In Numbers chapter 13 we can read how Moses sent out twelve spies into Canaan to spy out the land, ten returned with a bad report. Their assessment was that it was impossible to conquer the land that God had promised them. Forgetting how God had led them with a pillar of fire by night, and fed them manna from heaven during the day, brought forth water out of a rock, and parted the Red Sea, they saw the situation with only their natural eyes, failed to walk by faith, and gave into fear.
Joshua and Caleb however, returned with a good report. “Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” Numbers 13:27 (NKJV) They refused to be discouraged by what they saw; they fully trusted that their supernatural God was not going to break His promise to His people, Israel. Although they saw the difficulties that could possibly hinder them from overtaking the land with their physical eyes, they chose to look at it with the eyes of faith. They knew they would be able t overcome their opposition as we can read in verse Numbers 13:30 “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” (NKJV) We are living in days where the world looks dark, and the evils seem to grow more threatening and dangerous. How will you react? Will you be devastated and terrorized like the 10 spies with a bad report? Or will you do something extraordinary? Will you walk by faith like Joshua and Caleb, trust in the love and power of God, and seize the opportunities that are at hand? Today I encourage you to walk by faith and stand firm in it, facing every challenge, and laying hold of every opportunity that awaits us. Let Joshua and Caleb be and example of faith and courage to you. Allow God to go before you and you will be able to overtake the land and glorify Him in every battle. Written by Evangelist Yohanna Hoehler "You will recognize them by their fruit," Matthew 7:16 (KJV)
Jesus was always measuring the content of one's heart by what they did and not so much by what they said. Many people say a lot of impressive things but their actions do not match. That is why God never stopped at the lip-service level; there are too many souls on the line when you consider the authenticity of the one who is witnessing. Not to mention God identifies all His disciples that obey both in word and deed. Many were saying that they knew God and their heart was far from Him. I'm reminded that Jesus said you shall know them by their fruit. You're mouth can say one thing and your intentions may seem or appear to be sincere, but God knows what's in the heart of every man or woman. Who do we think we are fooling? It behooves us to know that we can't hide behind our titles, our socio-economic status, or our good looks because God knows the heart's content. That's why we will be judged by the things we say. The things we say becomes a gateway to what the heart's intentions and motives are toward our fellow brothers and sisters. Instead of covering one another, we are hurting one another but the sad thing about it is that we may fool man but we cannot fool God. We cannot hide from the Searcher of the heart; the one who specializes in heart surgery. Some of us are suffering from massive heart failure and don't even realize it. So we ought to be cautioned as saints of God to watch as well as pray. Don't just take people at face value. If you desire to know the contents of an individual's heart, measure it not solely by what they say, but by what they do. Samuel was caught up with appearances until God had to change his perspective. Samuel was sadden over the fact that God was going to replace Saul as king because he of his disobedience. Samuel became so upset that that God had to straighten out his theology. He told him, "For the Lord sees not as man sees." 1 Samuel 16: 7 (KJV) Watch as well as pray. If you want to know who you are really dealing with, pay attention to their fruit because the fruit never lies! Written by Minister Dana McCain “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for every who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”” Romans 1:13-17 (NKJV) There is no doubt Paul was sold out for Christ! He could not have accomplished such a life of faith without this trait! Another verse that stands out regarding being sold out for God is:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things...” Matthew 6:33-34 (NKJV) The word “seek” in not in the passive form but rather is passionate in action! So as believers we are all called to seek after the Kingdom of God with a continual passion and power that is fueled by the Holy Spirit in us. Maybe that happened to your life when you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior last week, last year or 10 years ago; BUT now that fuel source is 87 octane instead of 93 octane! Are you sputtering along instead of zooming along like you use to? At times we have to strip ourselves of the stiff and wooden qualities and disrobe ourselves of the contentment and complacency that strangles our devotion to holiness and boldness. Paul experienced hindrances and delays to get to Rome (1 Thessalonians 2:18) but do you know what was behind his drive? His drive was to be fruitful for God! “...That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:10 (NKJV) Does the word “fully” describe your eagerness to be fruitful? The bottom line is this: Do not let satan, self, anyone or anything hinder your commitment to being sold out for Jesus! Written by Evangelist Bernice Harley Yesterday I had a conversation with someone about how God has a special way of expressing His love for and toward us through the kindness of others. Long behold, before the day was out I was able to experience what I was sharing with a friend personally through an unexpected act kindness by someone else which touched me heart and was an expression of my Father's love.
God set the standard very high by expressing His love for us through someone else when He sent His Son into this dying world to bring us love and salvation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV) Every act of kindness Jesus has shown toward everyone He encountered, every miracle, every touch and every word were all God's ways of expressing His love toward you and all humanity. Since our lifestyle and habits are supposed to emulate those of Christ, we too need to raise the standard and allow ourselves to be used by God to perform acts of kindness toward others. It will not only bear witness to who God is, but it is a tangible expression of His love. We never know what someone may be going through, and our act of kindness may just be the reminder that they needed; a reminder that they are loved and that someone cares and ultimately that God loves them and cares. Not only is showing kindness a nice thing to do, but we are charged to be kind in God's word. Ephesians 4:32 says “Be kind to one another”. Open your heart and eyes to recognize the opportunities to show kindness toward others and allow God to express His love for them through you. Written Evangelist Yohanna Hoehler “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV)
There are many Christians doing the work of ministry in churches across the land that are beat down, discouraged, disheartened and ready to give up. They have encountered many bumps and bruises along the journey of life; bruised from personal issues and trauma, bruised from the betrayals of others, bruised from the attacks of the enemy, and even bruised by the insults of other believers. The enemy has used all of these things to cause many of us to fall into a state of emotional despair and stagnation. Various ministries within our churches have begun declining in fulfilling their purpose and meeting the needs of the people because those over them have lost sight of who they are, why they work and the power that’s in them. Some people have even begun to believe that what they do no longer matters. I want to encourage anyone that may be in this current state, know that whatever you do in the name of the Lord matters! While we all face a number of issues in life we must be secure in knowing that we can accomplish God’s will for our lives. At times of great hardship it is difficult to hold onto the fact that you have a great purpose. When you are rejected or betrayed by loved ones, when others discourage you from completing God’s vision for your life; it’s hard to imagine that God has something great for you, but He does!! We must learn to resolve that no matter what happens to us that God will manifest in our lives all that He placed in us; being reminded of Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (NKJV) Know that no matter what we face in life, God has promised to finish what He started in us and through us! This knowledge is what gives us the strength and wisdom to get through the hard times. When we are assured that it’s God who started the work and will complete the work, then it gives us the strength to continue to do the work; regardless of what happens to us we can remain strong in HIM, rejoicing in the fact that He even allows us to work alongside HIM!! Written by Minister Tamara Jones All of us want to be accepted somewhere and by someone. Many have friendships that are formed based on who accepts them in their life. Some get together with people who accept them on one level or another and they form these little pacts – “I’ll accept you if you accept me; I’ll look after you if you look after me.” We crave acceptance.
We’ve all encountered rejection in one form or another. Christ was rejected! Some people experience rejection constantly. But it’s impossible for God to reject! However, the Bible teaches us that there will come a time when God will do some rejecting. It will occur in heaven at the FINAL judgment where Jesus identifies those who have accepted Him and those who have rejected Him. He will judge people based on their decision. For those who have rejected Him, He will reject and sentence them to an eternity (in HELL) away from His presence. Although they’ll cry out in distress and even plead for mercy, it will be too late for that. GOD will have no other choice than to reject them. (Read Matthew 25:1-46) Will He find me repulsive? Will He accept me regardless of what I have done? Will He unconditionally welcome me or will He put conditions on my coming to Him? YES, He will accept you because it is impossible for God to reject you! Why? God LOVES you as you are now… just as you are. He won’t reject you no matter if you rejected him. No matter how many times you lie, how many times you’ve cheated, how far you’ve gone sexually, if you have killed people, or if you’ve rejected yourself, God won’t reject you! He won’t give up on you until you breathe your last breathe – when it’s too late. “For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.” Rom 8:38-39 (TLB) Written by Evangelist Bernice Harley We’re quite familiar with the phrase “divide and conquer”. Huge empires have been rendered powerless by applying this simple strategy. The idea is to gain and maintain power over a large powerful group by bringing dissension within the group and preventing the lesser powers that compose the group from being in unity with the head. It brings confusion, instructions don’t trickle down to the individuals as easily and soon each one is doing their own thing fruitlessly.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven He asked the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:13-14 we read about the disciples gathering together in one room with one accord. “All of these with their minds in full agreement devoted themselves steadfastly to prayer, [waiting together] with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” Acts 13:14 (AMP) Notice one accord means to be in complete agreement in their minds. Then when the Holy Spirit was poured out on them, God’s miracle working power began showing up through mere human beings. I think the enemy knows how powerful and dangerous a group of Jesus followers can be and has worked a great deal to break us up into powerless factions. Each group is trying to compete with each other while no one is winning the war! Jesus did amazing miracles while on earth and He said all those who believe in Him will do even greater things, but we hardly see that happening amongst us. Alas we have fallen prey to discord. Jesus said “I and the Father are One.” John 10:30 (AMP) God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit of God work together as one, forever. As believers, each one of us has experienced God’s works of goodness and mercy in our lives; His incredible love that floods our heart with warmth and hope. Jesus has extended the opportunity to join His family as coheirs, that we may be of one mind with Him and with God our Father through the working of the Holy Spirit inside us “so there will be [they will become] one flock under one Shepherd.” John 10:16 (AMP)This is where victory begins in our lives, as an individual, a family and as a community - being one with God our Maker that we may receive right instructions and bring forth His glorious fruit! Written by Karuna Barla "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not to your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5 (KJV)
When pursuing the purpose God has for your life, one thing has to be firmly and irrevocably set in place--where you place your trust. Your trust in God must be unaltered and unmovable because we won't always be lying in green pastures. We can expect to travel on terrain comparable to the valley of the shadow of death but trust that God is with us. Trusting God assumes that there is nothing suspicious although there may be the present of danger but we can be secure in Him who holds our past, present and future. God is the Author and the Finisher of our faith; therefore we must walk by faith and not by sight. Our confidence must be placed in the One who is perfect in keeping His promises concerning His children. With the case of any relationship, trust doesn't automatically come but is developed over time. It takes commitment in order to build that trust, and it takes experience with God, an on-going discourse with God involving the truth of His word and it coming to pass in our lives. You will not trust God unless you know Him for yourself. You cannot know Him apart from applying His word to your life. God can be trusted because even when we are not faithful, He is FAITHFUL. However, we must commit ourselves to remaining faithful in the things of God: studying of His word and prayer. This will deepen our relationship with Him instead of remaining at the shallow end of the faith pool. Instead of being so crisis centered in times of trouble, our focus will shift into a Christ-centered life. So regardless of the tests and trials that will come, we won't complain but will continue in the kingdom building business--winning souls for Christ and bearing much fruit. With every opportunity that God presents for each of His children to go in a deeper level of trust with Him, regardless of what may be going on around us, our inner mechanism called faith ought to kick in and remind us that He who has called us is faithful. God can be trusted! Written by Minister Dana McCain There are going to be times in our lives, when God is going to want to do something great in and through us. Even though we may know it is going to happen, we have to be careful not to force some things to happen to soon. We have to wait for GOD’s timing to make it happen. It is not that God is against you and your desires. God has a plan and a purpose for you in mind, but we all need more equipping than we think to handle the situations which God knows are coming our way.
In 1 Samuel 26:1-25 God saw something special in the heart of David. God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint David to one day be the future king of the nation of Israel. God started preparing David to be a great leader and a person with faith and courage. In the beginning the lessons were great. The way God was preparing him for his future job was amazing. David learned not only how to handle success as God prepared him to become king, but he also had to learn how to handle defeat. Where ever God is leading in your life, you have to know how to handle success and disappointments. Nobody wins all of the time in life. There is a time for God to provide us with what we need and what He has promised to give us. Satan always tries to make us have it all right now. He tempted Jesus with the offer of giving Him all the wealth and name recognition He could possibly want with no suffering and no pain, if He would just bow down to him (satan). Jesus told him, “Away from me satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Matthew 4:10 (NIV) Jesus received all that satan promised him, but He received it in God’s timing along with the suffering He endured. God’s way is always going to be the best way in the end. So whatever your problems may be today, make up our mind to let the Lord bring about a solution and let Him do it HIS way. Written by Evangelist Bernice Harley |
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