Word of God #18

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THE TEACHING OF YOUR WORD GIVES LIGHT ... Psalm 119:130 NLT


God's Word has the answer you need, but you have got to read it! You say,

But I am not sure where to start.

When you are worried: 1 Peter 5:7 NLT

Give all your worries ... to God ... he cares about you. Phillipians 4:6 NLT

He is... my rock and my salvation ... I will not be shaken ... Isaiah 26:3 NLT

You ... keep in perfect peace all who trust in you ... whose thoughts are fixed on you! Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT
... the Lord ... will ... go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

When you are heartbroken Psalm 147:3 NLT:
He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others ... Deuteronomy 33:27 NLT:

God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you ... When you are feeling guilty: Acts13:39NLT;
Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God ... 1 John 1:9 NLT: If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. Colossians 1:22 NLT.
... you are holy and blameless as you stand before him. Isaiah 1:18 TLB
:
No matter how deep the stain of your sins ... I can ... make you ... clean. Romans 8:39 NLT.

Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God ... Isaiah 43:25 TLB:

I ... am he who blots away your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again .

God's Word Has the Answer

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... I DO NOT SEEK MY OWN WILL BUT THE WILL OF THE FATHER WHO SENT ME. John 5:30 NKJV


The relationship Jesus had with His Father is the kind of relationship that He wants you to
have with Him.

Intimacy. The Father loves the son and shows him all he does ... (John 5:20 NIV.
You interact with many people through the day, but you only share your heart with those
you trust, and with whom you have a close relationship. So, how close are you to God
right now? Close enough to hear when He speaks to you? Close enough to know when you
have said or done something which has grieved Him? Close enough to feel the warmth of
His presence? The truth is, you are as close to God right now as you desire to be, decide to
be, and discipline yourself to be. Nothing is born unless there is first an act of intimacy
between two people, and intimacy is based one word: desire. How much do
you desire God?

David said,

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirst for you ... Psalm 63:1).

Do you desire His Word?

I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words
of his mouth more than my daily bread (Job 23:12 NIV).

How's Your Relationship with God?

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The things describe Christ's relationship with His Father: apart from intimacy, are dependency and obedience.

Dependency on God.

The son of God can do nothing of Himself, but what He see His Father do; for whatever He does, the Son does
in like manner (v.19 NJKV). Jesus knew he could not do anything without His Father, so He did not bother to
try.

We, on the other hand, sing without Him we can do nothing, then go out and act like it all depends on us.
If we succeed, we often become conceited that nobody can stand us. And if we fail, it is because we collapse
under the weight of an assignment God did not give us in the first place. Have you ever wondered why Jesus
never struggled with insecurity or battled the fear of failure as we do? Because it never occurred to Him that
He could not do something which His Father had already assured Him He could do. When you know you have
heard from God you can face any obstacle or enemy with confidence. God will never give you an assignment
that does not require His wisdom and under-girding strength. Indeed, every ACT of God in your life is designed
to increase, not decrease your dependence on Him. You say,

But I have talent, I can do a lot of things!

Yes, but you can nothing alone that matters in God's eyes. So before you begin your day, kneel and pray,

Lord, I am counting on You, and I do not have a backup plan!

Peace ...

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THE VIRGIN WILL ... GIVE BIRTH TO A SON ... Mathew 1:23 NIV

Heaven announced the birth of Jesus in these words:

The Virgin will ... give birth to a son, and call him Immanuel - which means
God with us.

.

Is is not ironic the first people to question the miracle of the virgin birth were religious
leader?

The Pharisees said to Jesus

... We were not born of fornication ... John 8:41 NKJV)

.

Their insinuation was clear and cruel. After all, Jesus could not point to Joseph and say

He is my father

.

Understand this:

Jesus had to be a man to die, and He had to be God in order to save. You were the
child of an earthly father so you were born in sin. But Jesus was the child of a heavenly
Father, so He broke the genetic cycle of sin before He was born. In the old Testament
a sacrificial lamb had to be without blemish. Since Jesus had neither inherited sin or
practiced sin, He qualifies as

... the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the
world (John 1:29).

The virgin birth is true because

a) The angel of the Lord announced it (Mathew 1:20)
b) Mary's husband-to-be accepted it (Mathew 1:24)
c) Elizabeth, her cousin, received it by divine revelation (Luke 21: 41-42);
d)

... since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning
it seemed good also to write an orderly account for you ... that you may know the
certainty of the things you have been taught

(Luke 1: 3-4 NIV)

The Truth About the Virgin Birth

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... THIS JOB IS TOO HEAVY ... TO HANDLE ... BY YOUSELF. Exodus 18:18 NLT

Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and do not interfere.

Yet in our eagerness to please God we take on responsibilities that are too heavy ... to handle ... by
[ourselves]. Moses was spending every waking minute listening to complaints from long lines of people.
Finally his father-in-law said

You are going to wear yourself out - and the people too,

and advised him to appoint capable leaders to help carry the load (v.22). It was a win-win solution;
the people got help faster, and Moses became a better leader.

One of the greatest our challenges ... is determining what God does not want us to do! We love God,
we love people, and we see many needs. But sometimes good intentions cause more harm than good...
When you become aware of a need do not automatically assume God wants you to meet it. The only
reason to perform ministry is when God tells you it is His will. If you are overwhelmed ... you are
probably doing more than God asked ... Pray about assignments you take on, so you do not rob your
self and others of God's best.

Imagine if God created you to be Michelangelo of this age but you stayed so busy doing all kinds of things
- good things - that you never got around to painting and sculpting. You'd end up missing the best because
you got distracted chasing the good. What a disappointment ... for God ... and all the people who would have
been blessed if you you'd stayed focused on the original purpose.

Learn to delegate. Release the burdens God never meant you to carry and focus on what He called you to.

Learn to Delegate

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MEDITATE ON IT DAY AND NIGHT ... Joshua 1:8 NIV




One of the great dangers of ministry is giving out but not taking in. Financially, when you
give out more than you take in you end up bankrupt. And the same thing can happen to
you spiritually. When Joshua replaced Moses as the leader of Israel, God said the same
thing to him three times:

Be strong and of good courage vv 6. 7, 9)

.

Then He explained to Joshua where his strength and courage would come from:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (NKJV).

You have a role to play in both your strength and your success. What is it? To

meditate on [God's Word]day and night.

To meditate is to ruminate. Cows are ruminants. They chew the cud, swallow it, bring it back up and chew some more, and each time they do get something more out of it. So chew on God's Word. Think about it. Process it. If you want to ber spiritually healthy, meditate and ruminate on the Scriptures!

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... THOU HAST ENLARGED ME WHEN I WAS IN DISTRESS ... Psalm 4:1

When God wants to make you a bigger person, He does it through distress. The way
to build stronger muscle is to lift more weight. Now when a muscle is put under stress,
you groan. But if you persist, that muscle grows stronger and what you were groaning
about last week you are smiling about this week. Who said the Christian life was
supposed to be easy? Not God! His Word compares it to a battlefield, not a bed of
roses.

endure hardness as a good soldier ... (2 Timothy 2:3).

Satan's number one target is your faith! Jesus said to Peter,

... satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have
prayed prayed for you, that your faith should not fail ... (Luke 22:31-32 NKJV).

In the same way you separate wheat from chaff, satan wants to separate you from your
faith. Not only did Peter survive this attack, he grew through it and wrote:

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try
you, as though some strange thing happened to you (1 Peter 4:12 NKJV).

Because we tend to be shocked when trials come our way, Peter deals with our attitude toward attack. He wants us to know how to think when we are under attack, to understand the appropriateness of the battle we are in. Satan may attack your health but he is after
your faith. He may attack your finances but he is after your faith. If he can destroy your confidence in God and His #Word, he wins and yuou lose. So the word for you today is Strength you faith.

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...BUT WHO DO YOU SAY I AM ? Mathew 16:15 NLT

Mathews writes:

One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that
he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority (v. 1 NLT)

.

The Pharisees were bound by tradition, so they opposed anything new. The Sadducees
were bound by reason, so they opposed anything supernatural. Since Christ brought a
revelation of God and a new dimension of His power, both the Pharisees and Sadducees
opposed Him. So Jesus warned His disciples :

Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees (v. 6 NLT)

.

In a culture where people used yeast to make bread, Christ's point came through
loud and clear. Just as yeast works silently and spreads slowly, aso doubt and unbelief work
the same way in our hearts and minds. Then Christ asked His disciples two questions.

Who do people that the Son of Man is?(v.13 NLT)

.

them to know when their thinking was being negatively influenced by those around around
them so that they would be on guard against it.

Who do you I am?

Immediately Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God (v.16 NLT).

Jesus replied,

You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed
this to you. You did not learn this from any human being (V.17 NLT)

.

There are things that people can teach you and if you are wise you will listen. But there
are things that only thje Lord can reveal to you and if you are wise you will listen and do what
He says.

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HOW GREAT IS THE LOVE THE FATHER HAS LAVISHED ON US ... 1 John 3:1 NIV


God knows everything there is to know about you, including your past, present and future.
He does not miss a thing. He knows your name:

QUOTE] ... Fear not for I have redeemed you: I have called you by name; you are
MINE (Isaiah 43:1 NKJV). [/QUOTE]

He also knows your address:

I know ... where you dwell ... (Revelation 2:13 NKJV)

With the full knowledge of you, He loves you! He does not say I love you, if. There is no
ifs in God's heart. His love for you existed before you were born and it will exist after you
have gone. How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called
children of God! And that is what we are!

Does that mean God does not care what we say or do? No, to love without condition
does not mean to love without concern. Sometimes we confuse unconditional love with
unconditional approval. God does not approve betrayal, selfishness, pride, dishonesty,
lust, resentment or any other form of sin. These are opposite of the love God wants to
instil in our hearts. God's unconditional love just means He continues to love us even
when we blow it; that He waits for us like the father waited for the return of his prodigal
son. It is important we hold to the truth that God never stops loving us even when He is
grieved by what we do. Why is that so important ? you ask. Because God's love is the
magnet that will draw us back to Him every time.
Peace

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Researchers have found that about forty percent of the things we worry about never happen.
Thirty percent are in the past and cannot be helped. Twelve percent involve the affairs of others
that are not even our business. Ten percent relate to sickness, real or imagined . That means
only eight percent of the things we worry about are even likely to happen! Somebody has said
that

worry is just interest paid on trouble before it comes due.

And in most cases it never comes due. Think; when you worry, there is a ninety-two percent
chance you are paying interest on a debt that is not even yours! How foolish is that? Take the fear
of flying for example. You would have to fly every day for nineteen thousand years before reaching
the probability of being in a plane crash. Yet it is one of the most feared causes of death. Someone
has said that there are three hundred and sixty-five

fear not's in the Bible-one for every day of the year. When you worry, you doubt God and
give the devil an entry point into your life. How long have you been doing this? When are
you going to stop it? Knowing Abraham was leaving his comfort zone and his security base,
God said ...

... Do not be afraid, Abram. I am you shield, your very great reward (Genesis)

(Genesis 15:1 NIV].

And today God's saying the same to you.

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The Christmas story goes like this: There were ... shepherds ... keeping watch over their flocks by night.
And behold an angel of the Lord stood before them ... The angel said to them

Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
For there is born to you this day in ther city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And
this will be a sign to you: You will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, living in a
manager (Luke 2:8-12 NKJV)

Have you ever wondered why the angel first talked to shepherds, a job considered lowest on the social tote, pole?
Think about it: if he'd talked to church leaders they'd have to consult their doctrinal texts books and denominational boards. If he'd appeared to celebrities they'd have to check who was watching. If he'd appeared to chief executives they'd have had to consult their diaries and spread sheets.

So he gave the greatest news story in history to those with no axe to grind, no reputation to protect and no ladder to climb, people with humble hearts and open minds; people with simple, child-like faith. Getting the idea? Outside Bethlehem there is a church marking Jesus birthplace. behind the altar is a cave with a symbolic star embedded in the floor. You can enter the cave, but with one requirement - you must kneel. The door is too low to get in standing up! God still operates that way. You will find Him among the commonplace. But to experience Him, you must get down on your knees.

*HAVE A GREAT *
CHRISTMAS AND A
BLESSED NEW YEAR!

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We often use the word hope when we want something to happen but we are not sure it will.
We hope fixing the car won't cost too much. We hope our children graduate. We hope the
medical test goes well. But our hope isn't wishful thinking; it's trusting God. So how do you
keep hope alive when you are out of work? God, the source of hope, will fill you ... with ... peace
because you trust in him.

The media-created frenzy of panic is negatively impacting [our] collective psychology ... people
are more stressed than ever ... like a horror film, what you fear starts to happen ... However, the
economy isn't some abstract entity ... Our thoughts and behaviour create it. So how can we trust ...
when everything we've trusted is falling apart? My answer: we put our faith in the wrong things ...
and the cracks have been exposed. It's a wake-up.

We turn to God when our foundation s are shaking, only to learn that it's God who's shaking them

.

Security is an illusion. There's no power in a bank account ... no peace in an investment portfolio ... our
true purpose isn't in a retirement plan ... We're meant to trust God ... true power exists not in what seems
strong and secure, but what is silent and unseen ... Instead of starting your morning watching TV, take a
walk of prayer; instead of looking down the newspaper, look up to heaven.

Prayer:

Lord, sometimes my hopes are just wishes, but hoping in You is different; You give me solid ground.
Today my hope is based on Your faithfulness and Your promise to meet my every need. Thank You, I know
You'll do it.
Amen!

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When you get what you want in the struggle for self, and the world makes you a king for a day;
just go to the mirror and look at yourself, and see what that man has to say. For isn't your
father or your mother or wife, whose judgement upon you must pass; the fellow whose verdict
counts most in your life, is the one staring back from the glass. And you've have passed your
most dangerous, difficult test, if the man in the glass is your friend. And you may fool the whole
world down the pathway of years, and get pats on the back as you pass. But your final reward
will be heartache and tears, if you've cheated the man in the glass.
Peace
Have a Blessed New Year.

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God's grace comes to us free and clear, with no strings attached. In fact, He's more tolerant and less judgemental than many of us are. We weren't worthy and didn't deserve it but because we belong to Christ,

Out of His ... (abundance) we have all received ... one grace after another ... spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing ... favour upon favour and gift [heaped] upon gift.

The moralising and legalising of the Gospel of Gods grace is a dull heresy peddled to disappointed people who are angry because they have not received what they had no good reason to expect. When you truly grasp the concept of grace: You will gain fresh appreciation for God's gifts to you - things like salvation and forgiveness, the gift of life, health, laughter, music, beauty and friendship.

You will be less critical and less concerned with what other people do.

Ever heard of the saying,

I'm okay with me. I don't need to make you wrong?

When you operate in the freedom that comes with grace, you're okay letting other people chart their own course and make decisions you may not make.

You will become more tolerant and less judgemental.

Instead of focusing on appearance based on religious performance, you'll look for authenticity and genuine love for God. You will grow spiritually.

David said,

He brought me out into a spacious place ...(Psalm 18:19 NIV)

.

Grace expands your horizons so you can never go back to where you once were.

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Any habit you cannot break, or that you refuse to break, is a habit that has the power to break you. Are you dealing with appetites that are out of control? Do you struggle with compulsions that bring moments of pleasure followed by days of remorse? Do you go through periods of abstinence, only to be followed by seasons of indulgence that leave you defeated and condemned? Christ can set you free! The Bible says,

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil ... (Acts 10:38 NKJV)

It's not what you through in life that messes you up; it's what you keep going back to! Are you tired of saying,

I'm not going to listen to it, I'm not going to do it.

only to go out and repeat your old patterns over and over? Here's a prayer for you to pray, a pray God will answer.

Turn [me] back to You, O Lord and [I] will be restored.

Ask God to turn your heart back to Him, because the truth is, you can't do it all by yourself! You say,

But my friends have given up on me.

God won't. The Psalmist wrote:

Many are they who say of me, ... There is no help for him in God. But You O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lift up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me (Psalm 3:2-4 NKJV)

Christ can set you free, so turn to Him today.

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Someone has said that mediocrity is just the best of the worst and the worst of the best. Is that what you want this year? If not,

you must be willing to leave the safety of where you are and go where He wants to take you.

Jesus told His disciples,

Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

In other words, leave the safety of the shoreline and be willing to face the fury of the storm, knowing that God is with you.

Security is a myth. The reason we don't experience it because it doesn't exist. Avoiding danger or failure is no safer in the long run than out-right risk. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.

Launching out means setting goals, establishing a plan to meet them, and becoming accountable. it requires staying in sync with God's will, confronting your fears discovering the rewards that lie on the other side of them.. It demands looking in the mirror, respecting or correcting what you're becoming. It calls for devoting your life to something greater than yourself, even when others don't understand. It's having an

I will fear no evil for Thou art with me

attitude, and attempting great things for God.

As you enter this New Year, stop and recall God's goodness.

Check the price tag on His will for your life against what you're already paying, and compare the rewards of both. The launch out and don't look back.

H A P P Y N E W Y E A R ...

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Solomon writes:

Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest
(Proverbs 14:4 NLT)

.

If you insist on always having a nice neat stall, you'll have an empty stall. If you want a big havrest, you'll need a big ox with a big appetite who creates big messes. For example, if you decide to have children you'll have lots of joy, and lots of messes to clean up. Within minutes, children can take a house that looks like to belongs to better Homes and Garden and make it look like a trial run for the battle of Armageddon. So you've an option: live by yourself and enjoy a less complicated life, or accept the problems that come with having a family. Even in the dictionary, the words striving and struggle come before the word success.

At some point you have to make a transition from believer of the dream to buyer of the dream. No dream comes true without somebody paying for it. And part of the price you will have to pay in learning from the mistakes you make. You can attend every success seminar, read every success manual and follow every success mentor, but the price must always be paid in messess and mistakes. There isn't a single person in the world who has achieved anything without paying a price for it. Some pay with their lives or their freedom. Others pay by giving up options or finances or relationships. But one way or another, everybody pays.

Happy New Year