Jan18

............	A Word In Due Season JAN 2018 1/1/18 A NEW THING Isaiah 43:19 "Behold, I will do a new thing." God has always been a God of new things. He has never been a hand me down God and He does not settle into the old or become stagnant in His works. Everything God creates is fresh. Each mountain, river, and ocean is distinctly different, as is all of His other works of nature. He is a master artist and every day He creates a new sunrise and a new sunset that is never to be repeated. God's work is glorious and profound, and like He said in Genesis, "It is always good." God makes a wonderful promise through Isaiah, the prophet, to do a new thing for His people. He promised to make a way in the wilderness and create streams in the desert places for them. He also promised to give them a path in the mighty waters. He declared that He was their Lord, their Holy One, their Creator, and King. He was all that they needed and all that they would ever need. God also promised new things for us. When we receive Jesus into our hearts, we become a new creature with a new covenant and He gives us a new name (Revelations 2:17). He creates within us a new heart and imparts a new Spirit into our lives (Ezekiel 36:26). He instructs us to put on the new man (Ephesians 4:24) and gives us a new commandment and a new song (Psalm 40:3). When He touches our lives with these new things we are totally transformed. As you face the New Year, believe God to do new things in your life. Remember that He is still your Creator. Regardless of whether you are faced with a wilderness place or a dry barren desert, God has the answer. He will make a way, create a stream, or do whatever is necessary to help you through your dilemma and correct your situation. "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and don't lean upon your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). Welcome the New! Do not base today's answer on yesterday's solutions because God is doing a new thing in your life. +++ 1/2/18 NEW RESOLUTIONS Scripture: Psalms 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalms 118 was a jubilant expression of praise and thanksgiving that was sung by the worshipers as they went up to the Temple. The psalm spoke of the people's deliverance from the things of the past that had caused them distress and also expressed their hopes for the future. The word "day" in this scripture is not confined in any way except to indicate a particular space of time. It can mean either the time between sunrise and sunset or the twenty-four hour period from one sunset to next sunset. It can also mean a week, a year, a decade, or a season. It can even refer to a century or an entire age. God creates spaces of time in our lives and each one starts with a new beginning. Each day comes with a new sun rise offering light to escape the previous darkness and warmth to create growth on the earth. Every new week gives us a fresh start after an appointed day of rest. Each new season brings change and every new year births new resolutions and hope in our spirits. We start each of these spaces of time with faith that things will be good and that we will accomplish our goals in a better fashion. I start every morning agreeing with God's Word that this is the day or the space of time that the Lord has given to me and that I will rejoice and be glad in it. It does not take long, however, for my declaration to be challenged and my hopes dashed to pieces because the day does not always go as I have planned. My week also gets off to a rough start and the month ends too soon without the goals being met. And the New Year with its promising resolutions to do better presents its own challenges. Everything seems to fall to pieces little by little and I begin to wonder, if God really did create this new day, why is all this chaos happening? Yet, God's Word is always true for God is not a man that He should lie. If the Word says that He created this day or space of time we can believe it and we can also believe that He will give us strength to rejoice in it. Being children of the Most High God does not exempt us from heartache and trouble. The Apostle James told us to rejoice when we went through fiery trials. Habakkuk rejoiced in the season when the fig tree did not blossom and there was no fruit on the vine. The Apostle Paul determined that none of the tribulations that He faced would separate Him from God and he instructed us to rejoice in the Lord always. Jesus proceeded towards the crucifixion of the Cross because of the joy that was set before Him. It would benefit our souls to stand with these men of faith and declare that we too will rejoice in the Lord and be glad in the current day regardless of what it brings. Rejoicing provides strength to endure and it is with joy that we are able to draw from the wells of salvation. So, let us recognize this new year as a gift from God and appreciate every day. Let us determine to rejoice and be glad in it regardless of the circumstances knowing that God made this day or period of time and He knows what surrounds it. +++ 1/3/18 HELP IN THE TIME OF NEED Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the time of need." God's promise of mercy and grace for the time of need is offered to each one of us individually. Under the old covenant, the priests were the only ones who could enter into the Holy of Holies and they could only do that once a year. When Jesus was crucified the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom signifying that every believer could go into the Holy presence of the Lord. No longer did they have to depend upon their priest, for they were provided direct access to God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews now tells us that we not only have the privilege to approach God but that we can do it with boldness and without fear and trembling. Whatever you are facing today, God gives hope in all situations. He offers you healing, prosperity, forgiveness, and blessings in many other areas. These provisions of God are not only sufficient, but they are also personal. God wants all of your needs met. We would fill up many pages if we began to list all of the good things that we know God has in store for us. Yet, Ephesians 3:20 tells us that His bounty is beyond our knowledge. It says that God is able to do exceeding abundantly more than we could ask or think. His promises are faithful. They have been signed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and dated nearly 2000 years ago when He hung on the cross and declared, "It is finished." Although God's provisions are there waiting for us, it remains our responsibility to go before His throne of grace to receive them. James 4:2 tells us that we have not because we do not ask, and that when we do ask, we ask amiss. It is time that we consider our real needs and also the enormous price that has been paid to meet those needs. The work is finished! We can come to God at any time for any thing. Let us not waver in our faith but come boldly before God's throne of grace in the time of need believing that He will answer our prayers (James 1:6). +++ 1/4/18 DEALING WITH OUR OWN SHORTCOMINGS Scripture: Matthew 7:3 "Why worry about the mote or speck in the eye of a brother when you have a beam or a board in your own?" As I read this scripture, I was reminded of a time when I was judging another brother in the church. The matter was so important at the time, but now I cannot even remember what it was about. One night I went to bed praying that God would correct this man and show him his faults. The next morning, my son told me that he had a dream about me. God is so amazing. My son had no idea about the struggle that was going on within my own heart. As he related his dream to me, he said that there was a huge pile of railroad ties stacked in our front yard. I was trying to move them, one by one, to the back yard so that they could not be seen. I did not want to get rid of them; I just did not want anyone else to know that I had them. As I carried each one to the back yard, I had to go around the corner of the house. Unfortunately, each time I tried to get though the narrow passage, I would knock some of the bricks off of the side of the house. I was doing a lot of damage to my nice house in an effort to hide the railroad beams. Of course, my son had no idea what the dream meant, but I immediately recognized that it had to do with my attitude towards my brother in Christ. I was judging him for something that was smaller than the critical spirit that I was harboring in my own heart. And I was also trying to hide my spiritual short comings from the world. As I heard this dream, God immediately spoke this scripture to me. Jesus said, it is so easy for us to pick out the faults in others and disregard our own faults. We look for the smallest particle of dust, and when we find it, we judge it, gossip about it, and often sow discord trying to correct it. We fail to realize that we will be judged with the same judgment that we judge others. In reality, when we are critical and judge others, we are destroying ourselves just as I was destroying my own home in the dream when I tried to hide the railroad beams in the back yard. We must come to realize that when we harbor a critical spirit, we damage ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally. We knock the bricks out of our own life, one by one. This does not mean that we are not to use Godly discretion and discernment. We are instructed to know others by their fruit. We are also to consider ourselves and understand that our first mission from God is to remove the board from our own eye so that we can see. When our hearts are made pure and the negative beams are destroyed, Jesus will be able to use us to help others with their problems and to show them how to get rid of the "specks" that are in their lives. Then as we approach them with love instead of condemnation, we will truly be able to minister to them. +++ 1/5/18 FORGET AND PRESS ON Philippians 3:13-14 "... this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark ..." Paul knew that he was not all that he should be as he endeavored to complete God's calling for his life, but he kept working towards that goal. He never let anything separate him from obeying and following after God's will regardless of how difficult the situation became or how challenging the disappointments. Paul just kept going forward one step at a time. He declared, "This one thing I do." One of the first things that Paul decided to do was to forget the past. He was not going to allow his past to haunt him or hold him back from completing the race that was set before him. He knew that looking back would only cause him to lose time and possibly make him stumble. Besides that, he knew that the past could not be relived. In any race, once you start, you are on your way and regardless of how bad your initial start is you cannot go back to the starting line. Paul's start was not so good although he had many good qualities. His resume for a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ and a writer of the gospel was not very impressive for he had persecuted the church. Even after his conversion on the road to Damascus, these past memories were still there to haunt him. How many times did the scene of Stephen being stoned flash into his memory? How many times did grief and remorse attack his spirit for the other dreadful things that he was responsible for? Yet, Paul said, "I forget those things that be behind." Second, Paul reached forth for the things that were before him. He put the past behind him so that he could experience new things in Christ. He caught hold of the vision that God had for his life and he continued in his race, making each step count. It takes little effort to start the race when your strength is fresh or to run across the finish line, but it takes great effort to make the strenuous mundane steps that are in between. Putting one foot in front of the other can become boring and discouraging, especially when everyone else seems to be passing you and there are no shortcuts in view. A friend of mine told this story. She was in a hurry to get to a certain destination. As it happened, a truck pulling a boat got in front of her on a two lane - no passing zone - street. Things were moving too slowly for her so after a while, she decided to take another route so that she could get ahead of the situation. She turned and went down several streets as fast as she could and then finally got back to the main road. As she sat at the stop sign waiting to turn onto the main road again, she had to wait for the same truck with the boat to pass. Despite all of her efforts, she found herself behind the truck and boat again. Sometimes our anxieties try to hurry God along in His plan. Yet, when we try to take shortcuts, we find ourselves no further down the road because God has ordered our steps and He is testing our patience as He works His plan. The third thing Paul did was to press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. There are two things to keep in your sight as you run the race. One is the mark, which is the final destination, the goal, or the finish line. The other is the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. If you want to live in God's will one hundred percent of the time, just pursue it fifteen minutes at a time. Each step committed to Him will eventually get you there. Philippians 1:6 (Amplified) says, "He who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ - right up to the time of His return - developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you." So regardless of your situation, remember that God is able to bring about His original plans and complete His purposes in your life. You need to simply forget the past, reach forth for the vision of the future, and press towards that goal one step at a time. +++ 1/8/18 A SHIELD FOR ME Scripture: Psalms 3:3 "For Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head." As I was driving the other day, I noticed a big spider on the hood of my car. Somehow it was able to resist the force of the wind and to stay there right in front of me. Normally, a spider that close to me would have brought fear to my heart, but in this situation I had no anxiety because the car's windshield was between me and the spider. This thin piece of glass was my protection and I knew that the spider could not harm me physically. Therefore, it could not torment me mentally. As I watched the spider, this scripture came to my mind and I thought of the many times that the Lord had been a shield for me in life's circumstances. I also realized that there were many other instances in my life where His protection prevailed without me even being aware of it. Several years ago my oldest son and I had a bread ministry to the poor in one of the neighborhoods on the outskirts of Houston. Every Tuesday night, rain or shine, we loaded up our vehicle with bread and pastries and went from house to house sharing the physical bread and the spiritual bread of God’s Word. One of the elderly women that we visited each week warned us of the shootings that were happening on the streets in the vicinity. She always asked us to pray with her that God would clean up her neighborhood and rid it of evil. But we still remained unaware of the problems that plagued the area and it never occurred to us that we were in imminent danger. Just after one of our visits, the police raided the area and arrested eighteen people for drugs and posted their pictures in the local paper. Sometime later when I was ministering in the prison half way house, one of the girls who was arrested in the raid recognized me. She told me of the dangers that had surrounded us when we were there. The police were suspicious that we were delivering drugs in the bread and the drug dealers thought we were working undercover for the police. This was overwhelming to us because we were just simply trying to obey the mandate of the Lord and be a blessing to the people. In our innocence, God had placed an invisible shield about us and protected us from all harm, physically and mentally. My son and I prayed every time before starting out on our mission to help the poor and evangelize the lost. We asked the Lord to lead us as we went up and down the dark streets. We had no cell phones or any means of protection but we were always walking behind our Shepherd. The Lord, Himself, was our shield and was between us and every present danger. Because we were obedient to His voice, souls were saved, the hungry were fed, and our prayers, which were joined with the prayers of the elderly woman, were answered. God did clean up her neighborhood. Just like this incident, we face personal situations everyday where we need the Lord to be a shield for us. We need Him to surround us with His love when others reject us, to surround us with peace when there is confusion in our lives, to fill our hearts with joy when we are overcome with sorrow, to give us courage in the midst of danger, and to lift us up physically when we cannot go any further. We must remember that God is always there for us and be encouraged by this psalm that David wrote. When he spoke these words, he was fleeing from His own son, Absalom, who was trying to kill him. David bravely said, "For Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head." +++ 1/9/18 FORGIVENESS Scripture: Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ... to preach deliverance to the captives." Satan's battlefield is your mind and one of his primary weapons is deception. If he can get you to believe his lies, he can hold you captive by your own thoughts. He does not approach you with giant lies that are the size of trees because he knows that you would recognize and reject those thoughts. So, he starts with tiny seeds of doubt. He then feeds and nourishes those small seeds of doubt until, little by little, he is able to work his plan of deception in your life. John 10:10 says the devil is a thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. When the devil's work is left unchallenged and unchecked strongholds are established in your life, which enables him to hold you in bondage with his tormenting thoughts. The good news is that Jesus came to the earth and was anointed to preach the gospel of truth. John 8:32 says, when you know the truth, the truth will make you free. One of Jesus' messages was about a man who had been forgiven of much. Yet, this same man refused to forgive another man that owed him little. Because the man who had received much forgiveness refused to forgive the man who owed little, he, himself, was turned over to the tormentors (Matthew 18:21-35). Jesus was showing us that we reap what we sow. If we want forgiveness for our sins and transgressions, we must likewise forgive others for their transgressions against us. When we fail to forgive, we place ourselves in a position to be tormented just like the unforgiving servant. Jesus is anointed to set you free, but you must act on the truth which He speaks to you. He says, "Forgive, if you want to be forgiven. Forgive, if you want peace in your life." Forgiveness is a choice. You have the power and authority to cast down imaginations and every thought in your life that exalts itself against the Spirit of Christ. This includes the thoughts of unforgiveness that rage in your mind. As you take those thoughts and submit them to Christ, they will have to bow in obedience to His command. It may be hard for you to forgive because of the circumstances that you have endured, but Jesus will help you. The choice is yours. You can be set free or you can stay chained in bondage by the devil's deception. The devil tries to hold you in deception by telling you that you cannot release the past. He knows that if you refuse to forgive, he will own a portion of your heart. That portion of your heart that he owns will remain in the torments of unforgiveness and will inflict great emotional pain. Bitterness will also move in and hold you captive. Jesus is preaching deliverance to your captive spirit. You cannot go on with life until you forgive and let go of the pains that are in your heart. You cannot keep revisiting those hurts. You must let go. When you do, Jesus will be able to set you free by the anointing of the Holy Spirit and your victory will be sweet. +++ 1/10/18 ACCOUNTABILITY Scripture: Romans 14:12 "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." We all have people in our lives that we are accountable to, and whether we realize it or not, God has set them as precious guards for our souls. They are stones beneath our feet that keep us stable in life's circumstances. Many times, our accountability to them is established by relationship and may be unspoken. The circles of our accountability may be our supervisors or co-workers, our teachers or students, our parents or children, our family members or friends, or our church leaders and pastors. Yet, whomever they may be, our relationship with them allows them the right to watch over us and to speak into our lives. We must be ready at all times to render to them an account of our words and an explanation for our behavior. Beyond the natural, there is a higher place of accountability in our lives and that is with God, Himself. When Daniel Webster was asked, "What is the greatest thought that can occupy a man's mind?" His answer was, "His accountability to God." In Psalms 139:7, David asked God, "Where shall I go to flee from Your presence?" There is no where to go in order to get away from our place of responsibility and accountability to God. He is in our high places and our low places. He is with us in the darkness as well as the light. Yet, we often forget this minor detail. When no one is around, we do things and say things that would shame us in front of others. We fail to consider that God is there with us. If we could physically see Him, it would probably make a tremendous difference in our secret actions. Yet, God is always watching everything that we do and hearing all that we say. He even knows the thoughts in our hearts. Joseph was a young man who was confronted by Potiphar's wife. When she tempted him to sin, Joseph let her know that he was committed to his master and was accountable to his God. Even though no one would see his acts of indiscretion, he declared, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Even in the secret and dark places, he knew that he was still accountable for his actions. King David experienced the same feelings when his sin with Bathsheba was exposed. He made himself accountable to the prophet, Nathan, and acknowledged his grievous sin to the Lord. He told the Lord, "Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned." Sin speaks of the pleasure that will be enjoyed for the moment, but never says anything about the long-term consequences that will follow. It speaks of fun and not the heartache and pain that it will leave behind. It speaks of secrecy and not transparency. So in the moment of choice, let us remember that we are all personally accountable to those that we are in relationship with. And most importantly, that each of us will have to give an account of himself to God. +++ 1/11/18 WALK IN THE SPIRIT Scripture: Galatians 5:25 "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." There is a difference between living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit. Living in the Spirit means that we have received Jesus as our Savior and have made Him the Lord of our life. We have been born again by the Spirit of God and our bodies have become the temple of His Holy Spirit. We have a relationship with God and His presence now resides within us. This experience happens at a particular point in time. One moment we are living in darkness and the next moment we are translated into the Kingdom of Light. It is an immediate transition from spiritual death to eternal life. It is a mystery that a Holy God would choose to reside in a sinful man. Yet, God graciously grants us this invitation and we can only obtain it by faith. Walking in the Spirit, however, is another matter. In essence, if we have the Spirit of the life of God within us, the Apostle Paul said that the evidence should also be manifested in our daily walk. We should walk in the Spirit. Our walk with the Lord is not just to be an idea in our head or a sentiment in our heart. Instead, it should be our continuous actions or our habitual lifestyle. It is the things that we say and do as we pass through life. Our entire walk should mirror the example of Jesus Christ. Yet, it is possible to have a new birth experience in our Spirit and at the same time walk in the ways of the flesh. This is because our self-interest will always be at odds with the spiritual because our carnal nature is at enmity against God (Romans 8:7). The Apostle Paul even struggled with this issue and said that he did the things that he did not want to do and he did not do the things that he wanted to do. We have hope in this battle of flesh against spirit and spirit against flesh. We do not have to cater to the appetites and impulses of the flesh. We have a choice in the matter and our daily walk can be pleasing to God. The Holy Spirit whom we received when we were born again can empower us to walk in the Spirit so that we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Our responsibility is to yield to the Holy Spirit and follow wherever He leads. He is our witness within us to assure us when we are doing right and will also convict us when we are going in the wrong direction. When we surrender our will to Him and allow Him to have full control, He will take us where we need to be. We will not only have life in the Spirit, but we will also be walking in the Spirit. +++ 01/12/18 RESPONDING TO GOD Scripture: Exodus 3:4 "And when the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to see, God call unto him out of the midst of the bush, Moses, Moses..." Moses was tending his father-in-law's flock on the far side of the desert. As he carried on his normal duties, the Lord appeared to him in the midst of a burning bush, yet the bush was not consumed by the flames that engulfed it. When Moses saw that the bush was on fire, he said, "I will turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned up." Moses made a decision to forfeit his normal duties and schedule so that he could give full attention to what was happening. He laid aside every distraction in order to investigate this phenomenon. When God saw Moses' response, He began to talk with him and even called Moses by his name. Like Moses' experience, many times God intervenes in our life and tries to draw us close to Him. God may not set a literal bush on fire to get our attention or speak audibly from a flame, but He is there just the same, expending His energy as He makes an effort to communicate with us. He wants to share His sovereign plan, but does not speak until He knows that He has our full attention. He waits to see our response and watches to see if we will turn aside and come into His presence. God loves us so much and has so much to say. Yet, even though we sense His tender wooing, we very often neglect it. We allow other things to take precedence like a television program we want to see, a friend we need to visit, or some project we need to finish. Life is too busy and we fail to give attention to God as we should. The most significant encounters with God are those when He chooses to intervene in our lives in an effort to reveal Himself to us in a personal way. He comes to us because He has something to say. For a brief moment, God gives us the opportunity to approach Him and to stand in His presence on Holy ground. All we have to do is respond to His simple wooing, and when we do, His voice shakes the very mountains of our life. Yet, many times we miss this awesome opportunity to commune with the Lord because our hearts postpone His plans. We seek for a more opportune time and make plans to go to our prayer closet when it is more convenient for our schedules. We fail to realize that it is not the power of the closet, but the power of God when He reveals Himself in the closet. For Moses, it was never the bush; it was God in the bush. It was not the flames of fire that engulfed the bush, it was God's Holy Spirit burning, yet never consuming. The ground around the bush was not holy in itself. It was sanctified and made holy by God's holy presence. If you want to hear from God, you must not only seek for Him, you must respond to Him on His terms. Turn aside at the Lord's bidding whenever and wherever it may be and allow Him to be God over your life. He will speak when He sees you turn toward Him, and He will sanctify and make holy the place and the moment. +++ 1/15/18 TRANSFORMED INTO THE SAME IMAGE Scripture: II Corinthians 3:18 "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." When Moses was in God's presence on the mountain, his face began to shine with the glory of God. Paul said that we should have this same experience in a spiritual sense. As we behold the glory of the Lord, we should be transformed by the Holy Spirit into the very image of Christ. It is a metamorphic process such as that of the caterpillar turning into a butterfly and it comes as we understand the character and nature of Jesus through the Word of God. The clearer we see Him, the more we are able to discern our own spiritual deficiencies and understand the changes that we need to make. It is like looking into a mirror in the natural to correct the way we look. Some of us really start out the day looking like caterpillars, but by the time we are finished making changes, we look like colorful butterflies. This is a constant process that must be repeated daily. Paul said the same thing is true about our spiritual man. He used the term "beholding" to show that our process of spiritual transformation is continual. Yet, we must understand that just seeing the image of Christ through the Word does not change us. Transformation only comes when we obey the Word of God and allow His Word to renew our minds (Romans 12:2). James 1:23-24 says, "If any man listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his own natural face in a mirror; for he thoughtfully observes himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like." When we get away from God and His Word, we forget the real picture of ourselves and how bad we appear spiritually because of our lack. In the natural, we cannot see ourselves until we look into the mirror. One day I walked along the beach with a friend. I looked okay when I left, but when we returned to the beach house, my other friends began to laugh. When I looked into the mirror I could see why. Before the walk, I had sprayed my hair heavily with hair spray to keep it in place, not realizing how the humidity would affect it. The wind had blown my hair and the damp air from the ocean had caused it to stick out all over my head like horns. It was a terrible sight to behold. Even though my friends pointed and laughed, I needed a mirror to reveal to me the changes that I needed to make. And then I needed to follow through with making those changes. God's Word is our spiritual mirror and a constant reminder of the characteristics and qualities of Christ. If we are earnest with God we will look into His Holy Word and then act upon what we see. As we behold His glory, we then should allow Him to make the necessary changes in our lives so that we may, by His Spirit, take on the image of Christ. +++ 1/16/18 DISPOSSESS IN ORDER TO POSSESS Scripture: Numbers 33:53 "You shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it." God led His people out of Egypt with a great promise. He told them that there was a land before them that was exceedingly rich. In fact, He said that it flowed with milk and honey. God gave this Promised Land to His people, but they had to go in and possess it themselves. This meant that before they moved in and took over, they had to dispossess the inhabitants that were already living there. To make matters worse, some of the inhabitants were giants and some of the cities were surrounded with walls. The challenge looked fierce, but God promised to go with them and fight for them. We have many promises from God that are written in the scriptures. These words are exceedingly rich and they cover everything that we will ever need. God's blessings are waiting to be possessed. Yet with every promise, there comes a challenge. There are giants that must be overcome and there are walls that must be torn down. These strong forces are not easy to dispossess, but we can trust God to be with us each step of the way. He wants us to possess the blessings that He has made available. We must be steadfast in our efforts and remember that when the giants get too big and the battle gets too rough, the Lord will fight for us. For every promise that God gave to us, He gave us an instruction on how to possess that promise. He told us that He wanted us to prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers (III John 2). If we want to live in God's hope for prosperity in our lives, we must dispossess the spirit of poverty that resides in our soul. Dispossessing poverty comes by obeying God's Words concerning our financial means. The scriptures teach us that we must work hard, be wise and frugal with our funds, and share with others by giving tithes, offering, and alms. If we want to possess good health, we must obey God's laws that concern our physical bodies. Good health does not come without responsibility. We must eat right, get plenty of rest, exercise, and deal with stress in the proper manner. We cannot possess health until we dispossess the bad habits that plague us. If we want to remain pure and holy before God, we must dispossess the ungodly thoughts that linger in our minds that would lead us to commit sinful acts. At the first sign of temptation, we must resist the devil and flee. If we want to possess peace in our lives, we must dispossess strife and disallow division to rule and reign in our hearts. If we want to overcome addictions, we must dispossess them by refusing to give in or to give up. We must cast down imaginations and every thought that exalts itself against the spirit of Christ so that we can be transformed into His image. The Promised Land is ours for the taking, but we must be like Joshua and Caleb. We must have faith in God and voice our victory before the battles begins. With God's help, we will be able to possess the land, for He is bigger than any foe that needs to be driven out. The plan is simple. Dispossess the enemy so that you may possess God's promises. +++ 1/17/18 ALWAYS READY Scripture: Luke 12:35 "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit ... " Jesus instructs us to be ready because we never know when the Lord will return or what other opportunities will avail themselves to us. It would be quite a shame to miss the significance of God's appointed hour because we were unprepared. As Jesus' followers, we must be dressed and ready for action. We must be clothed in His garments and bearing the full armor of God, which is the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit or the Word of God (Ephesians 6:14-17). Our lamps must also be full of oil and lit so that we are able to work in the darkness that surrounds the moment. Satan tries to distract us because he knows that when we focus our attention on him, he can deceive us into foolishly wasting our time. There are so many options that he sets before us. If the devil can steal just one day a week from you for the next year, he will gain about 7-1/2 weeks of your life. That's why Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us not to be foolish but to diligently redeem or buy up the time by using it wisely and making use of every opportunity that comes along. However, this does not mean that you are not to rest because rest is ordained of God and is necessary. He created the night so that you could refresh yourself with sleep and He also established the Sabbath for your rest. God, Himself, even rested from all of His labors. Time is precious. It is freely given to us from God and cannot be purchased. Once a moment is spent, it cannot be relived. Between yesterday's disappointments and tomorrow's dreams is today's reality. We cannot afford to refuse to go forward because of yesterday's failures, procrastinate about the future, or just sit around in present idleness. We must be diligent and busy about our Father's business and work while it is day. Jesus said, "Do not say, there are yet four months until harvest. Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white and ready to harvest." Your destiny in God's kingdom is waiting to be fulfilled so make sure that when your moment comes you are ready. Be dressed for action, have sufficient oil in your lamp, and keep it lit. +++ 1/18/18 PURE HEART Scripture: Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Purity means to be clean and free of defilement. It also means to be sincere, real, and without mixture. Jesus said that those who kept their heart in this condition would be blessed beyond measure. He even said that they would see God. That is a tremendous statement. Did He mean that they would physically see God? I am not sure. But I do know that when you keep your heart pure and disallow your thoughts to be defiled by negative influences, you will be able to spiritually see God at work all around you. You will see Him everywhere and in everything, whether you are experiencing good or bad situations. God is not confined to the four walls of the church. When your heart is pure, you will see Him solving problems in the workplace, as He becomes your helper and advocate in the times of trouble. His presence will surround you when a loved one dies and you will see Him as the God of all Comfort. You will experience God in nature, as you view a sunrise, a sunset, or a beautiful night of stars, and you will acknowledge Him as the Creator of the Heavens and Earth. The love in your heart will cause you to see Him in your children and grandchildren and you will know Him as the Giver of Life. You will encounter Him in praise and worship and His holiness will be revealed to you. God will show Himself to you as you pray and study His Word. He will give you insight and revelation and you will see Him as the Word made flesh who dwells among us. These are not visible theophanies, where God makes a divine personal appearance to us, but they are real just the same. God sees our heart and He is pleased with who we are. We do not have to struggle to be someone else or despise our own personalities. God created us just as He wanted us and we are to rest in the purity of that thought. We are who we are because God made us to be who we are. If He wanted us to be different than we are, He would have made us different. God only wants us to be sincere and keep our hearts pure before Him because we are responsible for what goes on within us. When we understand this concept, we will be blessed and will possess God's favor and win the heart of the King (Proverbs 22:11). When our hearts are pure, the Lord will open Himself up to us personally. He will allow us to see Him in all of His beauty and He will make Himself known to us in a divine way. +++ 1/19/18 BENEFITS OF GOD Scripture: Psalms 103:2 "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." Man is a three part being. He lives in a body, which houses his soul and spirit. His body is his sense-consciousness, meaning the body uses the five senses and relates to the material world. The body's function is to see, hear, taste, feel, and smell. The soul of man is the self-consciousness of his being and is comprised of the mind, will, intellect, and emotions. The soul's function is to think, make choices, and express feelings. The soul links the body to the spirit. The spirit of man is the highest part by which we have God-consciousness and is the part of man that is able to comprehend God, commune with God, and worship Him. Andrew Murray said, "God dwells in the spirit; self dwells in the soul; and sense dwells in the body." In this Psalm, David speaks to his soul or that part of his being that links his body with his spirit. He tells his mind, will, intellect, and emotions to remember God and all of His benefits. In so doing, he encourages himself in the spiritual realm. We find David doing this throughout the scriptures. When he found himself in discouraging places in the natural, he would speak to his soul until he was renewed in his spirit. In this particular psalm, David listed some of the benefits of God and told his soul to remember them and bless God for them. I encourage you to meditate on these benefits and SPEAK THEM ALOUD to your own soul. As you do, you will find that your spirit will be renewed and your faith will begin to rise as you hear your mouth speaking God's Word. (Psalms 103 - Paraphrased for clearer understanding.) 1) God forgives all my sins - vs. 3 2) God heals all my diseases - vs. 3 3) God redeems my life from destruction - vs. 4 4) God crowns me with loving kindness - vs. 4 5) God crowns me with tender mercies - vs. 4 6) God satisfies me with good things - vs. 5 7) God renews my youth as the eagle - vs. 5 8) God judges me righteously when I am oppressed by the enemy - vs. 6 9) God will show His ways to me - vs. 7 10) God will show His acts to me - vs. 7 11) God is gracious to me - vs. 8 12) God is patient and slow to anger with me - vs. 8 13) God has plenty of mercy towards me - vs. 8 14) God reproves me temporarily - vs. 9 15) God's anger passes and He does not stay mad at me - vs. 9 16) God does not punish me according to what I deserve - vs.10 17) God removes my sins as far as the east is from the west - vs. 12 18) God pities me like a father pities his child because I fear Him - vs. 13 19) God remembers that I am only human - vs. 14 20) God has numbered my days on this earth and He causes me to flourish as a flower - vs. 15 21) God has eternal mercy towards me because I fear Him - vs. 17 22) God shows righteousness to my children and grandchildren - vs. 17 23) God shows His righteousness to me because I obey His commandments - vs. 18 24) God's throne is in the heaven and He is in control - vs. 19 25) God's kingdom rules over me on this earth - vs. 19 26) God's angels excel in strength and hearken to His Word to minister to me - vs. 20-21 +++ 1/22/18 THE PROMISE OF JOY Scripture: Psalms 30:5 " ... weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." The worse dilemmas that we face in many cases are not the hard ones but the long ones. It is not the dark moments that suddenly occur in our lives that challenge our souls but rather the long dark night seasons that seem to never end. For example, giving birth is a very painful experience but not nearly as painful as a permanent disability or as challenging as a chronic illness that leaves you incapacitated for some length of time. A significant financial crisis is hard to bear but it is not as rough as enduring years and years of financial lack, with seemly no hope for the future. Likewise, experiencing a short period of extreme loneliness, depression, or emotional conflict does not compare to living in these dark places day after day, week after week, month after month, and sometimes year after year. When we are going through these kinds of situations, we need a reminder or a word of hope that better times are promised and that joy will follow the difficult season at hand. Through out the scriptures men faced dark and difficult seasons, but time always brought victory and joy. Noah and his family escaped death, but their confinement in the ark had to be a trying time for all of them. After God closed the door of the ark, there was no way for them to escape until He opened it again. They were prisoners of the flood and the darkness that surrounded them. But at the end, joy came as God made a promise to Noah and established His new covenant with him and sealed it with a rainbow. Another example of victory and joy after a dark and difficult season is Jacob. He was greatly afraid and distressed when he heard that his brother, Esau, was coming to meet him because years before Jacob had stolen Esau's birthright. Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord all night long, but his joy came in the morning when the angel declared a blessing over him and his brother, Esau, received him in peace. Daniel suffered in the lion's den for a night, but joy came in the morning as he gave great witness of God's protection. Mary endured the pangs of childbirth, but when Jesus was born, the angels made an announcement to the shepherds in the fields, proclaiming good tidings of great joy. God traded their tears, grief, and sorrows for His unspeakable joy and glory. The Lord does the same for us. God's Word says that He will never put more upon us than we can bear. At some point, He will turn our captivity into a place of freedom and for all of the tears that we have sown, we will reap joy (Psalms 126:5-6). Jesus has been anointed to "give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61:3). He will turn our sorrow into dancing again (Psalms 30:11). And our "light affliction, which was for a moment will work in us a far more exceeding weight of glory" (II Corinthians 4:17). These words are our promises from God, for He has good plans for us. He holds our lives in His hands and in His time, the sun will rise, the morning light will appear, and darkness will flee. The Lord will faithfully fulfill His promise of joy to us. Our weeping may endure for a night, but our joy will come in the morning. +++ 1/23/18 CREATE A BOND Scripture: John 10:30 "I and My Father are one." Jesus spoke of the relationship that He had with God the Father. He said that they were "one", meaning that they were in perfect unity with one another and undivided in their natures. You can know someone from afar or know about them through study, but to become "one" requires time and effort, and Jesus made this effort. He did not rest in the relationship that He had with the Father before He came from Heaven to accomplish His mission on Earth. While Jesus was here on Earth, the Word declares that He spent much time alone in communion with the Father. Regardless of how tired or busy He may have been, Jesus still arose a great while before the day began and went to a solitary place to pray. He also did not worry about the demands of the next day or the negative results that He may experience if He lost His rest and sleep. He just continued in prayer throughout the night. Everything that Jesus did was preceded in prayer. Prayer was a priority for His life and the most important part of His daily agenda. Through communion with the Father, a bond was created and this bond was so strong and so definite that He and the Father were one. In John 17:21, Jesus desired that we would find this same place of unity that He and the Father shared. He prayed, "Father, just as You are in Me, and I am in You, let them also be one in Us." Prayer is not meant to be just words and petitions for needs. Prayer is meant to be communion where we bond with the one that we are spending time with. This personal time allows us to learn about one another. In this time of communion, God shares Himself with us and we share ourselves with Him. He listens to our hearts and we listen to His heartbeat. God opens our eyes to see His plans and purposes for our lives and then gives us faith to grasp His vision in the spirit. We share our doubts and fears and He dispels them one by one until our hearts become one. We confess our sins and He cleanses us with His forgiveness and draws us back into unity with Him. God is our Father. He wants us to be one with Him and He is waiting for us to devote ourselves to this cause. We are the ones who must pledge ourselves to find time to commune with Him, and then we must remain loyal to that commitment. There will be many distractions, and if we are not careful the first thing that will be deleted from our busy schedules will be our personal time with the Lord. Martha loved Jesus just as much as Mary did, but she was devoted to her duties. Mary, on the other hand, was devoted to sitting at the feet of Jesus and embracing His presence. Jesus said that Mary had chosen the good part as she sought to become one with Him. Like Mary, the most important thing you can do today is to take time to commune with your Heavenly Father in prayer. Your effort will create a bond, and the more you share with Him and the more He shares with you the greater your bond will be. +++ 1/24/18 LAW OF FAITH Scripture: Romans 3:27 " ... but by the law of faith." Laws are a system of rules and the established authority and control that are imposed by such rules. Faith is that indefinable something that causes us to believe that God is God and allows us to trust in His Words. The writer of Romans declared that there is a law of faith. That law is summed up in Hebrews 11:6 which says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Believing that "God is" and trusting His promises brings us into a spiritual rest and establishes God's authority in our spirits. This faith and trust then results in our personal obedience and action to His commands. I Timothy 3:9 speaks of the mystery of faith. Although we cannot understand nor explain how or why faith works, we know that God answers our prayers of faith and honors our trust in Him. This law of faith that God has established brings results just as any other universal law that He has set in motion. Just as we may not be able to understand or explain how the law of gravity works, we do not have to understand faith. Faith will work just the same without our understanding. If we were to try to deny or defy the law of gravity, we would find ourselves in a great deal of trouble, for what goes up will surely come down. The law of gravity has been established by the authority of God and His rules determine the results. The law of faith is as sure as the law of gravity. This mysterious law of faith declares, "Believe and you shall receive." The working of faith is a mystery, but the results are promised. To operate within the confines of this law, God has made His rules very simple. The rule is that we must believe that He is and believe that He will reward us when we diligently seek Him. God is pleased when we put our anxieties to rest and do these two things. None of our works or religious acts create this right standing with God. Our righteousness comes only through faith in the blood of Jesus (Romans 3:25). Regardless of our needs, God's law of faith is waiting for us to make demands upon it and set in motion the forces of God's almighty power. God's hand is not too short to reach us and His provisions are not too lacking to help us. God faithfully waits for us to call upon Him so that He can answer and show us great and mighty things. Speak faith filled words to God today and let Him know that you believe that He is God. Then diligently seek Him for the answers that you need and expect the rewards that He has promised. +++ 1/25/18 A MERRY HEART Scripture: Proverbs 17:22 "A merry heart does good like a medicine." Solomon teaches that a merry heart brings health to your body. Yet if you allow it, stress, hatred, rage, malice, grief, anxiety, and a host of many other negative emotions can ruin your health. Proverbs 12:25 says, "Heaviness in the heart of man makes his heart stoop." In other words, anxiety of any kind causes depression, which allows negative forces to work and cause havoc in your physical body. However, it is a medical fact that chemicals called endorphins are released in your body when you exercise physically or laugh. Zig Ziglar says, "Laughter is like internal jogging." When you begin to laugh and be merry, you are telling your physical body that the stressful circumstances you are facing are no big deal. Your laughter will regenerate your body and joy will bring you strength. Isaiah 12:3 declares that you can "draw from the wells of salvation with joy." In order to draw water from a well in the natural, you must use a bucket. In the spiritual, you have access to the wells of salvation that contain all the benefits that God provides, but the scripture says you must use joy to draw from these wells. Joy is your spiritual bucket. Being angry never fixes an adverse and ugly situation, but rejoicing in God, seeking Him, and drawing from His wells of salvation will give insight and the solution to the problem. Grief and sorrow can never bring your loved ones back, but finding a place of joy in the presence of God's Holy Spirit will give you comfort and courage to move forward. Dealing with angry and spiteful people is never pleasant, but by drawing from God's well of salvation you can give a soft answer which will turn away their wrath (Proverbs 15:1). Reacting in positive ways and maintaining positive attitudes will dispel the negative forces in your life that can cause illness and even death. Jesus tells us plainly in the sixth chapter of Matthew not to be anxious about anything, but to seek first His kingdom, which is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 14:17). We go to great efforts to maintain our health and make changes in our habits if they are harmful to our natural body. Shouldn't we also make adjustments in our attitudes and take control of our emotions that could cause problems in our health? As we begin to cultivate a sense of righteousness with God, allowing His peace to reign in our life and the joy in the Holy Ghost to fill our souls, we will find our health being restored. Remember, laughter does good like a medicine and it has no ill side effects so endeavor to keep a merry heart. +++ 1/28/18 THOROUGHLY FURNISHED Scripture: II Timothy 3:17 "That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." God's plan for us is that we be perfect and thoroughly furnished spiritually so that our lives can function properly for Him. Perfect, in this sense, means complete and exactly fitted as a joint. We all know the results of what happens with the house plumbing when the joints are not fitted properly. They cause a leak and are unusable. The same is true when a joint in our physical body is not functioning properly. The whole body is disabled with pain. So it is also with our spirits. If we are not spiritually fitted properly we often become like a loose joint to those who come into contact with us. To be thoroughly furnished means to be equipped to do the work that God has ordained for us to do. How many of us really know how to witness salvation to the man on the street? Many times we leave it to the pastor on Sunday morning. It seems the best that we can do is to invite the lost man to church. We also fail to pray for the sick, minister to those in prisons, visit the elderly, or perform other good works. We are like a well built home that is missing necessary furniture or fixtures. We are Christian by name but our works are lacking. God wants us to be thoroughly furnished so that we are equipped to do every good work and meet the needs of those around us. How can we become perfect, thoroughly furnished, and equipped in our spirits to do good works? We must be versed in the Word of God and have an intimate personal relationship with Him. Verse sixteen says, "All scripture is given by the inspiration of God". Every scripture was breathed out of the mouth of God, and we are to listen and take heed to every Word that He has said. According to II Timothy 3:16, the scriptures are profitable to us in four ways: 1) For Doctrine - They teach us and give us a solid foundation in which to place our faith. We do not follow a "feel good religion," but we live by faith in the Words of the Almighty God. 2) For Reproof - They cause us to know the difference between that which is sinful and that which is holy, convicting us of our sins. 3) For Correction - They restore things to their proper use by shedding light on false theories, practices, and error. 4) For Instruction in Righteousness - They train us to discipline ourselves to walk in obedience to God's Word. They show us how to live a holy life that is in conformity to God's will, thought, purpose, and action. It takes time, effort, and energy to decorate and furnish a home properly. It takes no less to do the same for our spiritual man. We will only become thoroughly furnished as we spend time and exert our energy towards the things of God. We must yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit and allow the inspired Word of God to teach, reprove, correct, and instruct us. As we begin to change inwardly through this process, our lives will become well fitted outwardly and equipped for every good work. +++ 1/30/18 BEHIND THE MASK Scripture: Matthew 6:5 (Amp.) "You must not be like the hypocrites." The word hypocrite means "acting under a feigned or false part, deceit, or to pretend." In the Greek theater, it meant to "speak from behind a mask." Two masks were used to portray to the viewer whether the play was going to be a comedy or tragedy. We still see those two masks today on theater billboards. The comedy mask is white with a big smile, and the tragedy mask is black with a frown. In the theater, the person behind the mask was called a "hypocrite" simply because his character was pretending to be something in the play that the actor may not be in real life. Very often Jesus' Words were stern, but He really wanted His followers to be different from the world they lived in. Jesus did not want those who professed to be His disciples to live behind a mask. In the scripture above, Jesus was referring to those who blew trumpets in front of the synagogue to call attention to themselves when they gave their gifts at the altar. He revealed that these people were only actors and that they were giving only to be seen by others. Jesus emphasized that His followers' alms, prayers, and good deeds should be done in secret. Even now, human nature has not changed. We still hide our thoughts from others. We would never consider committing murder, yet we harbor our hatred and bitterness behind a mask. We cannot imagine ourselves committing adultery, yet lust and passion looms in the secret chambers of our heart. God sees through all of these masks and Jesus said that if we have hate or lust in our heart, we have already committed the sin. And what about the so-called minor infractions, like a small lie or sowing just a little discord among our Christian brothers and sisters. Proverbs 6:16-19 lists these small things right along with the shedding of innocent blood and calls them an abomination to God. God hates sin and hypocrisy. His Word tells us to live our life in truth, for God our Father sees and knows our heart. To live our life in truth, we must search our hearts daily and determine if there are secrets in our hearts that are unacceptable to a Holy God? In Psalms 19:14, David said, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength, and my Redeemer." David was as concerned about the inside if his heart as he was about his outward actions, for he knew that his character would be revealed by the secrets of his heart. In verse twelve, he said, "Cleanse me from secret faults." This should also be our prayer. We should walk in truth and in integrity before God so that we please Him and also walk the same before men. +++ 1/31/18 THE PLACE OF REST Scripture: Hebrews 4:3 "We which believed do enter into rest." God promised the Israelites a good and prosperous land that flowed with milk and honey. The milk and honey were symbolic of nourishment and sweetness. However, God never said that this place of blessing would come easy or that there would be no battles. They were to go in by faith and possess the land that was given to them by God. Yet, they never entered the Promised Land. The result of their defeat was not because the battles were too great, but because their faith was too small. They mixed God's Word with murmuring, complaining, and unbelief instead of mixing it with faith and obedience. Faith is not something that you must struggle with or work up in the natural. It comes by supernatural impartation by the Holy Spirit as God speaks to your spirit. Many times you may have to face your own limitations and be real with God. Like the man in Mark 9:24 who requested prayer and deliverance for his demon possessed son, you may have to say, "God, I believe, but please help my unbelief." When you approach God in truth, you will find that He is merciful and full of grace. He will always be faithful to meet you at your point of faith. All of God's promises to us rest in our faith and obedience. He shows us the concept of faith in a natural seed. You have to let go completely when you plant a seed in the ground, leaving it there to rest for a long and dark season. You cannot dig it up and analyze it every day to see if anything is happening. You have to cease from your own efforts, rest, and trust God to finish the work, for only a miracle can regenerate that seed and cause it to grow. Your only responsibility is to plant the seed in faith and wait expectantly for the harvest. Likewise, your true faith, if planted in God, will cease from anxiety and it will birth a supernatural trust that will cause you to enter a place of rest in God. Then, as you rest and wait upon the Lord, the harvest will come. +++ Copyright © 2018 Mary Padgett Ministries. All Rights Reserved www.widsonline.com			..............................