"Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves." Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil" (2 Kings 4:1-2).
In meditating on this scripture, I believe the man of God knew that this widow had something in her house more valuable than what she was looking to receive from him. The only problem was - she didn't know it!
Throughout the Bible oil is representative of anointing. It represents the presence and power of the Holy Spirit upon a person or vessel. The Bible says that her husband served the man of God and feared the Lord. This was an anointed man. For years an anointing rested in their home. The man of God knew as long as there was anointing in the house everything she needed was likewise in the house. She was looking for money when God had given her something greater - an anointing. Money is the least of God's blessings. As long as our focus is on money we will miss out on what God, through His anointing, can do in our lives. As a matter of fact, the anointing will cause money to show up when it is activated in a situation. When we begin to operate in our anointing, we have God's presence and power accompanying our efforts. With God all things are possible.
Every Believer is anointed and carries within them the very same Holy Spirit Jesus Christ (The Anointed One) had upon Him. Like the jar of oil that sat on the widow's shelf overlooked and underestimated, many of us have done the same thing to the anointing that is present in our lives. We turn to people and other tangible things for answers, when God has already placed the answer within us, in the form of His Holy Spirit. The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as a Comforter, Guide, Teacher and Revealer. He has the answer to what perplexes us. In many cases, we don't need more money, or other tangible surrogate, we need revelation of our situation. We need discernment, enlightenment and direction to make a right decision. If we were to give the Holy Spirit free course in our lives, He would show us the abundance that God has already placed within us, but has thus far gone overlooked and underestimated.
The Holy Spirit wants to give you life in ever respect of the word. If there is anything dead, unfruitful or dying in our lives, we must give the Holy Spirit access to it, so that He can breathe upon it the breadth of life. The anointing, representing the presence of the Holy Spirit, was given so that we could experience life to its fullest. He can out produce anything, anyone or any system anywhere. However we must trust Him!
Never underestimate your anointing. It is God's most precious provision for us to prosper in our lives. It is the anointing that breaks the yoke of bondage and causes us to overcome our situations - whatever our situations may be!
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing" (Isaiah 10:27).
Excerpt from J.C. Matthews' book: "Your Situation is not Your Destination"
Scars
2 Thessalonians 3:3
"But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."
Some years ago, on a hot summer day in Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.
His mother, in the house and looking out the window, saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs.
That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator. Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother's fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.
The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Mom wouldn't let go."
You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, He's been there holding on to you. The Scripture teaches that God loves you. You are a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way. But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead.
The swimming hole of life is filled with peril - and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That's when the tug-of-war begins - and if you have the scars of His love on your arms be very, very grateful. He did not, and will not, ever let you go.
Aftermath
Mark 4:37-39
New Living Translation
37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. 38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” 39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.
You have been through many storms in your life. What were you left with after it was all over? You lost somethings but more was gained. You have more faith than you did before. You have more peace, joy, and anointing. Your fruit was ripened through the storm. Now, the enemy wishes he had not set up a snare for you because you came back stronger! You exercised your faith, now take a good look at the muscles you have now. Your life may have been torn apart by the storm but take a good look around and see what was saved. Praise God for that. You were not broken! Jesus knows just when to step in a bring silence to the storm. Now it's clean up time! Throw away the wreckage and preserve the treasure.
If you're still in the storm, He's there. He hears you. It may seem like He's asleep but He's not. He knows when enough is enough. Remember, Jesus was on the boat too.
God Bless
Friend of God
Why Did God Create Man and Woman?
There are many reasons for God choosing to take a pile of dirt from the earth and breathe His own breath into it, but one of the most fascinating reasons, and one most rejected by human nature is - friendship.
Why would we even believe that friendship could be a possibility in our relationship with God? What makes friends? What are the ingredients that make up friendship?
(I asked the group to give me their answers and they were enlightening to say the least.)
INGREDIENTS THAT MAKE UP FRIENDSHIP:
FUN: Friends have fun together.
SECRETS: Friends share secrets with each other.
INTERESTS: Friends share the same interests.
COMMUNICATE: Friends love to communicate with each other whether near or from far.
WHAT DO FRIENDS DO FOR EACH OTHER?
They are LOYAL.
They are PATIENT.
They are FORGIVING. They will cover each other's faults.
They are HONEST - "A mere friend will always agree with you, a true friend will argue."
They are EQUAL - "Love is different to friendship. Love demands opposites and extremes. Friendship demands equality."
Now let's bring this into our relationship with God. Proverbs 16:28 says, "A whisperer will divide the closest of friends." (Also read Genesis 1:26-28.)
When God created man, it was His daily routine to walk in the Garden and speak to them as friends. Then the whisperer came into that Garden with intentions to divide this divine friendship.
Genesis 3:1, "NOW THE SERPENT WAS MORE CUNNING THAN ANY BEAST OF THE FIELD. AND HE SAID TO THE WOMAN, 'HAS GOD INDEED SAID, YOU SHALL NOT EAT OF EVERY TREE OF THE GARDEN?'"
She answered the serpent correctly, which meant that she knew exactly what God meant. At that point, the serpent used words that created all kinds of doubts. The word for devil is diablo, which literally means, to speak (breathe out) to divide, or to whisper in order to cause division.
Satan's only purpose is to use every breath that he has to cause division and suspicion, so as to break bonds and covenants. When the serpent said in Genesis 3:4, "You will not surely die," he was twisting what God had said and suggesting that God was trying to fool them or manipulate them into a lesser deal.
Once they acted upon the lie, their friendship with God was broken because now they did not feel equal in the sense that they could "communicate with Him" - spirit to Spirit. And when God came into the Garden to speak to them, what happened?
Adam ran and hid himself. The friendship was broken and from that point onward, man saw God as a monster - a terrible, mysterious, sinister and angry being. This was NOT true, but that is how they saw Him, and to make it worse, their nakedness was no longer a matter of natural beauty and life, but of shame.
Amazingly, God still found a few whom He would befriend, and when you read the stories about these people, you will find an amazing pattern that proves His desire to communicate with man as a friend does.
Abraham is called by God: "Abraham, My friend forever." Moses argues with God when God wants to destroy the Israelites in Exodus 32:7-14 (read the story, it's fascinating.) God actually told Moses, "Get out of My way," He said to let/leave Him alone, so that He could destroy the people. Notice how Moses behaves like a true friend would. He tells God that His reputation was at stake because those from the east would observe that God brought them out of Egypt to kill them in the mountains.
What Would a Friend Do When You're About to Do Something Outside of Your Character and Would Ruin Your Reputation?
A friend would stand in your way and warn you of the consequences of your actions and try to stop you in your wrath or anger. That's what a friend is and that's what Moses was to God - a friend. The Bible says that God relented of this evil. The word "relented" means to become more lenient, compassionate and forgiving. Moses, as a friend, literally caused God to become more lenient and compassionate and to "cool down."
Now let's look at Jesus and what He said about friendship. In Luke 12:1-4, Jesus is surrounded by an innumerable multitude of people, so crowded in fact, that they were trampling on each other. Instead of Jesus addressing the multitudes, He FIRST of all spoke to His disciples, and in verse 4, He calls them "My friends" and shares things with them that He would not share with the multitudes. So it's obvious that His disciples were in a friendship with Jesus, even though He was Lord of all and God's only Son.
John 15:15, "No longer do I call you servants...but now I call you friends...for all things I have heard from My Father, I have shared with you."
I love this passage because it adds credence to the fact that God created us, among many other reasons, to be a friend. Once you understand what the Biblical rendition of a friend is, it takes away the idea of modern friendship which barely exists anymore. We are so apt to say, "Meet my best friend," when in fact we have called many others, "My best friend."
Do we really know what a friend is according to Biblical standards? David was called the apple of God's eye. Abraham was called God's friend forever. The word "friend" is divided into two – Phileos, which comes from Phi-logos, and literally means someone to talk to. God created you so that He could have someone to talk to. Doesn't that make you feel wonderful?
Again, we see that there is most definitely a friendship that Jesus offers to those closest to Him and that a friendship would allow them to hear things that most others would not hear.
The Bible study turned out to be inspiring and certainly helped all of us to include the element of friendship in our relationship with God. After all, without friendship a marriage will never survive, and without friendship any relationship will ultimately fall.
Kim Clement
Prophetic Image Expressions
Email: hope@kimclement.com
Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep ElijahList website, email contact info, and author contact information intact.
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
There are many reasons for God choosing to take a pile of dirt from the earth and breathe His own breath into it, but one of the most fascinating reasons, and one most rejected by human nature is - friendship.
Why would we even believe that friendship could be a possibility in our relationship with God? What makes friends? What are the ingredients that make up friendship?
(I asked the group to give me their answers and they were enlightening to say the least.)
INGREDIENTS THAT MAKE UP FRIENDSHIP:
FUN: Friends have fun together.
SECRETS: Friends share secrets with each other.
INTERESTS: Friends share the same interests.
COMMUNICATE: Friends love to communicate with each other whether near or from far.
WHAT DO FRIENDS DO FOR EACH OTHER?
They are LOYAL.
They are PATIENT.
They are FORGIVING. They will cover each other's faults.
They are HONEST - "A mere friend will always agree with you, a true friend will argue."
They are EQUAL - "Love is different to friendship. Love demands opposites and extremes. Friendship demands equality."
Now let's bring this into our relationship with God. Proverbs 16:28 says, "A whisperer will divide the closest of friends." (Also read Genesis 1:26-28.)
When God created man, it was His daily routine to walk in the Garden and speak to them as friends. Then the whisperer came into that Garden with intentions to divide this divine friendship.
Genesis 3:1, "NOW THE SERPENT WAS MORE CUNNING THAN ANY BEAST OF THE FIELD. AND HE SAID TO THE WOMAN, 'HAS GOD INDEED SAID, YOU SHALL NOT EAT OF EVERY TREE OF THE GARDEN?'"
She answered the serpent correctly, which meant that she knew exactly what God meant. At that point, the serpent used words that created all kinds of doubts. The word for devil is diablo, which literally means, to speak (breathe out) to divide, or to whisper in order to cause division.
Satan's only purpose is to use every breath that he has to cause division and suspicion, so as to break bonds and covenants. When the serpent said in Genesis 3:4, "You will not surely die," he was twisting what God had said and suggesting that God was trying to fool them or manipulate them into a lesser deal.
Once they acted upon the lie, their friendship with God was broken because now they did not feel equal in the sense that they could "communicate with Him" - spirit to Spirit. And when God came into the Garden to speak to them, what happened?
Adam ran and hid himself. The friendship was broken and from that point onward, man saw God as a monster - a terrible, mysterious, sinister and angry being. This was NOT true, but that is how they saw Him, and to make it worse, their nakedness was no longer a matter of natural beauty and life, but of shame.
Amazingly, God still found a few whom He would befriend, and when you read the stories about these people, you will find an amazing pattern that proves His desire to communicate with man as a friend does.
Abraham is called by God: "Abraham, My friend forever." Moses argues with God when God wants to destroy the Israelites in Exodus 32:7-14 (read the story, it's fascinating.) God actually told Moses, "Get out of My way," He said to let/leave Him alone, so that He could destroy the people. Notice how Moses behaves like a true friend would. He tells God that His reputation was at stake because those from the east would observe that God brought them out of Egypt to kill them in the mountains.
What Would a Friend Do When You're About to Do Something Outside of Your Character and Would Ruin Your Reputation?
A friend would stand in your way and warn you of the consequences of your actions and try to stop you in your wrath or anger. That's what a friend is and that's what Moses was to God - a friend. The Bible says that God relented of this evil. The word "relented" means to become more lenient, compassionate and forgiving. Moses, as a friend, literally caused God to become more lenient and compassionate and to "cool down."
Now let's look at Jesus and what He said about friendship. In Luke 12:1-4, Jesus is surrounded by an innumerable multitude of people, so crowded in fact, that they were trampling on each other. Instead of Jesus addressing the multitudes, He FIRST of all spoke to His disciples, and in verse 4, He calls them "My friends" and shares things with them that He would not share with the multitudes. So it's obvious that His disciples were in a friendship with Jesus, even though He was Lord of all and God's only Son.
John 15:15, "No longer do I call you servants...but now I call you friends...for all things I have heard from My Father, I have shared with you."
I love this passage because it adds credence to the fact that God created us, among many other reasons, to be a friend. Once you understand what the Biblical rendition of a friend is, it takes away the idea of modern friendship which barely exists anymore. We are so apt to say, "Meet my best friend," when in fact we have called many others, "My best friend."
Do we really know what a friend is according to Biblical standards? David was called the apple of God's eye. Abraham was called God's friend forever. The word "friend" is divided into two – Phileos, which comes from Phi-logos, and literally means someone to talk to. God created you so that He could have someone to talk to. Doesn't that make you feel wonderful?
Again, we see that there is most definitely a friendship that Jesus offers to those closest to Him and that a friendship would allow them to hear things that most others would not hear.
The Bible study turned out to be inspiring and certainly helped all of us to include the element of friendship in our relationship with God. After all, without friendship a marriage will never survive, and without friendship any relationship will ultimately fall.
Kim Clement
Prophetic Image Expressions
Email: hope@kimclement.com
Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep ElijahList website, email contact info, and author contact information intact.
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
YOU ARE NOT A NOBODY!!!
1. Who taught Martin Luther his theology and inspired his translation of the New Testament?
2. Who visited Dwight L. Moody at a shoe store and spoke to him about Christ?
3. Who was the wife of Charles Haddon Spurgeon?
4. Who was the elderly woman who prayed faithfully for Billy Graham for over twenty years?
5. Who financed William Carey’s ministry in India?
6. Who refreshed the apostle Paul in a Roman dungeon as he wrote his last letter to Timothy?
7. Who helped Charles Wesley get underway as a composer of hymns?
8. Who found the Dead Sea Scrolls?
9. Who followed Hudson Taylor and gave the China Inland Mission its remarkable direction?
10. Who were the parents of the godly and gifted prophet Daniel?
Okay, how did you do? Over fifty percent? Maybe twenty-five percent? Not quite that good? Before you excuse your inability to answer the questions by calling the quiz “trivia,” better stop and think. Had it not been for those unknown people - those “nobodies” - a huge chunk of church history would be missing, and a lot of lives would have been untouched.
Nobodies.
What a necessary band of men and women... servants of the King... yet nameless in the kingdom! Men and women who, with silent heroism, yet faithful diligence, relinquish the limelight and live in the shade of public figures. What was it Jim Elliot, the martyred messenger of the gospel to the Aucas, once called missionaries? Something like a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt Somebody.
But don’t mistake anonymous for unnecessary. Otherwise, the whole Body gets crippled - even paralyzed... or, at best, terribly dizzy as the majority of the members within the Body become diseased with self-pity and discouragement. Face it, friend, the Head of the Body calls the shots. It is His prerogative to publicize some and hide others. Don’t ask me why He chooses whom He uses. If it’s His desire to use you as a Melanchthon rather than a Luther... or a Kimball rather than a Moody... or an Onesiphorus rather than a Paul, relax!
Better than that, give God praise! You’re among that elite group mentioned in I Corinthians 12 as: ...some of the parts that seemed weakest and least important are really the most necessary... So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that might otherwise seem less important (vv. 22,24, TLB).
If it weren’t for the heroic “nobodies,” we wouldn’t have top-notch officers to give a church its leadership or quality sound when everyone shows up to worship or janitors who clean when everyone is long gone or committees to provide dozens of services behind the scenes or mission volunteers who staff offices at home or work in obscurity overseas with only a handful of people. Come to think of it, if it weren’t for the faithful “nobodies,” you wouldn’t even have this [paper] in your hands right now.
Nobodies. . . exalting Somebody.
Are you one? Listen to me! It’s the “nobodies” Somebody chooses so carefully. And when He has selected you for that role, He does not consider you a nobody. Be encouraged!
Chuck Swindoll
www.insight.org
Something About His Presence
I have been hearing a lot about intimacy lately. There is something about being in the presence of the Lord. Have you ever been in love? When you are in love with a person, you spend a lot of time with them. You love to be their presence. If you are having a bad day, being in their presence makes you feel better. If something good happens you want to tell them about it. The sign of true intimacy is the ability to be in a person's presence and just be silent. Silence is golden. There is no pretension in silence. You are not saying what you think someone wants to hear.
How intimate are you with God? Do you enjoy His presence? Are you able to sit and just be silent? Can you come into His presence without asking Him for anything? Are you intimate enough to just adore Him and tell Him how wonderful He is? Do you long for intimacy with God? Just ask. Spend time with Him. He hasn't gone anywhere, He's patiently waiting.
Psalm 95:2
Let us come before Him giving thanks. Let us make a sound of joy to Him with songs.
intimacy
a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship
a close association with or detailed knowledge or deep understanding
an act or expression serving as a token of familiarity, affection, or the like: to allow the intimacy of using first names.
an amorously familiar act; liberty.
the quality of being comfortable, warm, or familiar
privacy, esp. as suitable to the telling of a secret
How intimate are you with God? Do you enjoy His presence? Are you able to sit and just be silent? Can you come into His presence without asking Him for anything? Are you intimate enough to just adore Him and tell Him how wonderful He is? Do you long for intimacy with God? Just ask. Spend time with Him. He hasn't gone anywhere, He's patiently waiting.
Psalm 95:2
Let us come before Him giving thanks. Let us make a sound of joy to Him with songs.
intimacy
a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship
a close association with or detailed knowledge or deep understanding
an act or expression serving as a token of familiarity, affection, or the like: to allow the intimacy of using first names.
an amorously familiar act; liberty.
the quality of being comfortable, warm, or familiar
privacy, esp. as suitable to the telling of a secret
On My Daddy's Lap
Genesis 19:27
King James Version
And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:
When I was a little girl, I loved to sit on my grandfather's lap. When I was very small, I could listen to his heartbeat. It was a place of warmth and safety. When I was hurt or upset, I would sit on my gran's lap. He would just sit in the window in a chair and just watch what went on in the neighborhood. I would sit on his lap then too. I just loved to be in his presence. My grandfather has left this life and entered the arms of God. But, I'm still the same way. I love to sit in my heavenly Father's lap. In the morning before I start my day, I make a cup of coffee and sit on my daddy's lap. I love to sit on His lap and listen to His heartbeat. My day goes so much better when I start the day that way. I'll even find myself asking Him what to wear or just listen to what bothers Him, what breaks His heart. Just like when I was little, when I'm upset or hurt, I sit on His lap and just cry. Just being in His presence makes me feel better.
God is awesome. Sometimes, I think I'm too big to sit in His lap. But unlike my grandfather(I sat in his lap until i was 10),I never get too big or too heavy. I started to get too busy to sit on my Daddy's lap. But He loves me so much that He made an appointment with me everyday. I would be late or not show up but He loves me so much and is jealous that He removed the distraction that kept me away.
Regardless of gender, age, even weight...you are never too big to sit on your Daddy's lap. Have you spent time on Daddy's lap today?
Who's Walking in Our Steps?
Author Unknown
My three year-old was on my heels no matter where I went. Whenever I stopped to do something and turned back around, I would trip over him.
I patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied. But he simply smiled an innocent smile and said, "Oh that's all right, Mommy. I'd rather be in here with you." Then he continued to bounce happily along behind me.
After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, I began to lose patience. When I asked him why he was acting this way, he looked up at me with sweet green eyes and said: "Well Mommy, my teacher told me to walk in Jesus' footsteps! I can't see Him, so I'm walking in yours!"
My three year-old was on my heels no matter where I went. Whenever I stopped to do something and turned back around, I would trip over him.
I patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied. But he simply smiled an innocent smile and said, "Oh that's all right, Mommy. I'd rather be in here with you." Then he continued to bounce happily along behind me.
After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, I began to lose patience. When I asked him why he was acting this way, he looked up at me with sweet green eyes and said: "Well Mommy, my teacher told me to walk in Jesus' footsteps! I can't see Him, so I'm walking in yours!"
Think about it...
unknown
Think back to when you met that man/woman that you just knew would be the one. Remember when you realized/admitted to yourself that you loved him/her. Now remember how much you wanted to act like you were in a movie, and yell to everyone in the football stadium "I love (fill in the name)!"
You told family and friends how perfect he/she was You told your boys/ girls how she/he was just what you were looking for. Well, I told THE LORD I love Him today. And He said to me, "How much do you love me? You haven't told anyone how good I've been to you. You haven't shared how perfect my love is. You haven't spread the good news that I am always there to listen to your problems. You haven't told your family how I helped you pay your bills when you didn't have a high paying job, or how I got you a better one. You didn't tell your boys/girls how I took away that addiction that would have cost you not only your job, but that woman/man that was just what you were looking for. So how much do you really love me?"
So, I said I would share with my friends and family (for starters) just how wonderful, perfect, understanding, patient, loving, unselfish, considerate and forgiving GOD really is. He has blessed me with a family that loves me and friends that I can confide in. But even more than that, He has saved me from a destruction I couldn't even see coming. He gave to me the peace of knowing Him, and He has never broken a promise.
Truly He is the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I stand in my stadium today to yell to you all, "I LOVE THE LORD!"
BE BLESSED TODAY & SHARE WITH SOMEONE ELSE.
MyHotComments
Think back to when you met that man/woman that you just knew would be the one. Remember when you realized/admitted to yourself that you loved him/her. Now remember how much you wanted to act like you were in a movie, and yell to everyone in the football stadium "I love (fill in the name)!"
You told family and friends how perfect he/she was You told your boys/ girls how she/he was just what you were looking for. Well, I told THE LORD I love Him today. And He said to me, "How much do you love me? You haven't told anyone how good I've been to you. You haven't shared how perfect my love is. You haven't spread the good news that I am always there to listen to your problems. You haven't told your family how I helped you pay your bills when you didn't have a high paying job, or how I got you a better one. You didn't tell your boys/girls how I took away that addiction that would have cost you not only your job, but that woman/man that was just what you were looking for. So how much do you really love me?"
So, I said I would share with my friends and family (for starters) just how wonderful, perfect, understanding, patient, loving, unselfish, considerate and forgiving GOD really is. He has blessed me with a family that loves me and friends that I can confide in. But even more than that, He has saved me from a destruction I couldn't even see coming. He gave to me the peace of knowing Him, and He has never broken a promise.
Truly He is the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I stand in my stadium today to yell to you all, "I LOVE THE LORD!"
BE BLESSED TODAY & SHARE WITH SOMEONE ELSE.
MyHotComments
The Will of God
Remember. The Will of God will never take you...
Where the grace of God cannot keep you,
Where the arms of God cannot support you,
Where the hands of God cannot mold you.
Where the power of God cannot endow you.
The will of God will never take you...
Where the spirit of God cannot work through you,
Where the riches of God cannot supply you,
Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you,
Where the army of God cannot protect you,
The will of God will never take you...
Where the love of God cannot enfold you,
Where the mercy of God cannot sustain you,
Where the Word of God cannot feed you,
Where the authority of God cannot overrule for you.
The will of God will never take you...
Where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears,
Where the peace of God cannot calm your fears,
Where the miracles of God cannot be done for you,
Where the omnipresence of God cannot find you.
The Set Up
Job 1:20-21
New Living Translation
20 Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. 21 He said,“I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave.The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. "Praise the name of the Lord!”
I have been reflecting on my life for the past couple of days. My life is pretty much unrecognizable. Nothing is the same as it was a year ago (even a few months ago for that matter). As I look back to this time a year ago, I have been stripped of a lot of things I thought I couldn't do without. I have lost relationships. People who I never pictured being without are gone. Possessions that I had are gone. Even finances are gone. I feel like there is nothing else to lose. Like Job, all I can do is worship God. Job had an anyhow praise. Though God had stripped him, he still blessed the Lord. Job didn't understand why he lost everything but he still trusted God. We have all been tested by God. God knew that He could trust Job. Can He trust you? Will you trust Him?
When you are in a season of being stripped of old things, it's difficult. Many people like Spring because of the new beginnings. Others like Summer because the sun is mostly always shining. Others like Fall because it's a time of transition. Few people like Winter because it's a time of loss. It almost seems like a season of barrenness. But, Winter is necessary. You can't have Spring without Winter. Winter is when God strips and it's a time of rest. Your Winter is not the end of your story. I've learned that it is a time of being set up for a blessing. God never gives you anything new without getting rid of the old. Although, winter is not easy, it is essential.
Job lost his home, children, possessions, friends, had challenges in his body but he worshipped God. He continued to bless His name! Guess what? Job got double for his trouble. Because of his faithfulness, God gave him twice as he lost. The message here is to remain faithful. Continue to worship, praise, pray, tithe, give offering, minister to others. I'm encouraged to know that my life will still be unrecognizable. God is setting me up for double. Remember, "Your setback is a setup for a blessing!"
God Bless
How to Be Content
...I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the
point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever
state I am.
—Philippians 4:11
The Bible teaches us to be content no matter what our
circumstances may be. (Hebrews 13:5 KJV)
We are not to be upset about anything, no matter what is
happening. Instead we are to pray about it, and tell God our
need. While we are waiting for Him to move, we are to be
thankful for all that God has done for us already. (Philippians
4:6.)
I have discovered that the secret of being content is to ask
God for what I want, and know that if it is right He will bring
it to pass at the right time, and if it is not right, He will
do something much better than what I asked for.
We must learn to trust God completely if we ever intend to
enjoy peaceful living. We must meditate on what God has done in
our life instead of what we are still waiting on Him to do.
God loves you. He is a good God Who only does good things. Be
content knowing that His way is perfect.
It's Time!
Matthew 5:14
The Message
"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
God says that your gifts, talents, ministry, business have been hidden long enough. Like a caterpillar you have been in a cocoon under the watchful eye of a loving God. He has put so much into you and you have allowed Him to take out the things that are not useful. I hear god saying suddenly, propel, and birth. Everything you have been through is not for you. It was for the up building of His kingdom, for His glory. Take what you have learned and share it. There is so much light in you. God is a skillful investor. He has invested a lot in you. Now it is time for a return on that investment. Be of good cheer, be encouraged and know that He has begun a great work in you. Give to others as liberally as He has given to you. It's time to step out and do what you have been prepared for.
GOD HAS YOUR MIRACLE ON HIS MIND
Gloria Copeland:
"GOD HAS YOUR MIRACLE ON HIS MIND"
What do you need from God today?
Stop and think about that for a moment. It's a serious question. Picture yourself the way you want to be, healthy and whole in every area of your life. That is the will of God for you, you know. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says He desires you to be "preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)" (Amplified Bible)
God wants you to be sound and complete. It's His perfect will for you to be whole, undamaged and intact--spirit, soul, and body--before Jesus returns. In light of that fact, let me ask you again: What changes would you need God to make for His will to be fulfilled in your life? What would it take for you to be whole?
It would take a miracle.
That may well be what you're thinking right now. If so, I am here to tell you God has one for you. He has as many miracles as you need. He is the God of the miraculous.
What's more, He is thinking about you today. That's amazing, isn't it? The fact that the Almighty God, the Creator of Heaven and earth, has you and me on His mind is almost more than we can comprehend. Yet we know it's true because the Psalmist says, "How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can't even count how many times a day your thoughts turn towards me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!" (Psalm 139:17-18, The Living Bible).
Just imagine that! When you woke up this morning, God was thinking about you. He was aware of your needs. He was mindful of the blessings He has laid up for you, and He was making plans to get them to you.
In other words, when you awoke this morning, God had your miracle on His mind.
Every Part Precious
I preach about healing a lot, and healing is wonderful. But sometimes you need more than healing, you need a miracle. A miracle is different. A miracle is something that is absolutely impossible apart from the supernatural working of God. It's something that cannot happen by natural means.
If you have a disease, you need healing. But if you have a part missing--if you were born without fingers or toes, for example, you need a miracle. For years, it's been prophesied that we will see those kinds of miracles again in the Body of Christ. It's been prophesied that we'll see all the miracles the early Church saw and even greater miracles than those. I sense in my heart that we're there!
I truly believe it. They might say, "Surely, you don't expect to see somebody grow a part on their body where there was no part before!"
Yes, I do. God has parts for people! The Bible says He made all of our parts before we were born, and we can easily believe that. Why is it so unthinkable that He could add another part at a later time if it's needed?
Just before the verses we read that tell of God's thoughts about us, Psalm 139 says:
"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them" (verses 14-16).
According to those verses, God wrote down all your members (every part of you) in His book. And because God does all things well, He didn't write them down as broken or missing. He wrote them down as whole and intact.
My friend Billye Brim has revelation of that, so she speaks to her body according to those Scriptures. She says, "My parts are written in God's book. So, parts, I command you to be the way God designed you to be. I command you to be whole and complete in agreement with God's book. All my parts are intact with nothing missing, nothing broken. All the parts of my body function and work as they're designed. I receive what the Book says about me!"
You may not have thought God cared about your parts, but He does. Your parts are as important to Him as they are to you. He made them for you, and He wants you to have them the way He made them. We need to get that revelation, because God is ready to restore some parts. He wants to work miracles!
You might think this would be impossible and, naturally speaking, you'd be right."With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). "All things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23)so we need to start believing.
We need to start expecting the impossible!
It's Never Too Late
Of course, people with physical abnormalities or missing parts aren't the only ones who need miracles. Miracles are also needed when natural circumstances have gone on so long that it looks like it's too late for a turnaround. Abraham and Sarah needed that kind of miracle, for example. They needed a child for their lives to be whole and intact. Yet they were well past childbearing age when God told them He was going to give them one. They were about 100 years old.
No doubt, their natural thought was, Even if God did heal our barrenness, it's too late for us now. We're too old. That kind of thing can't happen this late in the game.
But God did it for them, didn't He? He proved that it's never too late for a miracle.
A friend of ours experienced a "never too late" kind of miracle in his family. His name was Justus Du Plessis and although he went home to be with the Lord a couple of years ago, he experienced some amazing things during his lifetime as a Pentecostal minister in South Africa. On one occasion, his father was desperately ill. In fact his father's death was so imminent that the doctor who came to see him went ahead and filled out his death certificate.
After the doctor left, the church members gathered around to pray and while they were praying, he was healed. Do you know what he did? He got up, took a shower, milked the cows and then walked to the doctor's house to return his death certificate.
Talk about a miracle coming late in the game! You know it's late when you have to take back your own death certificate!
Clearly with God, it's never too late for a miracle.
The Definitive Factor
Okay now, you may be thinking, if God wants to give me a miracle and I want to receive one--what's the problem? Why hasn't a miracle already taken place in my life?
For a miracle to get from Heaven to earth, a divine connection has to be made. Miracles aren't magic. They don't just happen--poof!--because God decides to wave His miracle wand one day. No, miracles primarily occur when people put themselves in position to receive them.
To find out how to position yourself for a miracle, you can study the miracles in the New Testament. As you do, you'll see patterns emerge. You will find certain elements were almost always involved when miracles happen.
The first of those elements is faith. Whenever a miracle takes place someone on earth is believing. It might be the person who needs the miracle. It might be the person who is ministering. It might be someone praying for the one who is in need. The situations may vary, but the fact remains that it is faith in God which connects the power of Heaven with the need on earth. For a miracle to happen, someone has to believe that God is willing and able to do it--and do it now.
Galatians 3:5 confirms that. There the Apostle Paul, rebuking the Galatians for their legalism, asks this question: "Does He Who supplies you with His marvelous [Holy] Spirit and works powerfully and miraculously among you do so on [the grounds of your doing] what the Law demands, or because of your believing...?" (The Amplified Bible).
The answer is obvious. God works miracles because we believe! We could look at one miracle after another and see that truth in action.
In Mark 5, when the woman with the incurable issue of blood receives her healing, Jesus says, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole" (verse 34).
In Mark 10, when blind Bartimaeus receives his sight, Jesus says, "thy faith hath made thee whole" (verse 52).
In Luke 17, when the leper is not only healed but his body parts are restored and made whole from the disease that had eaten them away, Jesus says, "thy faith hath made thee whole" (verse 19).
In Acts 3, when Peter and John heal the man who was crippled from birth, they give glory to the name of Jesus. And Peter says, "And His name through faith in His name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by Him hath given him this perfect soundness" (verse 16).
It's interesting to notice that the power of God isn't mentioned in most of those instances, just the faith of the people. I think that's because God's power and His willingness to heal and work miracles never changes. The variable is people's faith. Faith is the definitive factor. Just Do It!
As important as faith is, however, that alone won't get the whole job done. You can't just sit around believing on the inside and doing nothing on the outside. For faith to come alive you have to take action. As James 2:26 says, "faith without works is dead."
You can see the connection between "doing" and "receiving" in the very first miracle Jesus ever performed. I especially like to think about this miracle because it was clearly not a miracle Jesus planned to do. It was one that was drawn out of Him by the person who most wanted that miracle--His own mother Mary. John 2 tells us that she and Jesus were attending a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the host ran out of wine. Mary looked to Jesus to do something about it. He told her His time to do such things had not yet come, but her faith was unshaken. She continued to expect a miracle, and she turned to the servants and said:
"'Whatever He says to you, do it.' Now there were six waterpots of stone standing there, as the Jewish custom of purification (ceremonial washing) demanded, holding twenty to thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, 'Fill the waterpots with water.' So they filled them up to the brim. Then He said to them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the manager of the feast [to the one presiding, the superintendent of the banquet]'" (verses 5-8, The Amplified Bible).
What happened when the servants did what Jesus said?
They saw a miracle. The water was turned into wine!
It would serve us well to always remember what Mary told the servants that day. She said, "Whatever He tells you to do, do it." That's one of the major keys to receiving a miracle.
Whatever the Lord says to you--do it.
If the Lord tells you to get up and run, then get up and run. If He tells you to dance and shout, then dance and shout. One time a man attended Healing School, and during the meeting the Lord told him to run. He didn't want to run in the meeting, so he ran out the door--ran outside and ran around the block. If you think that's silly, think again, because he came back in healed!
Whatever the Lord tells you to do, do it!
If He tells you to repent of something, you repent. If He tells you to forgive someone, forgive them. He knows what you can do that will bring you into position to receive. So listen for His instructions, then obey!
Kick Doubt Out
Once you've believed and acted on your faith, refuse to doubt or fear. When the devil comes to you and says, You're not going to get that miracle. You don't deserve it. Remember how many times you've failed God. Refuse to entertain those doubt-producing thoughts. Instead, just answer him and say, "Bless the Lord, I don't get what I deserve. I get what Jesus bought for me. I get the mercy of God. I get a miracle!"
Every time I think about refusing doubt and fear, I think about the story of Jairus. Initially, when he came to Jesus, his daughter needed a healing. She was very sick, and Jairus believed if Jesus came and laid His hands on her, she would be healed. But before that healing could take place, Jairus' daughter died. Suddenly the girl didn't just need a healing, she needed a miracle.
Do you know that Jesus wasn't disturbed by that? He knew that God could work a miracle just as easily as He could perform a healing. So He said to Jairus, "Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear; only keep on believing" (Mark 5:36, The Amplified Bible). We know that this worked because the little girl was raised up whole.
That's a good word for all of us who are positioning ourselves for a miracle. No matter what the devil says, no matter what our circumstances may say, no matter what our natural senses might try to tell us--if we'll refuse to doubt, refuse to fear, and keep on believing God, our miracle will surely come!
Gloria Copeland
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Newark, TX
"GOD HAS YOUR MIRACLE ON HIS MIND"
What do you need from God today?
Stop and think about that for a moment. It's a serious question. Picture yourself the way you want to be, healthy and whole in every area of your life. That is the will of God for you, you know. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says He desires you to be "preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)" (Amplified Bible)
God wants you to be sound and complete. It's His perfect will for you to be whole, undamaged and intact--spirit, soul, and body--before Jesus returns. In light of that fact, let me ask you again: What changes would you need God to make for His will to be fulfilled in your life? What would it take for you to be whole?
It would take a miracle.
That may well be what you're thinking right now. If so, I am here to tell you God has one for you. He has as many miracles as you need. He is the God of the miraculous.
What's more, He is thinking about you today. That's amazing, isn't it? The fact that the Almighty God, the Creator of Heaven and earth, has you and me on His mind is almost more than we can comprehend. Yet we know it's true because the Psalmist says, "How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can't even count how many times a day your thoughts turn towards me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!" (Psalm 139:17-18, The Living Bible).
Just imagine that! When you woke up this morning, God was thinking about you. He was aware of your needs. He was mindful of the blessings He has laid up for you, and He was making plans to get them to you.
In other words, when you awoke this morning, God had your miracle on His mind.
Every Part Precious
I preach about healing a lot, and healing is wonderful. But sometimes you need more than healing, you need a miracle. A miracle is different. A miracle is something that is absolutely impossible apart from the supernatural working of God. It's something that cannot happen by natural means.
If you have a disease, you need healing. But if you have a part missing--if you were born without fingers or toes, for example, you need a miracle. For years, it's been prophesied that we will see those kinds of miracles again in the Body of Christ. It's been prophesied that we'll see all the miracles the early Church saw and even greater miracles than those. I sense in my heart that we're there!
I truly believe it. They might say, "Surely, you don't expect to see somebody grow a part on their body where there was no part before!"
Yes, I do. God has parts for people! The Bible says He made all of our parts before we were born, and we can easily believe that. Why is it so unthinkable that He could add another part at a later time if it's needed?
Just before the verses we read that tell of God's thoughts about us, Psalm 139 says:
"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them" (verses 14-16).
According to those verses, God wrote down all your members (every part of you) in His book. And because God does all things well, He didn't write them down as broken or missing. He wrote them down as whole and intact.
My friend Billye Brim has revelation of that, so she speaks to her body according to those Scriptures. She says, "My parts are written in God's book. So, parts, I command you to be the way God designed you to be. I command you to be whole and complete in agreement with God's book. All my parts are intact with nothing missing, nothing broken. All the parts of my body function and work as they're designed. I receive what the Book says about me!"
You may not have thought God cared about your parts, but He does. Your parts are as important to Him as they are to you. He made them for you, and He wants you to have them the way He made them. We need to get that revelation, because God is ready to restore some parts. He wants to work miracles!
You might think this would be impossible and, naturally speaking, you'd be right."With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). "All things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23)so we need to start believing.
We need to start expecting the impossible!
It's Never Too Late
Of course, people with physical abnormalities or missing parts aren't the only ones who need miracles. Miracles are also needed when natural circumstances have gone on so long that it looks like it's too late for a turnaround. Abraham and Sarah needed that kind of miracle, for example. They needed a child for their lives to be whole and intact. Yet they were well past childbearing age when God told them He was going to give them one. They were about 100 years old.
No doubt, their natural thought was, Even if God did heal our barrenness, it's too late for us now. We're too old. That kind of thing can't happen this late in the game.
But God did it for them, didn't He? He proved that it's never too late for a miracle.
A friend of ours experienced a "never too late" kind of miracle in his family. His name was Justus Du Plessis and although he went home to be with the Lord a couple of years ago, he experienced some amazing things during his lifetime as a Pentecostal minister in South Africa. On one occasion, his father was desperately ill. In fact his father's death was so imminent that the doctor who came to see him went ahead and filled out his death certificate.
After the doctor left, the church members gathered around to pray and while they were praying, he was healed. Do you know what he did? He got up, took a shower, milked the cows and then walked to the doctor's house to return his death certificate.
Talk about a miracle coming late in the game! You know it's late when you have to take back your own death certificate!
Clearly with God, it's never too late for a miracle.
The Definitive Factor
Okay now, you may be thinking, if God wants to give me a miracle and I want to receive one--what's the problem? Why hasn't a miracle already taken place in my life?
For a miracle to get from Heaven to earth, a divine connection has to be made. Miracles aren't magic. They don't just happen--poof!--because God decides to wave His miracle wand one day. No, miracles primarily occur when people put themselves in position to receive them.
To find out how to position yourself for a miracle, you can study the miracles in the New Testament. As you do, you'll see patterns emerge. You will find certain elements were almost always involved when miracles happen.
The first of those elements is faith. Whenever a miracle takes place someone on earth is believing. It might be the person who needs the miracle. It might be the person who is ministering. It might be someone praying for the one who is in need. The situations may vary, but the fact remains that it is faith in God which connects the power of Heaven with the need on earth. For a miracle to happen, someone has to believe that God is willing and able to do it--and do it now.
Galatians 3:5 confirms that. There the Apostle Paul, rebuking the Galatians for their legalism, asks this question: "Does He Who supplies you with His marvelous [Holy] Spirit and works powerfully and miraculously among you do so on [the grounds of your doing] what the Law demands, or because of your believing...?" (The Amplified Bible).
The answer is obvious. God works miracles because we believe! We could look at one miracle after another and see that truth in action.
In Mark 5, when the woman with the incurable issue of blood receives her healing, Jesus says, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole" (verse 34).
In Mark 10, when blind Bartimaeus receives his sight, Jesus says, "thy faith hath made thee whole" (verse 52).
In Luke 17, when the leper is not only healed but his body parts are restored and made whole from the disease that had eaten them away, Jesus says, "thy faith hath made thee whole" (verse 19).
In Acts 3, when Peter and John heal the man who was crippled from birth, they give glory to the name of Jesus. And Peter says, "And His name through faith in His name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by Him hath given him this perfect soundness" (verse 16).
It's interesting to notice that the power of God isn't mentioned in most of those instances, just the faith of the people. I think that's because God's power and His willingness to heal and work miracles never changes. The variable is people's faith. Faith is the definitive factor. Just Do It!
As important as faith is, however, that alone won't get the whole job done. You can't just sit around believing on the inside and doing nothing on the outside. For faith to come alive you have to take action. As James 2:26 says, "faith without works is dead."
You can see the connection between "doing" and "receiving" in the very first miracle Jesus ever performed. I especially like to think about this miracle because it was clearly not a miracle Jesus planned to do. It was one that was drawn out of Him by the person who most wanted that miracle--His own mother Mary. John 2 tells us that she and Jesus were attending a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the host ran out of wine. Mary looked to Jesus to do something about it. He told her His time to do such things had not yet come, but her faith was unshaken. She continued to expect a miracle, and she turned to the servants and said:
"'Whatever He says to you, do it.' Now there were six waterpots of stone standing there, as the Jewish custom of purification (ceremonial washing) demanded, holding twenty to thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, 'Fill the waterpots with water.' So they filled them up to the brim. Then He said to them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the manager of the feast [to the one presiding, the superintendent of the banquet]'" (verses 5-8, The Amplified Bible).
What happened when the servants did what Jesus said?
They saw a miracle. The water was turned into wine!
It would serve us well to always remember what Mary told the servants that day. She said, "Whatever He tells you to do, do it." That's one of the major keys to receiving a miracle.
Whatever the Lord says to you--do it.
If the Lord tells you to get up and run, then get up and run. If He tells you to dance and shout, then dance and shout. One time a man attended Healing School, and during the meeting the Lord told him to run. He didn't want to run in the meeting, so he ran out the door--ran outside and ran around the block. If you think that's silly, think again, because he came back in healed!
Whatever the Lord tells you to do, do it!
If He tells you to repent of something, you repent. If He tells you to forgive someone, forgive them. He knows what you can do that will bring you into position to receive. So listen for His instructions, then obey!
Kick Doubt Out
Once you've believed and acted on your faith, refuse to doubt or fear. When the devil comes to you and says, You're not going to get that miracle. You don't deserve it. Remember how many times you've failed God. Refuse to entertain those doubt-producing thoughts. Instead, just answer him and say, "Bless the Lord, I don't get what I deserve. I get what Jesus bought for me. I get the mercy of God. I get a miracle!"
Every time I think about refusing doubt and fear, I think about the story of Jairus. Initially, when he came to Jesus, his daughter needed a healing. She was very sick, and Jairus believed if Jesus came and laid His hands on her, she would be healed. But before that healing could take place, Jairus' daughter died. Suddenly the girl didn't just need a healing, she needed a miracle.
Do you know that Jesus wasn't disturbed by that? He knew that God could work a miracle just as easily as He could perform a healing. So He said to Jairus, "Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear; only keep on believing" (Mark 5:36, The Amplified Bible). We know that this worked because the little girl was raised up whole.
That's a good word for all of us who are positioning ourselves for a miracle. No matter what the devil says, no matter what our circumstances may say, no matter what our natural senses might try to tell us--if we'll refuse to doubt, refuse to fear, and keep on believing God, our miracle will surely come!
Gloria Copeland
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Newark, TX
Step in the Water
John 5:4a Amplified Bible
For an angel of the Lord went down at appointed seasons into the pool and moved and stirred up the water;
I feel the anointing strongly today. Things are stirring in the atmosphere. The angel of the Lord has stirred up the water. Now is the time to step in. We are in the ninth month of 2008. We know that 2008 is the year of new beginnings. Nine is the number of birthing. There are things that you have been pregnant with that are about to come forth. For some, the pregnancy has been long and hard. You have been carrying this thing it seems like forever. The enemy has tried everything he could to kill it but now is the time for delivery. For some, the pregnancy has been delightful and filled with joy. Either way, now is the time.
Step in the water, the water is stirred. In this particular scripture, the angel of the Lord went down at the appointed time to stir the water. Miraculous things happen when you step in the water. Don't let anyone or anything keep you from stepping in the water.
Break Forth
Luke 5:37-38
New Living Translation
37 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. 38 New wine must be stored in new wineskins.
There has been a shift in the atmosphere. New things are happening and will happen. Are you ready? God has been speaking to His people about new things. In order to receive new things we must get rid of some old things. Have you ever moved from one place to another. When you are packing what do you discover? You realize how much stuff you have. You also realize a lot of it you haven't used in quite some time. Then you are faced with the decision of what to keep and what to throw away.
God is saying it is time to do the same thing in the spirit. Take spiritual inventory. God is moving you into a new realm. There are some things, places, and people that you need to get rid of in order to move forward. Pray and ask God for direction. Allow Him to remove the things, places, and people that you no longer need. Allow God to change your attitude. pray for strength. Then, break forth into your new beginning.
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