God promises us a new life through His spiritual blessings!

Promises from God
God promises us spiritual blessings and a new life.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV (Condition – You must be in Christ – He must be your Lord!)

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 KJV (Say this: “Good God – Bad Devil!”)

Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4 KJV (The Life of Christ that is now in us, if we are born again through Christ)

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 KJV (God’s two-fold promise of Jesus and the Holy Spirit)

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S MANNA…
Notice that in the first promise stated here God gave us a qualifier for receiving. You MUST be in Christ! You MUST have made Him your Lord and thus your savior and asked Him into your heart AND have daily fellowship with Him. {Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.}(John 14:6) I don’t care what anyone else might tell you, folks there just isn’t any other way to the Father God and Heaven except through Jesus period!

MY PRAYER…
Father I thank You that You are a loving Father. That You have always loved us even before we were. I thank You Lord for providing us with the opportunity to receive of Your Gracious promises through Jesus. Thank You Lord for making the way to You through Jesus, the ‘ONLY’ way. Thank You Lord for being such an awesome Father. In Jesus Name, I thank You.
Amen

God’s promises continue whether you receive them or not.

Promises from God:
God promises us His spiritual blessings of forgiveness.
I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalms 32:5 NKJV)

As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:12 NKJV) Think about this one for awhile – If you go north over the pole eventually you will be going south, but if you go east around the equator you never go west! You are always traveling east. God knew what He was saying when He made this statement ‘as far as the east is from the west’ they never meet!

I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25 NKJV)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NKJV)

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. (Ephesians 1:7 NKJV)

Thoughts
Learn what God’s Promises are and then claim them as yours! He gave them to you.

Amen

Receive God’s promises for today in your life!

Promises from God:
God promises us His spiritual blessings in and through His Word.
Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. (Psalms 119:89 NKJV) If His Word says it it is true –just believe that!
The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8 NKJV) The Word of God is forever, it never changes nor does it diminish in power.

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11 NKJV) The Word of God when spoken in faith will cause to happen that which was spoken – believe it!

Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word. (Jeremiah 1:12 NKJV) If you will speak His Word God is ready and willing to perform it for you!

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 NKJV)

But the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:25 NKJV)
Remember Spiritual blessings are positional truths declared by the Word of God. It is up to us through our faith to activate them and receive them. To make them a practical reality in our lives.

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery known to mankind.

Be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery known to mankind. We are to sincerely flatter God by being like Him, but imitation may also be the most costly form of flattery as well. You see, love for God is never something that occurs just in our minds or our hearts. Love is something we do for another, it is an action. John said in 1 John 4 that we must love in both our deeds and our words. Love means to give ourselves up, what we want, our rights, our desires, to honor God and serve others. To lay down our lives if need be, even as far as to death for another. This is a kind of love that can change the world, or a marriage, or a family, or the lost. It is known as ‘AGAPE’ Love, it’s unconditional love, it’s the God kind of love. It is not a physical, sexual based love. We need to live, walk, and talk the God kind of Love for others, just as He loves us.

MY PRAYER…
Abba Father, I will never fully understand how You could love me so much that You would allow Your only begotten Son to die for me as my sacrifice. To pay the price for my sin. Please help me to love others sacrificially as Christ loves me. I know the power to do this is not within me or of myself, so please pour Your love into my heart, that I may share that love with others. Father, let Your Holy Spirit continually fill me and overflow me with Your love. Through Jesus, my Lord, my brother and my saviour, I pray.
Amen

Grow A Little Spiritually Every Day!

“Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.”
Luke 13:18-19 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
If you’re going to grow in the kingdom of God, you’re going to do it just like a seed that’s been planted in the ground. How does a seed grow? All at once? No, it grows constantly– 24 hours a day–a little at a time until it accomplishes what it was created to do. Many of us don’t operate that way spiritually. We study and pray very hard for a few days and then quit or slack way off. We want it all right now, microwave Christianity! Then, when some emergency or sickness or some other disaster comes, we make a mad desperate attempt to pray and stand on the Word, calling all our brothers and sisters to be in agreement with us! While all the while realizing that, for some reason, we’re just not as strong as we ought to be spiritually. Why not? God’s Kingdom works on the principal of “Seed time and Harvest”, you don’t get a harvest without first sowing seed. And seed takes time to grow. There’s no such thing as an overnight success in the kingdom of God! There’s no over night ‘super Christian’! Real strength, real growth comes as you consistently and constantly keep the Word before your eyes, in your ears, and in the midst of your heart. Not just when you want to or when you feel like it, but constantly, like the seed, a little at a time. Make up your mind to begin that daily process of constant growth today. Determine to start putting the Word in your heart consistently. Every day a line here, a line there–a CD here, a CD there, maybe a video here, and video there, line upon line, precept upon precept as your spirit man grows and becomes strong in the things of God! Eventually, your faith will be bigger than you ever dreamed it could be. Remember to tithe of your time to the Lord also. A tithe of 24 hours is 2.4 hours a day that you should be giving totally to God!

MY PRAYER…
Almighty God, I thank You for giving me a measure of faith that I can plant in my heart and cause to grow. Thank You Lord, for Your steadfast love and enduring faithfulness even when I falter. I thank You for Your grace and mercy. I thank You for Your might and power. I thank You for Your awesome holiness. I thank You… for being You and choosing to reveal Yourself to mortals like me. I Thank You Father for loving me so much that You sent Your Holy Son Jesus to bear my sin, my punishment, my sickness, my disease, my poverty, my depression, and my lack of fulfillment in the law, that through His sacrifice I might have life and life more abundantly. Father help me to develop a steadfastness in spending time with You and in Your Word. In Jesus’ name, your Word made flesh, I pray.
Amen

Out of the tiniest of seeds huge trees grow!

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Galatians 6:7-8 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Out of the tiniest of seeds huge trees grow! A very small acorn can produce a giant majestic oak tree over time. Whatever we sow is what we will reap. As Creflo Dollar would say “You don’t plant corn seed if you want collard greens!” This principle runs true throughout all of life. It is a principal ordained by God and it controls nature. When we sow to the flesh (or the carnal, lustful sin nature of man) by yielding to such things as alcohol, tobacco, drugs, greed, anger, adultery, pornography and other such lusts of the flesh, we will only reap the destruction that will come from it. (“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23) (or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23) Take a good look at modern society today and you will see what I mean. Men with men and women with women, and trying to tell the world it’s okay. It is NOT okay, it is an abomination to God! It is not what God intended for us to do. Even the animals don’t live like that, they have more sense than humanity in that respect! Why else would He have made male and female? Adults sexually abusing children, pornography all over the internet and even cable TV. Liars, cheaters, and illegal aliens as politicians, even as a president. The list just goes on and on. We can not get completely away from the seeds we have already sown, but we can control what seeds we will sow in the future. We can control our future harvest. It is possible to uproot the seeds before they sprout, if you will turn to God and His Word. So let’s not fool ourselves by trying to do a “snow job” on God. He knows what you are sowing, just like you know what you are sowing. If you’re sitting in front of the ‘boob tube’ all evening instead of meditating the Word guess what your harvest is going to be? Ever wonder why they call the television the ‘boob tube’? Seek first the Kingdom of God. Sow to the spirit and spiritual things instead of to the flesh, and you will reap eternal life. Yes, those things of the flesh seem pleasant and fun to do, BUT it is only for a little while and then there is a price to pay. If it’s not of faith in the things of God, it’s sin. Sin, when mature produces death. Let’s make sure the seeds we sow are the ones we want sprouting up later! Remember God SEES and HEARS all that you do and say and He even knows what is in your heart!

MY PRAYER…
Heavenly Father, God who lived before creation and who will be the Great “I AM” when time is no more, help me to sow seeds in my life that will bear eternal fruit. Let Your Spirit guide and teach me to sow to the spirit and to avoid those seeds that are carnal and lead to destruction. I know that I can not accomplish this on my own, I know that I need You and Your Spirit to help and guide me every step of the way. So Father, I ask You to fill me afresh each day with Your precious Holy Spirit that I may be endued with power from on High to accomplish that which I can not of my self do. Through Jesus, who died and was buried and rose on high so that I might have life and it might forever flow forth from me by the power of the Holy Spirit within me. My Lord and my Saviour, in Jesus name I pray.
Amen

Do you always walk in love?

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:6-7 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Always love? Pretty tall order and pretty tough stuff. Only God is “always.” But as Christians we can be fueled by HIS Love to always be walking in love through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit! God is Love (Agape) and if His Holy Spirit is living in us then we are (or should be) His love personified. And remember, our Faith works by love. His Love working in and through us. Check out the promised source of always love in Romans 5:5.

MY PRAYER…
Precious Father on High, I humble myself before You, recognizing Your boundless power to love, the incredible need for love in the lives of those around me, and my limited ability to love them. Please continue to pour Your Holy Spirit into my heart and Your anointing oil upon my head and in so doing empower me by Your Holy Spirit with Your love toward people. Through the power of Your indwelling Holy Spirit, fill me with the power to love as You do, unconditionally always. In Jesus’ sweet and precious name I pray.
Amen

How do you tell a Christian from the world?

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you , so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
John 13:34-35 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
How do you recognize followers (His disciples) of Jesus? How do you know who are true Christians? Jesus said they love each other and the World just as He loved His disciples. There are no “Undesireables” as far as Jesus is concerned, He has only love (Unconditional God-kind of Love) in His heart for ALL. Unconditional Love, that’s how Jesus loves and that is how we are to love also. This meant He was willing to give sacrificially and selflessly by dying for them on the cross, and He was also willing to love selflessly and practically by becoming their servant to the extent of even washing their feet. Imagine if we all read the Gospels, and committed to love each other in the same way Jesus showed His love to His disciples! Unconditional love for one another! Are you a disciple (a follower of the teaching) of Jesus? Then there should be no “Undesireables” in your life either. You should love everyone with the ‘Agape’ love of God. This is not the physical love that most people think of, it is a spiritual love. Glory to God He loves me just the same as He loved His original twelve disciples!

MY PRAYER…
Father of Compassion, and God of all grace, I thank You for teaching me to love through the example of Jesus, for removing the thought of “Undesireables” from my life. May my words and actions begin to reflect the same resemblance of His love toward Your people today. May the Holy Spirit, through His working within me begin to produce that Christ like unconditional love within me that Jesus had for the multitudes. Through Christ, my Great Example, I pray.
Amen

Have you accepted God’s commanded commission?

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:19-20 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Are you born again, are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Not just confirmed in some church on a roster, but truly born again of the Spirit of God. Just going to church does not make you a Christian or born again, just like standing in the garage does NOT make you a car! If you are born again and you know it, then this is the commission we were given by Jesus before He went to sit at the right hand of the Father. He spoke this to His disciples before He was taken up, but that doesn’t mean that He limited it to only those standing there with Him. No, it was spoken to ALL His disciples both present with Him and future ones. It is a call to discipleship to each and every believer from that day forward until He comes back again for His church. How else is the work of making disciples supposed to get done if we don’t go and do it? There is a further call to some others that are to raise us up to do the work of the ministry. Those are called specifically to be Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers. But ALL believers are called to do the work of the ministry as outlined above. We are all called to the ministry of reconciliation, reconciling the world of sinners unto Jesus.

MY PRAYER…
Father, I thank You for calling me to do the work of reconciliation, to be a pastor of your sheep. To go forth and teach the Gospel to all nations and kindred. Father, I thank You that You are the one who equips us with all that is necessary to do this work. You have given us Your Word, and You have given us Your Holy Spirit, who is our Guide, our Comforter, and our Teacher. And You have put in place Your 5-fold ministers Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers to equip us, the saints for the work of the ministry. Father, thank You for having faith in me, before I even knew You, for placing a call on my life to do Your will and Your work here in the earth until the return of Your Son and my Lord for His church. In Jesus’ holy name I pray and thank You Lord.
Amen

Do you have to be #1?

And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
Mark 9:35 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Last? Nobody, I mean NOBODY likes to be last. We have a hard enough time settling for second place, much less last place. But, Jesus reverses the rank or order. He confounds the world with His foolish ways! The person who is most important to Him is not the person seeking the status and the notoriety. The most important person is the one most like Jesus Himself: willing to give up rank and status and importance to serve his brethren. For Jesus, last means being first in service, first to lay your self down for some else’s benefit, and first in the eyes of God because you have given yourself to Him first in the service of others. I did not want to, nor did I myself choose to be a Pastor – Jesus decided that I should be a Pastor, He told me that I was to be a Pastor for Him and I chose to accept. Ministry means service, means WORK, it means serving others first before self! Do you want to be first, to be recognized and have status before others? Then you first need to be a servant to all! But serve “As unto the Lord” not unto man or because you have to. Remember it’s a choice, you get to you don’t have to! And always remember that it is really the Lord you are serving. Jesus said: “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

MY PRAYER…
Magnificent Father, creator of all that was, is, and ever will be, You have made this wonderful world for me and have given Your Son to redeem me. How can I ever thank You or repay You for Your Grace, Your Mercy, and Your Kindness. Today help me see those You want me to serve. Lord extend Your grace and kindness toward me as I try to be more like You. I can not do it on my own, but through Jesus all things are possible. Lord I give You my body, a living sacrifice. Change me, purge me, rearrange me Lord into a vessel worthy to serve You. A vessel that will bring glory and honor to Your name and Your Kingdom. In the name of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus.

Amen