"Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord."-Psalm 27:14
Do you know the story of Joshua and how the wall of Jericho fell down after the Israelites marched around it once a day for six days, then seven times on the seventh day? Why not just walk around Jericho one time? I think it was because God was testing their faith.
God was teaching them that waiting time is not wasted time. God is never in a hurry, like we are. We get upset when we miss a section in a revolving door.
God is never late. He knows what he is doing. Do you know what our problem is? We've been aroun Jericho six times and we're ready to quit. Say with the psalmist : "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him."
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Are you free?
"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." -John 8:36
Living a pure life means surrendering to Jesus Christ. But some people don't want to surrender because they say they want to be free.
What if a train said, "I don't want to run on these tracks, I want to be free." Then off through the field it would go. What if the kite said, "I want to be free. I don't want to be tied to a string." The string breaks and down it goes. What if a tree said, "I don't want to be planted in the earth. I want to be free." And it is jerked up from the earth and dies.
Everything that is truly free functions best when it functions as God made it. God made you to know Him and to love Him.
Living a pure life means surrendering to Jesus Christ. But some people don't want to surrender because they say they want to be free.
What if a train said, "I don't want to run on these tracks, I want to be free." Then off through the field it would go. What if the kite said, "I want to be free. I don't want to be tied to a string." The string breaks and down it goes. What if a tree said, "I don't want to be planted in the earth. I want to be free." And it is jerked up from the earth and dies.
Everything that is truly free functions best when it functions as God made it. God made you to know Him and to love Him.
Friday, February 18, 2011
1 Peter 2:5
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."
Jesus is not only the Cornerstone of the church; He is also the individual building blocks through every believer. Have you ever heard of someone being a "chip off the old block?" That means he shares the nature of his father. In a sense, every child of God is a chip off that block.
By ourselves.... we are not all that much. How many one-brick buildings have you seen? One stone can be easily tossed around, but if you take a lot of them and put them together, there is strength. Our Lord is building us together to gain strength from one another. It is amazing what can happen when the body of Christ is unified.
Step outside your comfort zone in sacrifice to the work of the Lord. Reach across the lines and bring unity in the body of Christ.
Jesus is not only the Cornerstone of the church; He is also the individual building blocks through every believer. Have you ever heard of someone being a "chip off the old block?" That means he shares the nature of his father. In a sense, every child of God is a chip off that block.
By ourselves.... we are not all that much. How many one-brick buildings have you seen? One stone can be easily tossed around, but if you take a lot of them and put them together, there is strength. Our Lord is building us together to gain strength from one another. It is amazing what can happen when the body of Christ is unified.
Step outside your comfort zone in sacrifice to the work of the Lord. Reach across the lines and bring unity in the body of Christ.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Are you hurting?
"And He said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmaities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9
There are 3 possible ways to pray when you are hurting: First, you can pray that God will give you an escape from the pain. That's normal- in fact, that's how drug strores stay in business!
Second, you can pray for God to give you the strength to endure the pain. And that, too, is a natural response. If we can't escape the pain, we can pray to endure the pain.
Third, the way we can pray is to ask God to enlist the pain in our lives for our good and His glory. If we pray to escape our pain, then we see pain as our enemy. If we pray to endure our pain, then pain is seen as a master. But, if we pray to enlist our pain, we see it as our servant.
We are able to find God's grace to glory in our infirmities, that the power of God may be manifest in our lives. Are you hurting over something that has happened in your life? Ask God to give you strength to choose to enlist that pain for your good and His glory.
There are 3 possible ways to pray when you are hurting: First, you can pray that God will give you an escape from the pain. That's normal- in fact, that's how drug strores stay in business!
Second, you can pray for God to give you the strength to endure the pain. And that, too, is a natural response. If we can't escape the pain, we can pray to endure the pain.
Third, the way we can pray is to ask God to enlist the pain in our lives for our good and His glory. If we pray to escape our pain, then we see pain as our enemy. If we pray to endure our pain, then pain is seen as a master. But, if we pray to enlist our pain, we see it as our servant.
We are able to find God's grace to glory in our infirmities, that the power of God may be manifest in our lives. Are you hurting over something that has happened in your life? Ask God to give you strength to choose to enlist that pain for your good and His glory.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Matthew 4:4
"But He answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
I believe many churches around the world are suffering a famine because their pulpits are not feeding heavenly bread to their flocks. If you are not feeding on the Bible daily you are dying of spiritual malnutrition. The only strength we have is found when we feed upon the WORD OF GOD.
Job said, "I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." In other words, Job was saying that if he had to choose between eating physical bread or spiritual bread, he would rather have the WORD OF GOD.
How I pray that people reading this would commit to a daily routine of exercising on their knees in prayer and feeding with the nutritious bread of GOD'S WORD....
I believe many churches around the world are suffering a famine because their pulpits are not feeding heavenly bread to their flocks. If you are not feeding on the Bible daily you are dying of spiritual malnutrition. The only strength we have is found when we feed upon the WORD OF GOD.
Job said, "I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." In other words, Job was saying that if he had to choose between eating physical bread or spiritual bread, he would rather have the WORD OF GOD.
How I pray that people reading this would commit to a daily routine of exercising on their knees in prayer and feeding with the nutritious bread of GOD'S WORD....
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