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"WHERE PRAYER AND PRAISE TAKE YOU INTO HIS PRESENCE"

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Daily Provision


"Matthew 6:11- “Give us this day our daily bread.”


One of the members of our church wrote the following and it was a tremendous blessing to me:



“We quote all the time, ‘And God shall supply all of my needs according to His Riches in glory…’ Question of the day, ‘Am I content with how God chooses to supply my need, or am I upset because I can’t control the way He chose to supply it?’ Today, I have everything I need. I’m not hungry, I’ve got some place to stay, health, strength, and a way to get wherever I need to go. Today, the lights, water and phone (the essentials) are paid.”



How appropriate for living in the worst economy since The Great Depression! At times, looking at things in the natural could cause us to become worried and even depressed. But our faith is in A God Who supercedes the economy! And while we may not be able to figure everything out long term, we must pause and thank God for today and trust Him with tomorrow. Jesus taught the disciples to pray for daily provision. (Matthew 6:11)



Let’s thank God for today’s provision and let Him handle tomorrow’s like He’s doing today.


Let’s Pray:
“Father, thank You for today’s needs being met. Teach us how to trust You for tomorrow, in Jesus’ Name, amen.”


Daily Prayer:
“Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain!”

The Prayer of Jabez, I Chronicles 4:10

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

WE ALWAYS WIN

Various Scriptures



The story is told of a young boy that aspired to be the greatest hitter in all of baseball. One day while playing in the backyard, he threw a baseball into the air, swung and missed, “Strike one.” Confident in his abilities, he tossed the ball up again, but swung and missed, “Strike two.” Un-phased by what had transpired, he tossed the ball into the air a final time but missed, “Strike three.” To this the boy replied, “Strike three. I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!”



Like the boy in the story, the attitude of the believer should produce a Kingdom Language that expresses the fact that we always win. Here’s the language of Kingdom citizens:

-“ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

-“ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

-“ Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ…” (II Corinthians 2:14)

Even at death, the believer is victorious because “…to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) On our worst days, we’re never defeated because “we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

The exhortation today is to be encouraged in the fact that believers are victorious in every situation.

Let’s Pray:
“Father, thank You for the victory in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in His Name we pray, amen.”

Daily Prayer:
“Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain!”


The Prayer of Jabez, I Chronicles 4:10

Monday, July 19, 2010

A Sovereign Appointment


Psalm 31:15: “My times are in Your hands…”


Over the weekend, a dear friend and brother—Bishop Arthur House—was translated into heaven. Bishop House served as the Bishop of Home Missions in the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship and was one of the hardest working men that I’ve ever met. He suffered a heart-attack two-weeks ago today during the 1st day of scheduled activities at our International Conference. Unfortunately, he never recovered from the trauma of the episode.

Bishop House died while serving at a Home-Missions activity or serving in the area that he loved most. His wife told me over the weekend that, “he loved Home-Missions and he loved Full Gospel.” When I found out the news, not only did I grieve, but I began to experience a wide-array of emotions—to include wondering when and how I’d leave the earth. As my mind began drifting, The Holy Spirit reminded me of a passage of Scripture that comforted me: “My times are in Your hands…” (Psalm 31:15). This was David’s solace during a time when the fear of death had crept upon him because his enemies were plotting to kill him. Although he stated his trust in God in Psalm 31:14 (the previous verse), he displayed the magnitude of that confidence by resolving to trust God with his very life.

Not only can believers be comforted by the fact that The Father has prepared a place for us (John 14:1-3), but we can trust God’s Sovereign Timing concerning when we’ll arrive to our heavenly destination.

Let’s Pray:
“Father, thank You for Your Sovereign Will for every area of our lives, to include how and when we’ll leave earth, in Jesus’ Name, amen.”

Daily Prayer: “Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain!”
The Prayer of Jabez, I Chronicles 4:10

Friday, July 16, 2010

Through God’s Eyes


Proverbs 21:2: Every way of a man is right in his own eyes…



Conflict is often a part of our lives. Even in the body of Christ, believers will sometimes disagree with one another. While some people find it relatively easy to say “I’m sorry” or “I was wrong,” it almost takes an act of congress for others to do the same! Have you ever met someone who was “always right?” Are there those that you’ve gone to before with conflict and found it difficult to find resolve?



More often than not, whenever there’s a dispute amongst two or more parties, we want others to see matters from our individual perspective(s). But what gauges whether or not our way is right? The common ground that believers must meet when they don’t see “eye to eye” is The Word of God. Proverbs 21:2 says that, “every way of a man is right in his own eyes…;” therefore, unless our feelings and opinions have been gauged by The Word of God, we could very well be wrong! Whenever Christians are at odds with one another, we must be open and receptive to God’s Word in bringing resolve to any disputes.


The exhortation today is to see life through The Eyes of God.



Let’ Pray:
“Father, help us to always see life through Your Eyes, in Jesus’ Name, amen.”



Daily Prayer:
“Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain!”
The Prayer of Jabez, I Chronicles 4:10

Friday, July 2, 2010

The Price of Freedom




Ephesians 6:12: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.


Over the weekend, we’ll celebrate our country’s signing one of its foundational documents, “The Declaration of Independence.” The signing of this document was instrumental in establishing us as a nation while casting (to some degree) a vision as to what America would stand for. While we applaud the founding fathers for allowing God to use them to establish the document, we must pause, reflect, and be thankful for those who have fought and continue to fight to preserve the liberty exercised in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” At the same time that we’re celebrating, other great Americans are spending the day with a weapon in their hands on hostile territory. Although we have freedom, there is a price to be paid to maintain it.



While military men and women fight to maintain our freedom in the natural, there must be an army of spiritual soldiers who understand warfare in the spirit and are willing to fight to maintain the Christian values and morals on which this nation was founded. Many of the issues that we’re dealing with in our cities—gang violence, teen pregnancy, racial inequality, homosexuality, etc.—originate in the spirit but manifest in the natural. The apostle Paul said that, “…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)



I encourage you today, Christian soldiers, to keep praying, marching, and fighting to maintain your individual freedom and the freedom of this nation. In the words of Bishop Paul S. Morton, Sr., “It’s Worth Fighting For.”



Let’s Pray:

“Father, thank You for this great nation—the United States of America. Thank You for all those who have fought to maintain our freedom. We pray that You’ll bless our military men and women at home and abroad, in Jesus’ Name, amen.”



Daily Prayer:
“Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain!”

The Prayer of Jabez, I Chronicles 4:10

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Things Will Change

Ecclesiastes 3:1- “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven…”




Economists established a model which allows them to predict pattern changes in a nation’s income. By doing so, they’re able to theorize the current state of an economy as well as give a short and long term forecast of the economy’s future. There are four phases that an economy goes through (my terms are basic business ones and may or may not be the language of the “world of business”). The 1st one is expansion. When the market is in the expansion phase, it’s growing or recovering from an economic decline. Next, there’s a period of financial well being and affluence called the prosperity phase. A leveling off or the period before a recession is called contradiction, while the phase that categories two or more consecutive months of economic decline is called a recession. Historically, this economic model has been cyclic. Although the market has experienced recession, it has always been able to expand. After expansion, it has cycled through prosperity, contradiction, and then back to recession.



Life for the believer is like partaking in the business cycle. There are seasons that all of us have to “cycle through.” We’re either recovering from hard times, enjoying prosperity, at a standstill, or in seasons of decline. But the good news is that our seasons of recession aren’t permanent. The Bible says that, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven…” (Eccl. 3:1) We must trust God during life’s hard times with full assurance that He has everything under control. The same way that time changes from a.m. to p.m. and the same way that seasons cycle through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, our seasons in life will change as well.



If you’re going through a difficult time, be encouraged. Things will change.



Let’s Pray:
“Father, help us to trust you no matter what phase in life we’re going through, in Jesus’ Name, amen.”



Daily Prayer: “Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain!”
The Prayer of Jabez, I Chronicles 4:10