the kindest manner.   Because of the victory of the Cross, He does not accept the lies of the enemy against us.

God’s love provides us with hope in all things.  Through His loving promises, we are given hope through all of our circumstances for a future that we cannot see.  We are given hope that we will one day live in glory in His presence in His house.  We are given hope that all will be right and well with us for all eternity.

God’s love endures all things.  With patience and a loving spirit, He endures all of our failures in the flesh for the sake of the Gospel and the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ.

God expresses His love to us in all these ways so that we may love Him in return and share His love with the world around us.  As vessels of the love that He has given us, we are capable of extraordinary service to those around us.  We are capable of bearing all things that others bring against us.  We are capable of enduring all of the attacks of the enemy.  We are capable of believing in the eternal good of every man.  We are capable of proclaiming hope to the world that is expressed through God’s grace – the Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect love.  We thank You that Your love flows to us without end.  We exalt the name of Jesus, who is the complete expression of Your love.  We pray, Father, for the Holy Spirit to guide us, instruct us and prepare our hearts so that we may be living testimonies of the character of Your love.  May the world have hope because they hear us proclaim Your Good News and see the fullness of Your love in us.  We ask all these things in the name of the precious Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

The God of Our Losses

Daniel 4:14-15
He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field.

King Nebuchadnezzar was at ease in his house and prospering greatly.  In his own words, the Most High God had blessed him in every way.  But because of Nebuchadnezzar’s unrighteousness and iniquities, it was all taken away from him.  The Most High God, who had provided it all to Nebuchadnezzar, allowed it all to be taken away.  Ultimately, when Nebuchadnezzar turned his eyes back to the the Lord, all was returned to the King.
In the scripture above, King Nebuchadnezzar is the tree.  God commands that the tree be stripped of all branches, leaves and fruit.  But as the God of all mercy stripped everything away from the tree, he left a stump from which the tree could rise again.
Almighty God is not only the God of all provision, He also the God of all loss.  In some unusual cases, He may order our losses to occur.  In most cases, He is simply allowing a loss to occur as a result of our iniquities or as a result of the attacks of the enemy.  Be certain that no loss can occur in our lives without God allowing it.  Be even more certain that our merciful Lord, who is filled with lovingkindness, is also the God of restoration.  So no matter what we are going through, or have gone through, God has commanded that some good remnant be left in us from which He can raise us up according to His perfect plans for our lives. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for every provision in our lives.  We give You all the glory and the praise for Your grace and lovingkindness.  Teach us, Lord, how to give you all the glory and praise when we are experiencing loss in our lives. Build up our faith so that we may endure while You raise us up from “what is left” in our lives to the good and perfect place that You have planned for us.  We ask all these things in the name of our all-sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

Finding the High Place in Our Lives

Jeremiah 31:25
For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.
What a tremendous promise we have from the Lord.  The promise was first spoken to draw the Jews out of bondage back to their homelands and back to Himself.  Through His prophet, Jeremiah, Almighty God was assuring the Jews that they would find a rest and joy in their new settlement if they set aside their idols and returned to Him.
The promise still holds true for all of us today as the Lord encourages us with His extraordinary promise to give us the strength that we need to break away from all the bondage in our lives.  The promise includes drawing us back to Himself when we have separated ourselves from Him by living in the world and taking on personal idols that we have set ahead of the Lord.  The promise includes giving us the spiritual inspiration that we need to renew our devotion to Him when it is lagging.  

Through His incredible promise, He calls us to live in a higher place, a place where His presence brings us complete comfort, peace and satisfaction.  He calls us to a place where the weary find rest and the sorrowful find joy.  There is no other place except in Jesus Christ that we can find such a promise.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for drawing us to Yourself.  We bless the name of Jesus who  provides all that we need to be one with You and one with Your Son.  We pray that You raise up in us the desire to bring to You the fullness of love and devotion that You seek from us.  Lift us up, Lord, to a higher place – a place that we cannot reach without You.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will strengthen us to leave behind the things of the world that we place ahead of our devotion to You.  We ask all these things in the name of our Most High Savior, Jesus Christ.

Everything Suitable for Living Our New Lives in Christ

Colossians 2:6-7
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
We are called to walk in the fullness of Jesus Christ who dwells within us.  We are to mirror in every way His love, patience, humility, meekness and faithfulness in carrying out His duties.  But more than that, we are to lean on Him.  We are to derive from Him the grace and strength that we need to live under His influence, by His direction and through His assistance.
In Jesus, we find beauty, glory, fullness and everything suitable for living our new lives in Christ.  We should not consider our own plans ever again, unless they are derived by seeking the guidance of Our Savior first.   We must learn not to lean on our own understanding, but to trust in the Lord to make our paths straight.
Once we acknowledge Our Lord and receive the benefit of the good and perfect plans that He sets aside for us, we must express our gratitude for all that He has provided.  For God justly withdraws His provision from those that receive it without thanksgiving.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, to dwell within us.  Make us mindful of His presence at all times.  Teach us to gladly, joyfully and willingly seek the plans that have been set aside for us through Our Savior.   Mold our hearts so that we will be ready to receive the fullness of Christ into our lives.  We pray that You fill our hearts with continuous gratitude and thanksgiving for our ever present King.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who transforms us through His indwelling presence, Jesus Christ.

Trials That Can Only Be Overcome by Faith

Genesis 22:2
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Can you picture yourself standing over your child with knife in hand, ready to offer him or her as a living sacrifice?  Can you even conceive of the idea that you would have gotten as far as the sacrificial altar?  Did anyone, other than Jesus Himself, have to endure a greater test than Abraham? 

To have to lose your child by the act of your own hand, who could endure such a test?  Only a person of unfathomable faith in the promises of God could.  When Abraham headed up the mountain with Isaac, he held the promise from God that God would make Abraham a great nation.  This promise could not be fulfilled without Isaac.
Abraham makes two comments that indicate that he faced his trial girded by faith in God’s promises.  The first confirmation of his faith came when he saw the place of sacrifice from afar.  He told the servants that had joined him and Isaac, “Stay here with the donkey.  I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”  The second confirmation of his faith came when Isaac asked where was the lamb for the sacrifice.  Abraham responded, “God will provide the lamb for Himself for the burnt offering, my son.”  And so it was that Abraham became a great nation as he stood with his knife ready, waiting in faith for His God to fulfill His promises.
God will test each of us.  He wants us to build up our faith in Him.  Take strength from the story of Abraham and Isaac.  God will always provide a way for us to fulfill the plan that he has for our lives and for the lives of those that we serve.  He will provide all that we need to endure that which we may feel is unbearable.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for covering us in the many promises of comfort, provision and strength that You have revealed to us in Your Holy Word.  Test us, O Lord, to build our faith in who You are.  Strengthen us, O Lord, that we may pass the tests that prepare us for our place in Your eternal kingdom.  Comfort us as we endure the trials.  Build up in us the faith of Abraham.  May we rejoice in seeing the fruits of our faith.  We ask all these things in the name of the Author of Our Faith, Jesus Christ.