Today we continue our series entitled, “The Benefits of Prayer and Fasting,” with an emphasis on “The Power of Prayer.”  In our last couple of messages we looked at John 16:22-24.  Yesterday I did not focus on verse 24.  I want to go back to that verse this morning.  Jesus said the following to His disciples about prayer: “You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.”  When we pray and God answers our prayers, it truly ignites our joy.  When you know that the God who sits on the circle of the earth is actually LISTENING to you, and responding to your prayers, it does something for you (on the inside) that cannot be shaken.  When you think about it, it is truly amazing that God would hear our prayers.  He does this because He loves us and because He is dedicated to the plans He made for us before the world began.  However, while the feeling that God hears you is amazing, the opposite feeling can be demoralizing.  That’s what I will focus in on today.

Many believers simply don’t pray.  They have come to the conclusion, consciously or subconsciously, that prayer isn’t very important to everyday life; that prayer doesn‘t apply to the real world.  So what are they left with?  They look primarily to themselves or others to meet their needs in order to get by everyday.  While millions of people live this way everyday, the problem with living this way is that it is NOT a picture of God’s best.  Our heavenly father earnestly yearns to be part of our daily lives and prayer has a lot to do with it.  

I am convinced that the lack of prayer is connected to a failed understanding of prayer.  In general, there is a lack of teaching, interest and working knowledge about prayer amongst believers.  This lack of understanding has caused many to THINK that their prayers have been unanswered.  Perceived unanswered prayer can cause deep and devastating spiritual and emotional pain.  This type of pain can lead to sorrow, despair, bitterness and rebellion.  If not addressed, these feelings can undermine the foundation of our faith and lead to the following:

1. When we don’t believe God hears our prayers, we feel abandoned and isolated from God, imagining that He doesn’t care about us or our problems.

• When this happens we begin to doubt His love for us.
• We view God as someone who is either against us (at worst) or just indifferent towards us (at best).
• Once we get to this point we no longer see God as a loving, caring and sharing heavenly Father.

2.  When we don’t believe God hears our prayers, we come to premature conclusions about our prayers and ourselves.  We try to make sense out of why our prayers are not effective and we say things like:

• I must not have enough faith.
• God answers other people, He just doesn’t answer me.
• Why can‘t I pray like… so and so?

3.  When we don’t believe God hears our prayers, we doubt our calling as intercessors.  Although the Father expects and requires us to pray for others, we begin to think:

• Well, answered prayer must be for an elite group of super-spiritual Christians.
• Maybe God did not “call” me to pray.
• Once we get to this point we simply stop praying.

I can relate.  In 1997 I was part of an evangelistic street outreach team.  We went door-to-door evangelizing on Saturday mornings.  I was the youngest person on the team and one of only two men.  Before we went out we circled together, held hands and prayed.  The prayer went from person to person.  As I heard these women pray, it seemed like they were immediately translated to heaven and they were praying at the feet of Jesus.  Whenever they opened their mouths, I felt God’s presence and it was amazing.  However, when the prayer got to me, I often stumbled my way through a few lines, feeling inadequate and intimidated.  I know I did not know how to pray, but pride would not allow me to ask for help.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few quick things.

1.  You will never maximize what you do not understand.  Like anything else, if you do not understand prayer, you won’t be good at it.  But all is not lost.  God gave us His Word, His Spirit, and ministry gifts (leaders) in the Body of Christ to teach us.  The Father expects you to pray daily, and throughout each day.  Don’t let frustration stop you.  Determine right now that you are going to study what God’s Word says about prayer and to put what you learn into practice.  This important, because you will never maximize your purpose and potential without a prayer life.

2.  Don’t allow pride to keep you where you are.  Humble yourself before God and He will exalt you.  The more you humbly acknowledge what you know and do not know, the more God can teach you.

3.  Never blame God.  If you are not where you want to be in life, in any area, then don’t blame God as if it is His fault.  God has given you all you need to succeed.  God’s grace is on you to do what He requires of you.  Make a determination, right now, that you are going to embrace the grace of God and become the man/woman you are called to be.

4.  Never give up.  The only way you can lose is if you quit.  Never give up on God, never give up on your prayer life, and never give up on yourself.  If you keep going, you will keep growing!

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I thank You for what You are doing in my life.  You are taking me higher and higher in You as I develop my prayer life.  I acknowledge the frustrations I have had with prayer in the past, but I refuse to allow past pain to keep me from future success.  I open my heart, my mind and my spirit to learn of You.  You teach me to pray and I get better at it day-by-day.  I resist frustration as I keep a firm grip on my faith in the area of prayer.  I will grow, I will pray, You will hear me, You will respond, and I will experience abundant joy!  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

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Today we continue our series entitled, “The Benefits of Prayer and Fasting,” with an emphasis on “The Power of Prayer.”  I trust that by now you are convinced that prayer does work.  However, for prayer to work in your life you must pray in accordance with God’s will.  Jesus always prayed with confidence, because He never sought His own will.  Jesus only sought the will of the Father.  He knew He could do nothing on His own.  He knew He was not in the earth to do His own thing.  He was singularly focused on the Father, on doing whatever the Father told Him to do and saying whatever the Father told Him to say.  When we live and pray this way — with complete emphasis on God, His will, and His plans (not our own) — we can have fearless confidence when we pray.  Because we will be praying God’s will and not our selfish desires.  To make this clear in scripture we are going to read something the Apostle John said.  We will read it from the Amplified Version and the Easy to Read Version.  Here we go:

(1 Jn 5:13-15 AMPC)  

I write this to you who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) the name of the Son of God [in the peculiar services and blessings conferred by Him on men], so that you may know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have life, yes, eternal life.  And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.  And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.

(1 Jn 5:13-15 ERV)  

I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God. I write so that you will know that you have eternal life now.  We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), God cares about what we say.  He listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us whatever we ask from him.

So what does this mean to you today?  I won’t be able to cover this all in one day.  I will highlight a few things for today.  Here we go:

1.  God wants you to know that you possess (right now) eternal life.

a)  John said, “I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God. I write so that you will know that you have eternal life now.”  The Amplified version reads, “I write this to you who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) the name of the Son of God [in the peculiar services and blessings conferred by Him on men], so that you may know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have life, yes, eternal life.”  If you are not sure whether or not you have eternal life, it is because you are either putting too much emphasis on you and your flaws, or you are failing to truly believe God’s Word, or both.  God’s Word is clear that once you are in Christ and Christ is in you, you have eternal life.  Stop struggling with this.  Enter into God’s rest concerning it.  Once you know you are going to heaven you get to serve God because you love Him, not because you are afraid of hell.

b)  If the issue of your salvation is not settled in your heart, then you will never have confidence when you pray, because you are not confident that you are going to heaven.  If you doubt your eternal future, then you will surely doubt your prayers.

2.  God wants you to perform “due diligence” in discovering His will before you pray.

a)  If praying in accordance with God’s will is a requirement (and it is), then we must do our part to discover God’s will and then pray in accordance with it.  People ask me all the time: “Rick, how do I know what God’s will is?”  I respond: “Read God’s Word.  The Word of God is the will of God documented.”

b)  When we know God’s will and we pray in accordance with it, we can have confidence that we will receive what we are praying for.  Why?  Because we are not praying our own will.  We are not praying for a selfish desire.  We are praying desires that were birthed in the heart of God.

c)  To ensure that your prayers are effective, you may need to spend time in God’s Word investigating what His Word says about what you asking for.  Said another way, you must PREPARE to pray.  Kenneth Copeland said, “I am not prepared to pray about something until I know what God’s Word says about it.”  But once you are sure you know God’s will concerning it, you can pray with complete confidence.  At that point your confidence will be in God and His plans, not in you or your performance.

I have more to say, but I will continue from here tomorrow.

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I am excited because You are teaching me to pray in accordance with Your will.  I am learning to pray with complete confidence, without wavering, without a doubt, without the burden of Blessing Blockers, with a pure heart, with clean hands and with a true expectation that You will hear me and respond to my prayers.  To ensure I am praying in accordance with Your will for my life, I make a concerted effort to align my prayers with Your Word.  Your Word is Your will on paper.  I pray in accordance with Your Word.  This helps me know that I am praying in accordance with Your will.  Your Word then promises me that You hear me, and that I already have what I prayed for.  It’s just a matter of time before I see, in my hands, what I have received, in my heart!  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

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Today we continue our series entitled, “The Benefits of Prayer and Fasting,” with an emphasis on “The Power of Prayer.”  For the past few messages we dealt with 1 Jn 5:13-15.  The point of the passage was for us to pray in faith, with complete confidence that we already have what God reveals to us is ours.  When you pray this way you can actually start to thank God in advance, giving Him the praise for what He has done, well before it happens in the earth.  Of course, this cannot be done without faith.  Faith receives the answer in your heart well before you see it in your hands.  I bring this up before I get into the focus for today, because it shows the true partnership we have with God.  He wants to bring things to pass here, in the earth, and He is looking for the cooperation and faith of humans in order to do so.

Paul said, “We are workers together with God. So we beg you: Don’t let the grace that you received from God be for nothing.” (2 Cor 6:1 ERV).  Paul teaches us that as believers, we are literally working together with God to bring to pass His perfect will in the earth.  Another translation calls us “co-workers” with God.  Being God’s co-worker in the earth is an awesome responsibility.  The fact that the God of the Universe willingly chooses to work with and through us, mere humans, is amazing.  God literally partners with us to make a difference within our sphere of influence.  God wants to reach people.  He has chosen to reach humans through other humans.  So when we pray we are coming in agreement with God to do what He planned to do before the world began.  Prayer is a central part of our partnership with God.  We should not neglect our right and responsibility to pray.

In Mark 11 Jesus said, “Have faith in God, I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (verses 22-24).  But what if we don‘t say?  Nothing happens.  What if we don’t ask?  We won’t receive.  What if we neglect our responsibility to pray?  We hinder God from moving in our lives.  Or what if we ask with doubt instead of in faith?  Our prayer will either be stifled or not answered at all.  And then again, what if we SAY, BELIEVE, and DO NOT DOUBT, but what we are asking for is contrary to the Word?  We will not receive, because just like we are not puppets manipulated by God, God is not our servant and He will not be manipulated by us.  The key is living like Jesus lived.  The point Jesus was making was that when we align ourselves with the Father, we pursue the things the Father planned to do from the foundations of the world, and we open our mouths to pray and decree/declare God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, God hears our prayers and nothing shall be impossible for us!  Just like Jesus spoke to the fig tree, we will be able to speak to every mountain in our lives and the mountains will move as we release the power of God through prayer!

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  Prayer does work, but you must be convinced of it.  Like anything else, you cannot maximize what you do not understand.  The more you understand prayer, the more confidence you will have in the Father and in your prayers.

2.  Praying without understanding is ineffective and it will lead to frustration.  But praying with understanding, in accordance with God’s will, unleashes the power of God in the earth.

3.  When you understand how to pray, you pray prayers that honor God’s nature, respect His integrity, believe His Word, trust His love, affirm His will, stand on His promises and unleash His power.  This is how you work together with God to bring to pass His will in the earth.

4.  Prayer is a tool that enables you to participate in God’s divine purposes.  When you pray in accordance with God’s will, you become God’s partner (co-worker) in this world.  This is how heaven influences our planet.  This is how God’s will is going to be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I open my heart to Your best.  I pray daily and throughout each day.  You are a prayer answering God.  I am a prayer making believer.  As I am led of Your Spirit to develop prayers that align with You will, I know You will bring them to pass and manifest Your glory in the earth.  I respect Your integrity, I believe Your Word, I trust in Your love and I appropriate Your promises in my life and in this world!  I walk with You Father and You walk with me.  Without You I cannot.  With me You will not.  But together we will change the world!  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

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Today we continue our series entitled, “The Benefits of Prayer and Fasting,” with an emphasis on “The Power of Prayer.”  The last couple of days I have been teaching you about fear and prayer.  The point is that you should not fear when you pray, because if you do, your prayers will be hindered.  Today I will cover a major reason why you should NOT fear: because you have the authority to use the name of Jesus!  You have been authorized to operate in Jesus’ name, both in prayer and in practice.

I believe most believers don’t understand the authority Jesus died to give us.  His authority is tied to His name, and what is amazing is that Jesus gave us the authority to operate in His name in the earth.  Learning to operate in the name of Jesus helps us in prayer and in everyday life.  Let’s see what the Bible says about the name of Jesus:

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.

(Phil 2:9,10 KJV)

Paul tells us that the Father exalted Jesus.  Jesus’ name has been exalted above every other name.  At the name of Jesus every knee will bow.  This includes those in heaven, in the earth and even under the earth.  Every knee in the natural and every knee in the spiritual must bow to the name of Jesus.  Jesus’ name is the MOST EXALTED name in the universe; and we have been given the right to operate in this name!

One time Jesus called His 12 main disciples together and He gave them power and authority over all demons.  He gave them the power to heal diseases in His name (Luke 9:1).  But even though Jesus gave it to them, they were so close to Jesus, and they relied on Him so much, that they did not maximize this power until Jesus was gone and they could not rely on Him anymore.  In other words, they never truly stretched themselves to operate in this authority, by faith, until Jesus was no longer around and they had to.

In the next chapter, Jesus gave this same authority to 72 other disciples.  He then sent them out groups of two.  Jesus forbid them from taking any money with them.  He wanted them to rely on God for everything.  If they could not believe God for $10, then they were surely not going to be able to believe God to cast out demons or heal the sick.  So Jesus sent them out and they went, authorized to operate in His name.  When they came back they were excited!.  He said to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we spoke in your name!” (Luke 10:17).  Did you get that?  Not even demons have power over us when we operate in the authority of the name of Jesus.  I have personally encountered demons and I can attest to the fact that they are subject to the name of Jesus!

In the passage known as “The Great Commission” (Mat 28:18-20), Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”  Jesus was not saying that He only had power in heaven.  Jesus came to take back what Adam lost in the garden.  Jesus died and rose from the dead to take back what satan stole.  Our resurrected Jesus conquered satan, hell and the grave.  It was this resurrected Jesus who clearly stated that He had ALL power both in heaven and in the earth.  Based upon this power He said, “Go ye therefore.”  The therefore, is connected to the power Jesus had.  We can GO, because Jesus has ALL POWER and He has given us the authority to operate in His name!

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  The day you fully embrace the revelation of all Jesus is and the fact that He has given you the authority to use His name, you will take your prayer life to another level.

2.  Every knee in heaven, in the earth and even under the earth, must bow to the name of Jesus.  There is power in His name.  And Jesus Himself authorized us to use His name.  He deputized us!  This has major implications for both prayer and daily practice.  When you pray, you approach the Father in the name of Jesus.  When you leave your prayer closet, you approach the world in the name of Jesus!  You have been authorized to operate in the name above all names.  What are you going to do with this authorization?

3.  Jesus came to get back everything Adam lost in the Garden.  He came to get us out of the mess Adam got us into.  After Jesus died and rose from the dead, all power and authority (in heaven, in the earth and under the earth) were given to Him.  All things are under Jesus’ feet.  And guess what?  You are in Christ and Christ is in you!  You are deputized to operate in His name in the earth.  This means that when you operate in the name of Jesus, all things are under your feet; not because of You, but because of HIM!  The day you get this revelation down in your heart, you will be able to pray prayers that are fearless and full of faith.  

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I believe Your Word.  No devil, demon or demonic influence has any power over me.  I operate in the authority given to me in Your name.  The name of Jesus is above all principalities and powers.  At the name of Jesus every knee must bow and every tongue must confess that Jesus, the Christ, is Lord!  Thank You Father, for giving me the authority to operate in the name of Jesus in the earth.  I declare, right now, in the name of Jesus, that I am healed, healthy, blessed, prosperous and protected.  Fear has no power over me.  I overcome evil with good.  I operate in fearless confidence daily.  I pray, You hear me, and I live as Your representative in this world.  I do this in the power that has been vested to me to operate in the name of Jesus!  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

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Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 3: Getting the Word Inside Your Children.  In Deuteronomy 6, the Lord spoke through Moses.  He was preparing Israel to take possession of the Promised Land.  Getting the Israelites out of Egypt was one thing, but getting Egypt out of them was a separate challenge.  If the Israelites were going to take possession of Canaan and then live as God’s representatives in the earth, they were going to have to get God’s Word down inside their hearts.  Which is why the Lord said the following:

Attention, Israel!  God, our God! God the one and only!  Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!  Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.

(Deuteronomy 6:4-9 The Message Bible)

While we are clearly under the New Covenant today, the principles associated with this passage still apply today.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  God wants us to get His Word down in our hearts.  Having the Word of God in your head is one thing, but getting it down in your heart takes it to another level.  You provide God mental assent with your heart, but true submission, obedience and sacrifice come as acts of your heart.

2.  God instructed us to get His Word down inside of us, and to then get it down inside our children.  The Blessing should not stop with us.  God is too big a God and His assignment for your life is too big of an assignment, for God to be concerned with just you.  When He looks at you, He sees your bloodline.  Which is why the Bible teaches us that the decisions we make impact our children and our children’s children.  God wants His Word to impact us, but He also wants us to get His Word down in our children, so The Blessing does not stop with us!

3.  Moses taught us to talk to our children about God’s Word.  We are to do so from the time they get up to the time they go to bed.  This is how important God’s Word is, and how important it should be in the lives of our children.

4.  Moses instructed us to talk to our children about God’s Word everywhere we go.  We are to do so when we are at home, walking down the street, and throughout the day.  Moses went to great lengths to drive home the importance of getting God’s Word down in our hearts and in the hearts of our children, because He knew the impact the Word would have.  Once you get the Word of God down in your heart, you are in position to be the man/woman God called you to be.

5.  While the Lord was giving the Promised Land to the Israelites, the land was still inhabited.  If they were going to lay hold of God’s promise, they were going to have to fight for it.  Which is why God told them to get the Word down in their hearts and in the hearts of their children.  When God promises you something, the fact that you have a promise does not mean it will not require a fight.  Many times, God’s best is already stored up for you, but you are going to have to overcome obstacles and opposition in order to lay hold of it.  This why you must meditate and medicate on God’s Word.  The Word of God will sustain you while you are fighting the fight of faith required to lay hold of what God promised.

6.  The Word of God is the key to laying hold of God’s best.  As you learn God’s ways, and You apply His principles, you get to enjoy what He planned for you to have from the foundations of the world.  The Israelites did not heed God’s instruction.  They failed to believe God’s promise.  Millions of people died in the wilderness and they missed out on God’s best, because they did not believe God.  If they had gotten God’s Word down in their hearts, the story of the Exodus may have been a different story.  Don’t repeat the mistake they made.  Get the Word down in your heart, get to the place where you truly believe God, and teach your children to live the same way!

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  My expectation is not tied to selfish desires.  My expectation is tied to Your Word.  I meditate and medicate on Your Word day and night.  I get Your Word down in my heart and I then get it down into the hearts of my children.  I teach my children the Word of God daily.  I keep it before their eyes.  I talk to them about it when they get up, while we are going throughout the day, and while they are going to sleep.  Your Word is LIFE to my family.  It is health and healing to all our flesh.  We crave Your Word.  We stand on Your promises.  We live by what You said and by what You say to us every day.  Therefore, my children and my children’s children shall walk in Your best!  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

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Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 4: Finding HOPE in the Word.  In this series we are covering scriptures that talk about scripture.  For the past couple of days we have been in the Old Testament.  Today we will jump back to the New.  In Romans 15 the Apostle Paul is teaching believers how to endure for the long haul.  Paul made it clear that there were going to be challenges along the way, but if we learn to rely on each other, and more importantly, to rely on the God of our salvation, we will be able to overcome every challenge and become the men/women God called us to be.  It is in this context that Paul mentions the importance of the Word.  Let’s see what he said.  I will provide this verse to you in two versions: the New International Version and the J.B. Phillips Translation.  

(Romans 15:4 New International Version)

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

(Romans 15:4 J.B. Phillips)

For all those words which were written long ago are meant to teach us today; that when we read in the scriptures of the endurance of men and of all the help that God gave them in those days, we may be encouraged to go on hoping in our own time.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  Paul teaches us that the scriptures were written down in the past so we can learn from them in our present.  The stories were documented so they could serve as a witness for us today.  But the scriptures will do you no good if you do not read them.  The power of the Word will not manifest in your life if you do not get God’s Word down in your heart.

2.  Paul tells us that the scriptures “written long ago are meant to teach us today.”  He went on to say that “when we read in the scriptures of the endurance of men and of all the help that God gave them in those days, we may be encouraged to go on hoping in our own time.”  We are supposed to learn from both the dedication the men and women who have gone for us had towards God and the dedication He had towards them.  When we read the stories of what are forefathers did towards God and what God did for them, it is supposed to bring us hope for our present-day challenges.

3.  I like the way Paul makes a distinction between the endurance of the believers who have gone before us and the dedication God had towards them.  We are supposed to learn from both.  Let’s take a look at each.

a)  You can find hope when you read stories of the endurance God blessed those who have gone before you to have.  They overcame amazing challenges and seemingly impossible odds, by the grace of God.  God does not have respect for persons.  If He did it for them, He can do it for you.  So reading how they overcame, can empower you with the hope to overcome today!

b)  You can find hope when you read about God’s dedication to those who have gone before us.  Despite their faults, flaws and failures; despite their imperfection and constant mistakes, God never turned His back on them.  This gives us HOPE today.  When we read of His dedication, it assures us that GOd will never leave us, never forsake us, never turn His back on us, and never relax the grip He has on us.  God’s tireless dedication to us gives us HOPE!

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  My expectation is tied to Your Word.  When I read about the faith of those who have gone before me, and how You blessed them to see the invisible, overcome the improbable and accomplish the impossible, it gives me HOPE!  And when I read of Your dedication towards them — despite their faults, flaws and failures — it gives me HOPE for Your dedication towards me.  I am reassured that You will never leave me, never forsake me, never turn Your back on me, never give up on me, and never relax the grip You have on me, in any degree.  Your dedication towards me, even when I waver towards You, gives me HOPE.  So I enter this day with a spring in my step, a smile on my face, and a song in my heart, because I have en everlasting HOPE!  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

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Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 5: God’s Word Gives Life.  We are going to close out the week by looking at something David said in the Old Testament and something Jesus said in the New Testament.  Both statements are connected to the LIFE we can receive from the Word of God.  I am providing you each scripture from two translations.  Here they are:

(Psalm 119:50 NJKV)

This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.

(Psalm 119:50 NASB)

This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.

(John 6:63 NIV)

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you–they are full of the Spirit and life.

(John 6:63 ERV)

It is the Spirit that gives life. The body is of no value for that. But the things I have told you are from the Spirit, so they give life.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  David endured many challenges in this world.  Some were self-inflicted, others came as attacks on his divine assignment.  Either way, he had to overcome many challenges to become the man he was called to be.  Looking back, David said that when he was afflicted, when he was challenged, when he was at his low points ready to give up, it was God’s words to him that kept him going.  It was the Word of God that gave him LIFE.  When he was down, he meditated on the Word of God and God’s Word literally REVIVED him!  Guess what?  The Word of God still has that same power today!n  If you are down this morning, meditate God’s Word.  The Word of God will LIFT YOU UP!

2.  Jesus lived as an example of what it looks like for a human to be completed submitted to the divine.  As a foreshadow of what it would look like to be Born-Again, Jesus lived as a human with God living on the inside of Him.  So He often made comparisons between the flesh and the spirit.  In John 6, while making one of those comparisons, Jesus made it clear that our flesh (or body, or the part of us that is natural to this world), is of no value in the spirit realm.  He then made it clear that the words He was speaking were words that did not find their origin in this world.  These words were birthed in the heart of God.  These words originated in heaven.  These were were full of God’s spirit.  Therefore, these words GAVE LIFE to all those who received them.  What was true back then, is still true today.  Every Word that has come from God is full of SPIRIT and LIFE.  When when you receive God’s Word in your heart and you apply it to your life, it changes you from the inside-out.  You are then empowered to live supernaturally!  

3. We all face challenges on the road to our destiny.  No one is exempt.  But if you ever get down, like David got down, do what David did.  Meditate and medicate on God’s Word.  God’s Word will give you LIFE.  When you feel low, God’s Word will REVIVE you!  There is power in the Word of God.

4.  Jesus told us that God’s Word is full of God’s Spirit and as a result, the Word of God literally gives LIFE to all those to receive it.  This is why God wants us to meditate and medicate on His Word day and night.  If we nurse and rehearse God’s Word all the time, we are literally being equipped, empowered and emboldened throughout the day.  The Word of God gives LIFE!  These words are not like any other words.  This book (the Bible) is not like any other book.  When you meditate these words, when you fully embrace the teachings of this book, you position yourself to have a constant supply of what you need to grow, develop and deploy into your assignment.  Not only will you BECOME the man/women God called you to be, but you will ENJOY the process.  You will make it heaven and you will enjoy the ride.  Why?  Because you are meditating God’s Word and God’s Word is giving you LIFE every day.  This is the way we are supposed to live.        

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  My expectation is tied to Your Word.  Your Words are full of Spirit and life.  When I am down, Your Word lifts me up.  When I am depleted, Your Word revives me.  I meditate and medicate on Your Word day and night.  As a result, I have a constant supply of what I need to grow, develop and deploy into my assignment.  Your Word gives instructs me, inspires me, and emboldens me to live the life I was born to live.  I live by every Word that proceeds from out of Your mouth!  Living this way, I receive LIFE from Your Word daily!  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

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Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 6: Joshua’s Formula For Success (Part 1).  Joshua 1:8 was my favorite scripture when I first became a Christian and it is still one of my favorite scriptures today.  We are going to take our time with this verse.  So let’s get into Joshua’s story.

As a young man Joshua was selected as one of 12 leaders who would spy out the land God was giving the nation of Israel.  God made it clear that HE was giving them the land.  All they needed to do was take possession of it.  However, 10 of the 12 spies allowed fear to grip their hearts.  Instead of focusing and meditating on what God said, they chose to focus on the opposition, the giants in the land.  The 10 fearful spies (leaders) infected millions of Israelites with fear and a generation died in the wilderness because of it.

40 years later, God was, once again, ready to give the Israelites the land.  Joshua was still around and by this time he had been promoted to national leader.  It was Joshua’s responsibility to lead the nation into the Promised Land.  God was giving them the land by grace – unmerited and unearned.  But in order to take possession of it, they were going to have to use their faith.  To ensure the new leader remained focused, God said to Joshua, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will make your way prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8).  In one succinct scripture the Lord instructed Joshua to keep the Word of God on his mind and in his mouth.  Further, the Lord made it clear that he was not after lip-service.  The Lord was not looking for someone who just “talked” a good name.  No, the Lord’s instructions to Joshua were to have His Word in his mouth and on his mind, but only for the purpose of DOING what is says.  In this way both he and the national of Israel would be prosperous and successful.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  God loves you so much that He did not allow you to be born without a purpose.  He made plans for you before the world began.  Once you are Born-Again, and you are able to hear God by His Spirit, He freely offers you the life He planned for you to have.  He offers you His best.  He does this by grace.  Not because you earned it, deserve it or worked for it.  Not because you are so good.  God does this simply because He is good.  This is what He did for the nation of Israel.  He led them out of Egypt, He made sure they did not come out empty handed (they came out with gold, silver and precious stones), and He then freely offered them the land that was promised to their forefathers.  In many ways, God does the same for us when we are Born-Again.  He begins to reveal to us the blessed plans He made for us before we were even born.  We must then accept and pursue those plans by faith.

2.  Grace does not alleviate you from doing anything.  Grace actually empowers you to do more!  God offered Canaan to the Israelites by grace.  He then required them to use their faith to take possession of it.  The land was theirs, but it was inhabited with giants.  If they we were going to take possession of God’s promise, it was going to require a fight.  That’s the way God does us all the time.  He gives us a promise, the promise is amazing, He tells us it’s already ours, but we must then have the faith to go FIGHT to take possession of it!  This is why it is critical that we meditate and medicate on God’s Word day and night.  If we don’t believe God, we will run from the fight.  If we do, we will miss out on God’s best, and it won’t be God’s fault.

3.  What you focus on matters.  Joshua chose to focus on the promise (Canaan) instead of the problem (giants).  As a result, he was able to experience Canaan, while millions of his contemporaries died in the wilderness.  What will you focus on today?

4.  As a key to Godly success, when the time came for Joshua to lead the nation of Israel into the Promised Land, the Lord instructed Joshua to meditate on His Word, and to do it day and night.  Your promise may not be Canaan, but the counsel still applies today.  If you choose to meditate and medicate on God’s Word day and night, you will look at your challenges through the lens of faith, and you will see them as small in God’s eyes.  There is nothing you cannot do when you are looking at the challenge from God’s perspective.

5.  You are the way you think you are (Prov 23:7).  This is why it is so very important that you meditate on the Word of God.  The more Word you get down in your heart, the more you will see yourself the way God sees you.  And the more you will believe what God believes about you!

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I choose to give my attention to Your Word.  Your Words are life to me.  They are health and healing to all my flesh.  Your Words give my life meaning.  Your Words provide divine direction.  Your Words build me up from the inside-out.  I meditate Your Word day and night.  As I do, I am literally medicating on it.  Your Word ministers peace and power to me.  Like Joshua, You made great plans for me by grace and You require me to use my faith to access those plans.  Because I meditate Your Word, I am in position to take possession of every promise by faith.  Today I take possession of my Promised Land and I am ready to kill every giant in the way.  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

The post Joshua’s Formula For Success (Part 1) appeared first on Today's Word.

This is a message I preached back in December.

I believe it’s going to be a blessing to you.

Enjoy.

The post Rekindling Your Passion for God appeared first on Today's Word.

Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 7: Joshua’s Formula For Success (Part 1).  Yesterday I introduced you to Joshua 1:8.  This was my favorite scripture when I first became a Christian and it is still one of my favorites today.  In this verse the Lord said to Joshua, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will make your way prosperous and successful.”  To drive home the importance of the statement, you must understand the setting.  I will give you some background and context in today’s message.  This all comes from Joshua chapter one.

After Moses died, the Lord spoke to Joshua and said, “My servant Moses is dead.  Now you and all these people must go across the Jordan River.  You must go into the land I am giving to the Israelites.”  The words, “Go into the land I am giving to the Israelites”, were familiar words to Joshua.  40 years earlier he heard those words.  He was ready to take the land back then and he was also ready, even though he was 40 years older, when the fullness of time came.

The Lord continued, “All the land from the desert to Lebanon all the way to the great river (that is, the Euphrates River) and all the land of the Hittites will be yours.  And all the land from here to the Mediterranean Sea in the west (that is, the place where the sun sets) will be within your borders.  Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you.  No one will be able to stop you all your life.  I will not abandon you. I will never leave you.”  We all need reminders, from time to time, of the presence and of His dedicated to us.  We can only do what he calls us to do because He is WITH us and because He is dedicated to accomplishing, IN and THROUGH us, what He planned to do, from the foundations of the world.

The Lord continued and said, “Joshua, you must be strong and brave!  You must lead these people so that they can take their land.  I promised their fathers that I would give them this land.”  

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  There is a timing component to the promises of God.  Due to circumstances out of his control, Joshua had to wait 40 years to take possession of the Promised Land.  He never gave up, caved in or quit.  He believed God for 40 years and when the fullness of time came, he was ready.  To ensure that he remained ready, the Lord told him to continually meditate His Word.  My question for you this morning is: are you ready?  Have you been waiting so long that you have relaxed the grip you had on your faith?  Or have you been meditating and medicating God’s word so much that you are still AS ready today, as you were the day God gave you the promise?  Back then God told you WHAT He was going to do, but He did not tell you WHEN.  In the space between the promise and the performance, you must remain IN FAITH.  You must continue to believe God, like Joshua did, until your clock of expectation aligns with God’s clock of manifestation.  And when it does, you have to be ready.  To ensure you are ready, when the fullness of time comes, you must keep the Word of God in your mouth and on your mind!  If you do, you will be ready to take possession of the promise when God says, “GO!”.

2.  When God outlined the size of the Promised Land to Joshua (and it was massive), the Lord followed the land description with a promise to always be with him.  Here my point: the size of God’s promises are so big that we must continually remind ourselves that He will be with us every step of the way as we take possession of them.  Without God we cannot.  Without us He will not.  This is the partnership God is looking for in the earth.  It is us working with God and God working with us that causes the supernatural to manifest through mere humans on this planet.  And this is God’s desire.

3.  God told Joshua that he had to be both strong and brave in order to lead the nation of Israel into the possession of the promise.  The same holds true for you.  Doing the will of God in the earth is not for the faint at heart.  God-sized projects require God-sized courage.  If you are lacking courage this morning, simply remind yourself of the promise and of the God who made it.  He promised to do things in your life and He also promised to be WITH you every step of the way.  Be strong and very courageous!  The Lord your God is with you.

4.  You can medicate on the presence of the Lord.  Just like you can and should meditate/medicate on the Word of God, you can and should meditate/medicate on the fact that God is always with you.  As you go throughout the day today, make a conscious effort to acknowledge the presence of the Lord.  The more you acknowledge His presence, the more confidence you will have as you endeavor to do what He has called you to do.  Alone many things are impossible, but with God all things are possible!  Remember that as you experience every meeting, conversation and the activity of today.

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I fully expect to experience Your best in this season.  I remain IN FAITH until I see, in my hands, those things that You have revealed to me, in my heart.  I know Your promises will be manifested in my life in the fullness of time.  When the fullness of time comes, I shall be ready.  Because I choose to meditate and medicate on Your Word daily.  I also meditate on Your presence.  You are always with me.  You promised to never leave me, nor forsake me.  You are ON me, IN me, WITH me and FOR me.  Therefore, nothing is impossible to me.  I am strong and very courageous because You are always with me and You empower me everywhere I go!  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

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Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 10: Joshua’s Formula For Success (Part 5).  We have been studying Joshua 1:8 all week.  I thought about closing out this verse today, but the Father wants me to keep going.  We are not in a hurry. This year we are learning to build up our expectation for God’s best to manifest in our lives.  In this message we will focus in on the importance of our words. Fatih has a language, and if we are going to experience God’s best, we must develop the language of faith and speak it daily.

Joshua was the newly appointed leader of the nation of Israel.  God made it clear that it was time to take possession of the land promised to their forefathers.  The land was expansive (millions of acres) and was inhabited by several nations with fortified cities and tested armies.  To prepare Joshua for the assignment the Lord said, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8 NIV).  Today we will focus in on the words, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips.”

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things about focusing on speaking Godly words.

1.  Your words matter to God.  The very first thing the Lord instructed Joshua to get a hold of in Joshua 1:8 was his mouth.  If you can control your mouth you will control your life.

2.  Your words are so powerful that they can literally unleash the power of death or the power of life (Prov 18:21).  For Joshua to experience Godly success he was going to have to get a hold of his tongue. The same holds true for us today.  We cannot speak failure and expect to experience success. Whether we speak fear (death) or faith (life) is up to us. Either way, we will have what we say.

3.  The words you speak are a litmus test for the condition of your heart.  Jesus explained that whatever you have filled your heart with — good or bad, blessing or cursing — will come spilling out of your mouth.  Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:35). So your words are exposing what is in your heart.

4.  You are your words and your words are you.  Daily, your words are telling everyone who you are.  So ponder this question: what are your words saying about you?

5.  Your words are so powerful and important that Jesus said there will come a day when you will have to give account to God for every “idle” (or non-productive) word you have ever spoken (Mat 12:36).  After He made this statement, Jesus said, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mat 12:37).  Think about that the next time your open your mouth.

6.  Your words can bring about Godly change when they are spoken on purpose.  God wanted Joshua to use his tongue on purpose. He wants us to do the same.  Make sure your words are purposeful and not purpose-free. Purpose-free words are useless and non-productive.  Angels are literally on standby, waiting for us to activate them with our words. I am convinced that when we waste words without purpose, angels are sitting around wondering why we don’t make the most of our words.  

7.  When you speak words that are in-sync with heaven, you come in agreement with God and you position yourself to experience heaven on earth.

8.  We serve a God who calls those things that are not as though they are (Rom 4:17).  This means God speaks what He desires (what He sees in the Spirit), not what He sees in the current situation in the earth.  God speaks the future from the present. When He does, He is actually CALLING the future to come. He is speaking His will into existence.  As children of God, we are called to imitate our heavenly Father. We too can call those things that are not as though they are, until they become what we declared.  Calling something what it already IS, is not going to change anything. Acknowledge what it may be today, but then declare what you believe in your heart, not what you see with your natural eyes, and continue to do so until what you see with your natural eyes aligns with what you have already seen in your heart.  This is part of speaking the language of faith.

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  In this season I take control of my tongue. This is important for me to live in-sync with You.  You made plans for me before the world began. Heaven is in sync with Your divine plans for my life.  I live in the earth and You want me to live in alignment and agreement with those plans. I live ON EARTH in sync with HEAVEN.  One of the ways I come in agreement with heaven is with my words. I know my mouth will only speak what my heart contains. So I fill my heart with good things.  I meditate and medicate on Your Word day and night. I then speak ONLY that which is in alignment with heaven. Living this way, I get to experience HEAVEN ON EARTH every day of my life.  I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

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NOTE:  Isabella and I are heading to the Dominican Republic tomorrow morning.  We are going to see the children from our schools and also feed prisoners from the local prison in La Vega.  If you would like to make a tax deductible donation towards our work there, please visit http://ripministries.org/donate and make a donation to the General Fund.  All proceeds received for the next few days will go towards this trip.

Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 13.  Yesterday I introduced you to Psalm 119.  This Psalm is the longest chapter in the Bible.  David wrote a stanza of eight verses for each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.  We will look at many of these verses over the next few weeks. Let’s begin our journey today with verses 1-4.  We will look at them from The Passion Bible Translation (TPT).

David said:

You’re only truly happy when you walk in total integrity, walking in the light of God’s word.

What joy overwhelms everyone who keeps the ways of God, those who seek him as their heart’s passion!

They’ll never do what’s wrong but will always choose the paths of the Lord.

God has prescribed the right way to live: obeying his laws with all our hearts.

(Psalm 119:1-4 TPT)

So what does this mean to you today?  Let’s glean a few things from these verses.

1.  The Bible says, “You’re only truly happy when you walk in total integrity, walking in the light of God’s word.” (Psalm 119:1 TPT).

a)  One way of looking at the word integrity is by thinking of yourself as being fully “integrated.”  Like God, you are a tripartite being. This means there are three aspects of you. You are a spirit, you possess a soul (where your mind, emotions and will reside), and your spirit and soul live in your body (for now, while you are in the earth).  For you to be fully integrated (to be a man/woman of integrity), your spirit, soul and body must be in alignment. What your heart desires, what your body yearns for and what your mind decides must all be in agreement. The only way to truly get to this type of integration is with God’s Word.

b)  The light of God’s Word enables you to walk in integrity (being fully integrated).  The Bible says that living this way is the ONLY way you will truly be happy in life.

2.  David said, “What joy overwhelms everyone who keeps the ways of God, those who seek him as their heart’s passion!  They’ll never do what’s wrong but will always choose the paths of the Lord.” (Psalm 119:2,3 TPT).

a)  The Bible teaches that when seeking God becomes your heart’s passion, divine joy will overwhelm and overtake you.

b)  When God becomes your true pursuit in life — knowing Him, honoring Him, living for Him, and etc. — you will live a life full of supernatural joy.  This is my testimony.

c)  When the pursuit of God becomes your life’s passion, the text (Psalm 119:3 TPT) says that you’ll, “never do what’s wrong but will always choose the paths of the Lord.”  Your passion will influence your decisions and you will live a life pleasing in God’s sight.  Right or wrong, good or bad, your heart will always follow your passion. This is why it is critical to make the pursuit of God the passion of your life!

3.  The Bible says, “God has prescribed the right way to live: obeying his laws with all our hearts.” (Psalm 119:4 TPT).

a)  In today’s society people are told that they can be whatever they want to be and do whatever they want to do.  It seems like everything is accepted and everything is supposed to be acceptable. If a child of God has standards and he/she has the audacity to believe in right and wrong, good and evil, holiness and sin, they are labeled a “bigot.”  Because they are not allowing for “self expression.” Well, the Bible is clear that there is actually a “right way to live.”  Even though it’s 2018, God still has standards.  His Word is still true. His precepts are still binding.  Holiness is still our aim. Obeying God’s Word with all our hearts should still be our goal.

b)  Jesus did not die so we could live whatever life we come up with in our own mind.  We were bought with a price. That price was the Blood of the Son of God. He died for us, so we could live for Him!  Never forget that!

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I fill my heart with Your Word. I meditate and medicate Your Word day and night.  Pursuing You IS my heart’s passion. Pleasing You IS my heart’s desire. Your Word enables me to live as a person of integrity.  What my heart desires, my body yearns for, and my mind decides are all in alignment, because Your Word is the foundation for my life.  Living this way, I am truly happy. Your joy, supernatural joy, overwhelms and overtakes me daily. I am going to heaven and I will also going to ENJOY THE RIDE!  I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

The post When God IS Your Passion appeared first on Today's Word.

NOTE:  Isabella and I are heading to the Dominican Republic in a few hours.  I have two things to share with you about our trip. First, If you would like to make a tax deductible donation towards our work there, please visit http://ripministries.org/donate and make a donation to the General Fund.  Second, I will not be able to send out Today’s Word tomorrow.  After today’s message, I will catch you on Monday. Pray for us!

Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 14.  A couple of days ago I introduced you to Psalm 119.  We looked at verses 1-4 yesterday. Today we will look at verses 5, 6 and 8; all from The Passion Bible Translation (TPT).  

David said:

(v.5) How I long for my life to bring you glory as I follow each and every one of your holy precepts!

(v.6) Then I’ll never be ashamed, for I take strength from all your commandments.

(v.8) I will be faithful to all that your word reveals— so don’t ever give up on me!

(Psalm 119:1-4 TPT)

You were placed on this planet to glorify God.  Your goal should be to live in a way that brings God glory.  When you fill your heart with the Word of God and you DO what it says, your life will do just that!

So what does this mean to you today?  Let’s glean a few things from these verses.

1.  The Bible says, “How I long for my life to bring you glory as I follow each and every one of your holy precepts!” (Psalm 119:5 TPT).

a)  David acknowledged the fact that God made it easy for us.  He gave us His Word. God’s Word is His will on paper. If we want to live a life that is pleasing in His sight, if we want to glorify God in all we do, all we have to do is read, believe, apply and obey His Word.

b)  When you make the Word of God the standard for your life and daily living, the glory of God will be manifested in what you do!  People will look at you and see Him! They will talk to you and hear Him! They will walk away from you having encountered Him!

2.  David said, “Then I’ll never be ashamed, for I take strength from all your commandments.” (Psalm 119:6 TPT).

a)  David made it clear that we are to take strength in ALL of God’s commands.  The Word of God empowers and emboldens us to live as walking/talking examples of God’s goodness in the earth.

b)  In the New Testament, Paul explained that as believers, we should be workmen who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).  In 2 Tim 2:15 the Apostle Paul mentioned the words “approved” and “ashamed.” If you study the Word and get it down in your heart, when situations present themselves and you have to apply what God said, you will either be approved or ashamed.  If you know the Word and apply it, you will be approved. If you don’t, you will miss the mark and be ashamed. In our text, David said that when you take strength from all of God’s commands, you will NEVER be ashamed! Living by the Word of God will keep you from the shame of not doing so.

3.  The Bible says, “I will be faithful to all that your word reveals— so don’t ever give up on me!” (Psalm 119:8 TPT).

a)  The goal is to be faithful to ALL that God’s Word reveals.  This was David’s goal. This is to be ours as well.

b)  By faith, David was declaring that he was going to be faithful.  He was speaking his “To Be” stage from his “right now” stage. He knew he was not perfect, but he was striving for perfection.  So he said, “Lord, don’t ever give up on me!” That is a great prayer for us today. Pray, “Lord, I may not be where I want to be, but I am not where I used to be.  Don’t ever give up on me!”  And the good news is that God won’t.  He will never leave us, forsake us, or turn His back on us!

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  You placed me on this planet to bring glory to Your name.  I am determined to do so. I want to live a life that is pleasing in Your sight.  This is why I fill my heart with Your Word. Your Word is the ruler by which I judte every decision.  Your Word is my standard, it is my guide. I read, believe, apply and obey Your Word daily. As I live this way, people will look at me and SEE YOU!  My life brings You glory every day, in ever way! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

The post When Your Life Brings God Glory appeared first on Today's Word.

NOTE:  Isabella and I got back from the Dominican Republic late last night.  Thank you all for your prayers. We will post pictures this week. Here are a few links to social media posts that contain pictures.

Post with pics from the morning school: https://www.facebook.com/rickpina/posts/10156102382903771?pnref=story

Post with pics from the afternoon school:

https://www.facebook.com/rickpina/posts/10156102410578771?pnref=story

Post about the food we purchased to feed prisoners: https://www.facebook.com/rickpina/posts/10156105478678771

Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 15.  Last week I introduced you to Psalm 119.  We have looked at a few of the verses so far.  Today we will look at verses 9-12 from The Passion Bible Translation (TPT).  

David said:

(v.9)  How can a young man stay pure?  Only by living in the word of God and walking in its truth.

(v.10) I have longed for you with the passion of my heart; don’t let me stray from your directions!

(v.11)  I consider your prophecies to be my greatest treasure, and I memorize them and write them on my heart to keep me from committing sin’s treason against you.

(v.12)  My wonderful God, you are to be praised above all; teach me the power of your decrees!

(Psalm 119:9-12 The Passion Translation)

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  Keeping the Word of God in your heart will keep you from succumbing to the lust of sin.

a)  I know it’s not popular today, and it’s not mentioned often, but sin is still sin, God is still holy, and He still expects us to walk in holiness.  David tells us that young men can live pure lives. How? By filling their hearts with God’s Word. The power of God’s Word will keep even a young man’s heart clean.  A clean heart will manifest in clean living.

b)  David was far from perfect.  He made more mistakes than he wanted to remember.  He committed adultery and had the woman’s husband killed.  But in the New Testament the Bible calls David a man after God’s own heart.  Why? Because despite his flaws, David craved God and His Word more than anything else.  The Word of God should be your heart’s desire.

c)  Under the New Covenant, you have been delivered from sin and the power of it.  If you are in Christ and Christ is in you, sin is no longer your issue, you are no longer under the bondage of sin.  However, if you don’t fill your heart with the Word of God, you will continue to sin, not because of bondage, but because of mindset.  The day you were Born-Again your spirit (which is the real you) was saved. But your mind was not. Your mind must be changed. Your mind must be renewed.  The day after your are Born-Again you are a new man, living in your old body, and you need a new mind. Newness of thought comes through the Word of God. You must get God’s Word down in your heart if you are ever going to live pleasing in His sight.  The Word of God contains the mind of God. The more Word you get down in your heart, the more you can think and act like God in the earth.

2.  There is power in the Word of God.

a)  In Genesis, before words were used for communication, they were used for creation.  God said, and said, and said, and said, and He then saw everything He said. That’s how powerful God’s Words are.  Remember that the next time you read it and declare it over your life.

b)  The writer of Hebrews tells us that the worlds were framed by the Word of God (Heb 11:3).  Another translation reads, “God created the entire universe by His command.”  The earth is here because God spoke.  Not only that, but the same writer told us that God literally upholds all things by the Word of His power (Heb 1:3).  The Word of God contains the power of the God who spoke it. This is why David said, “My wonderful God, you are to be praised above all; teach me the power of your decrees!” (Psalm 119:12).  When you learn the power contained in the Word of God, you will not underestimate, nor undervalue its role in your life.

c)  When you properly discern the power lying dormant in the Word of God, you are quick to read it, believe it, apply it, declare it and make it the foundation for your life.  You activate divine power and set things in motion in the Kingdom of God when you declare what God has decreed. Angels respond to God’s Word. God Himself is watching over His Word to perform it (Jer 1:12).

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I expect to experience Your best. I have a daily expectation of Your manifestation in my life!  I build up my expectation properly by getting Your Word down in my heart. Your Word teaches me Your ways.  By lining up my thoughts with Your thoughts, I am able to live a pure and holy life. I am holy, because You are in me and You are holy.  I activate Your power daily by openly declaring what You have decreed. Angels don’t have to listen to my words, but they move when I declare Your Words.  I tap into the power of the Word by declaring the Word of Your Power! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

The post Power in the Word appeared first on Today's Word.

Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 18.  We have been looking at Psalm 119.  Today we will look at verses 24, 25 and 27 from The Passion Bible Translation (TPT).  

David said:

(v.24)  Your commandments are my counselors; your word is my light and delight!

(v.25)  Lord, I’m fading away. I’m discouraged and lying in the dust; revive me by your word, just like you promised you would.

(v.27)  Open up my understanding to the ways of your wisdom and I will meditate deeply on your splendor and your wonders.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  Some of the best counsel you will ever find is waiting for you, free of charge, in your Bible.  David said, “Your commandments are my counselors; your word is my light and delight!” (Psalm 119:24)

a)  I read lots of books.  I make time for my mentors.  I purposely learn from those who have gone before me.  But honestly, the best counsel I have ever received has been from God: either from His Word of His Spirit.  Today we have people seeking all sorts of counsel, while many of the answers they are looking for are already documented in their Bible.  The issue is: you will never benefit from scripture you do not read.

b)  David was a King.  He was a leader of leaders.  Many people came to him for counsel.  So where did he get his? He said to God, “Your commandments are my counselors; your word is my light and delight!”  David got his counself from the Word of God.  We would do good to follow his example.

2.  The Word of God will revive you when you are feeling down.  David said, “Lord, I’m fading away. I’m discouraged and lying in the dust; revive me by your word, just like you promised you would.” (Psalm 119:25)

a)  I would like to tell you that every day of your life is going to be amazing.  I would like to tell you that after you give your life to Jesus, that every day will be enjoyable and peaceful.  But if I did, I would be lying. David was minding his own business in the fields, tending to his father’s sheep, when God used a prophet to call him out of the fields and anoint him as the next King of Israel.  You would think that the story got better and better after that amazing event. The truth is, David’s life went haywire. After killing the giant, he spent years on the run, living as a fugitive, because the one he was to replace, King Saul, wanted David dead.  David was not persecuted because he did anything wrong. He was persecuted because of his calling.  He was oppressed because of his assignment.  He went through many challenges in his life, both before and after taking the throne.  But through it all, whenever he felt down, David said that God revived him through His Word.  The Word of God will revive you when you need it. When you are feeling down, read the Word. The Word of God will build you back up again.

b)  Life in Christ is not always easy.  Truth is, sometimes you just don’t “feel” like who you are called to be.  In all honesty, yesterday was one of those days for me.  But I got up this morning, I reminded myself that yesterday ended last night, I embraced the grace for a new day, I allowed the Holy Spirit to help me hit the “reset” button, and I then read 119:25.  David told me this morning that when I am discouraged or down, the Word of God can give me life.  The Word of God can revive me again. Guess what? It did. And what the Word did for David back then, and it did for me this morning, it can do for you!  God’s words are Spirit and they are life! Receive both from the Word today.

3.  God can give you divine understanding.  David said, “Open up my understanding to the ways of your wisdom and I will meditate deeply on your splendor and your wonders.” (Psalm 119:27)

a)  David had tremendous responsibilities as King.  I know you think you have lots to do, but David was running a nation.  This is why he meditated the Word. He told us that as he meditated deeply on the Word of God, God would open up his understanding to the ways of divine wisdom.  The same will happen for us, as we meditate and medicate God’s Word.

b)  Knowing about something and understanding it are not the same thing.  You will never maximize what you do not understand. If you meditate the Word of God, God can open up your understanding to the ways of His wisdom.  Once He does, you will operate in wisdom that far exceeds your years and education. I am a witness.

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I elevate my expectation to line up with Your perfect plan for my life.  I seek the counsel of Your Word. I meditate and medicate on it day and night.  As I do, You open up my understanding to the ways of Your wisdom. I operate in wisdom that far exceeds my years and education.  And whenever I feel down or discouraged, I allow the power of Your Word to revive me again. Your Words are Spirit and they are life to me.  Your Word lifts me up daily! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

The post Revival and Wisdom appeared first on Today's Word.

Note: For the first 18 years of Today’s Word (from 1997-2015) I did not take any breaks, not even when I was on vacation with my family.  Since 2015, the Lord has led me to take a few breaks, and I am thankful for them. It gives me time to recharge and relax. Next week our young children will be on Spring Break.  I asked the Lord if I could take the week off and He gave me the green light. So next week I will not send out Today’s Word. I have (literally) thousands of messages on the website (http://todaysword.org) and in the app (https://subsplash.com/pinaministries/app), and I ask you to please look at both.  I will be praying for you and I ask you to pray for me as I seek to enjoy our young children.  After today’s message, the next message will be the day after Easter Sunday, April 2nd.

Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 19.  We have been looking at Psalm 119.  Today we will look at just two verses, 30 and 31, from The Passion Bible Translation (TPT).  

David said:

(v.30)  I’ve chosen to obey your truth and walk in the splendor-light of all that you teach me.

(v.31)  Lord, don’t allow me to make a mess of my life, for I cling to your commands and follow them as closely as I can.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  Obeying God and living the life of faith is a choice.  David said, “I’ve chosen to obey your truth and walk in the splendor-light of all that you teach me.” (Psalm 119:30)

a)  Obedience is not obedience if it is forced.  God will not force you to do anything, because if He did, you would no longer be a free moral agent and the repercussions would be vast.  Our worship would be fake, because it would not be genuine. Submission would be phony, because it would be forced. Sacrifice would be a worthless, because it would be orchestrated.  The point of true worship and pure obedience is that it is an act of our own free will. God wants you to want Him with your heart. Anything less is forced obedience, which is not obedience at all.

b)  The entire earth functions on system of cause-and-effect, sowing-and-reaping, and the free-will of humans.  You have the choice to either follow or disregard God. You can choose to obey Him or ignore Him. This freedom to choose is what makes your obedience so precious in His sight.  You have the freedom to choose, so when you willingly CHOOSE GOD, and you choose to walk in His ways, He is truly glorified. As thankful as you are that God chose you, God is equally honored when you willingly choose Him and you choose to become the man/woman He called you to be.

c)  Simply put, God gave your the right to choose and He wants you to choose Him.  The God of the universe wants you to want Him. When you do, when you willingly pursue Him as an act of your free will, He empowers you to live the life He planned for you before the world began!

2.  Sin can make a mess of your life.  David said, “Lord, don’t allow me to make a mess of my life, for I cling to your commands and follow them as closely as I can.” (Psalm 119:31)

a)  The message of grace — that God loves us in spite of our sin and that we can never earn His love — is not a license to sin.  God loves us and hates sin at the same time.

b)  You are saved by grace.  This means you are free FROM sin, not free TO sin.

c)  God declared you righteous because of the righteousness of Jesus.  If you sin you don’t lose your righteousness. This is where some mistake this message as a license to sin.  Here’s the danger. Sin may not unravel your righteousness, but it will unravel your life.

d)  If you are Born-Again, you are IN Christ and Christ is IN you.  When you sin, God does not undo all that happened when you accepted Jesus as Lord.  However, to be clear, you will reap what you sow. David said that he clinged to God’s commands, because he did not want to make a mess of his life.  When David sinned with Bathsheba, God did not turn his back on David, but David still had to reap a bad harvest, because he had sown bad seen. Sin may not sever your relationship with God, but it can certainly ruin your life.  Bottom line: don’t live a life of sin. Sin will make a mess of the one life you have.

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I will my will to worship You. I know I have the right to choose.  I declare that I choose YOU! I choose life and not death, blessing and not cursing, victory and never defeat!  I choose to obey You and Your ways daily. I choose to abstain from sin and the repercussions of it. I know I will reap whatever I sow.  Therefore, I sow love, peace, mercy, grace, forgiveness, kindness, goodness, and money. And I declare, by faith, that I will reap everything I sow.  I live my life in honor of Jesus’ death for me. I live to worship and glorify Your name! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

The post Obedience and Sin appeared first on Today's Word.

Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 21.  We have been looking at Psalm 119.  Today we will look at verses 37-39 from The Passion Bible Translation (TPT).  

David said:

(v.37)  Help me turn my eyes away from illusions so that I pursue only that which is true; drench my soul with life as I walk in your paths.

(v.38)  Reassure me of your promises, for I am your beloved, your servant who bows before you.

(v.39)  Defend me from the criticism I face for keeping your beautiful words.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  There is a way to live [without God] that seems right, but it is an illusion.  David said, “Help me turn my eyes away from illusions so that I pursue only that which is true; drench my soul with life as I walk in your paths.” (Psalm 119:37)  David’s son, Solomon, said, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Prov 14:12).

a)  The Bible tells us that satan, “the ruler of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.” (2 Cor 4:4).  Satan is a master-deceiver.  He lures people away from God and His purpose for their lives by playing to their egos and presenting them with an illusion of success.  Don’t be deceived. Don’t be drawn away. Success cannot be measured in money, cars, houses, clothes or titles. Success can only be measured in purpose.  When you stand before God He won’t ask you about your bank accounts or balance sheet. He is simply going to want to know if you did what He sent you to the earth to do, before you died.  It’s that simple. In Christ success is spelled P-U-R-P-O-S-E.

b)  When you fill your heart with the Word of God, you are better equipped to avoid the allure of satan’s illusions, because you have the TRUTH.  Since you know what is true, you are equipped to identify the counterfeit when you see it.

c)  When you walk with God and pursue only that which is true, David said that it is like your soul is DRENCHED with LIFE!  You know you are going to heaven, but you also get to enjoy God and the amazing life He gave you every step of the way!

2.  God can give you the reassurance you need to face and overcome the criticism you will face.  David said, “Reassure me of your promises, for I am your beloved, your servant who bows before you.  Defend me from the criticism I face for keeping your beautiful words.” (Psalm 119:38,39)

a)  When you believe God, you take a stand on His Word, and you decide to live in accordance with His ways, you will be criticized.  But that’s okay. Jesus was criticized and the servant is no better than the Master.

b)  David knew we would be criticized and he told us that if we continually remind ourselves of the promises of God, we won’t have to defend ourselves.  We can rest in knowing that God will defend us when we are doing His bidding in this world!

c)  As a believer you should not live your life purposefully avoiding conflict and controversy.  God will lead you to do controversial things. Just look at the life of Jesus. If you want to be at peace with everyone, then you are asking to be irrelevant.

d)  If you never face conflict, it is probably because people have not noticed you.  And if no one is noticing you, then you are certainly not making an impact for God.

e)  When you start making true impact for God and His Kingdom, you will be criticized.  But don’t concern yourself with the attacks. Their poison cannot stop your purpose!

f)  If no one is talking about you, it is probably because you are not doing anything worth talking about.  If you overly concern yourself with what people are going to think about you, you are choosing irrelevance over impact.  Jesus was relevant, which is why He was criticized. Are you relevant?

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I expect to walk in Your best every day of my life.  I fill my heart with Your truth. I am not lured away by the illusions of this world.  Satan will not blind me with false promises. I stand on Your Word. I do Your bidding.  I walk in Your ways. I make Kingdom impact everywhere I go. Therefore, I know people will talk about me, because I am doing things worth talking about.  That’s okay. I am not moved by what people say. I am only moved by what You say! Their poison cannot stop my purpose. I choose impact over irrelevance, even if it causes controversy.  I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

The post Truth and Criticism appeared first on Today's Word.

Today I will share a special message.  The Lord instructed me to start Today’s Word in December of 1997.  Since then I have sent out Today’s Word five days a week, rain or shine, up or down, good or bad, busy or on not.  My vow to the Lord was to do His work before I ever did work for anyone else. What this normally means is that I get up around 4:30am or 5am and I end the process of sending out Today’s Word around 7am.  But through the years, there have been times when I needed to be at a 7am meeting or catch a 6am flight. So if I needed to get up at 2:30am or 3am to send out Today’s Word, that is what I have done. I remember one time have to do it at 12:30am.  I have always been thankful that through it all, I never was once in the position that I could NOT send out Today’s Word because of a sickness. When you think about it, it’s pretty amazing. Regardless of how I felt the night before, I was always ready to do the Lord’s bidding the next morning, no matter how early it was.  Well yesterday, for the first time in over 20 years, I was unable to send out Today’s Word due to a medical reason. At first this hurt my heart, but after thinking about it and praying about it, I see it as a great testimony. Today I will share what happened and some of what I thought about in the process.

On Tuesday night, my wife was out of town, so I took my boys to Bible Study.  When we got home, I prepared them for bed, and as I got myself ready, I felt something go into my left eye as I pulled the blanket up.  I tried to get it out and could not. This caused me to wake up several times that night. I barely slept. Wednesday morning I tried to flush my eye out again, to no avail.  I sent out Today’s Word on Wednesday and started my day. I had a full day scheduled. I was in meeting after important meeting, and my eye was getting progressively worse. When evening came, I was supposed to attend a dinner, but I chose not to, so I could go home and attempt to flush my eye out again.  I tried, but the pain, at this point, was unbearable. I went to Urgent Care and lost-story-short, I was found to have an abrasion on my left cornea. This was very painful. I was given pain meds and antibiotics. I was told that my eye would heal itself in 48 hours, and that I simply needed to give it the time to do so.  I was to take pain killers, rest and wait. As of this moment, all the pain is gone, I am not taking the pain killers, and I have an appointment with the eye doctor this morning to verify check my eye. First of all, I give God praise for a very quick recovery and for speaking to me about several things in the process. I will share a few of those things with you today.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  God is looking for faithfulness.  

a)  You don’t have any control over what God calls you to do, because He called you before the world began.  But what you do have control over is your faithfulness and dedication to the call.

b)  You don’t have to be the smartest, strongest, fastest or wisest.  But God does require you to be faithful. He is looking for you to be dedicated to the plans He made before you from the foundations of the world.  There are lots of things outside of your control, but the one thing you get to decide, all on your own, is how faithful you will be to your God-given assignment.  God is looking for faithfulness. I may not be a lot of things, but one thing I strive to be is faithful. This is why it hurt me so much to miss sending out Today’s Word yesterday.

2.  God has been extremely good to me.

a)  I am 45 years old.  Other than the time when I was hit by a car when I was 3 yrs. Old (in which God performed a true miracle in my life), I have never spent a night in a hospital.  I have never been given an I.V. I barely went to the doctor during my 25 year career in the military. I was raised in an environment that was literally like a warzone on U.S. soil, East New York, Brooklyn, in the 1970s and 1980s.  And I went to Iraq four times during military conflict and to this day, I have never had a broken bone in my body or any major injuries. I thank God for shielding me and protecting me throughout the years.

b)  On Wednesday night, when the doctor asked me about my body’s reaction to pain killers, I had to tell her that I did not know how it would react, because up until early Wednesday morning, I had never taken any.  I am truly thankful for God’s goodness to me. I will never cease to give Him praise for calling me and then keeping me for my calling.

3.  The outpour of love I felt truly blessed me.

a)  My wife was out-of-town on Wednesday night, so I was in the Emergency Room by myself.  I am thankful that one of our friends watched the kids and the only other friends who knew I was in the E.R. offered to be there with me, but I [somewhat foolishly] refused the help.  As I sat in the E.R., in tremendous pain, I thought about God’s goodness. I got there at 8pm and did not leave until midnight. I was in real pain from about 5pm until my eye was attended to around 11pm.  In that time, I kept thinking about God. I never once felt alone. I knew I could reach out to people, but God was with me and He was with me every step of the way. I sat there wondering how people “do life” without God?  I could not do what I do every day without God. Not even close. Life is not always easy, but I am thankful that is with me through it all.

b)  When I finally left the E.R. at midnight, I posted something on social media, letting people know that I would not send out Today’s Word the next morning and asking for your prayers.  The outpour of love I received truly blessed my heart. By the time I got home and got to bed it was 1am. Before I dozed off I looked at some of the responses I had received, where people were praying for me all over the world.  Being transparent with you, I cried. I have always known that God loves me. But to feel the love of others brought me to tears. Thank you!

4.  Grace is not a license to overlook rest.

a)  The doctor said it would take 48 hours, but by yesterday afternoon, I felt great and I was ready to get back to doing what I am graced to do.  Using wisdom, I will still see the eye doctor this morning to verify everything in my eye is good to go, but I am thankful, in advance, that everything is.

b)  God has graced my wife and I to do many things.  This means we keep a pretty busy schedule. I know how to run hard.  I have never had a problem with that. But it was just over the last few years that I truly learned to rest.  Yesterday I slept for most of the day. I rested in God, prayed and enjoyed His presence. By late afternoon I was ready to get back to doing what I am graced to do.  I had an event to go to last night, I felt peace about it, and I went. My point is that I the grace to do what God has called me to do, so do it I must. And in the process, I am always praying about the proper amount of rest.  How does this apply to you? It’s simple. You have the grace for your race. Run your race with patience. Don’t concern yourself with other people. They have their own race and their own grace. But run your race YOU MUST! Remember, you have the GRACE FOR IT!  Just use wisdom and do not overlook the importance of rest.

Closing Confession:  

Father, You have called me for such a time as this.  Your grace is on me to do what You birthed me to do. Your have provided the grace.  I will provide the faithfulness. I declare that I am faithful to do ALL You have called me to do.  I run with patience the race that is set before me. I get the proper rest. I appreciate the people You have placed in my life to help me.  And I thank You for being with me every step of the way. I love You Father and I am honored to be the man/woman You called me to be! I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

The post Personal Testimony: Grace and Healing appeared first on Today's Word.

Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 26.  We have been looking at Psalm 119.  Let’s continue to walk through this amazing psalm.

David said:

(v.66)  Teach me how to make good decisions, and give me revelation-light, for I believe in your commands.

(v.71)  The challenges you brought me through was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me your ways.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  The Word helps you to think like God.  David said, “Teach me how to make good decisions, and give me revelation-light, for I believe in your commands.” (Psalm 119:66)

a)  There are three parts of you, just like there are three parts of God.  God is Father, Son and Spirit. You are spirit, soul and body. The day you gave your life to Jesus your spirit was made new, but your soul and body were not.  One day you are going to get a glorified body. Your spirit WAS changed instantly the moment of your conversion/salvation, your soul IS BEING changed progressively as you read and apply the Word of God, and your body WILL BE change eventually.  That being the case, you don’t have to work on your spirit, because it is already new. You can work on your body, but in the end, you are going to get a new one. So the singular focus of the Born-Again believer, from the moment of conversion to his/her eventual death, should be the transformation of his/her soul.  Your soul is comprised of your mind, emotions and will. Your soul contains the way you think, the way you feel and the way you make decisions. The more you study and apply the Word of God, the more your soul is transformed (see Romans 12:2) to look like God.

b)  The moment you are Born-Again you are new, instantly.  However, this transformation occurred in your spirit and NOT in your mind.  So while it is true that you are completely NEW, you don’t know how to live like WHO you already are.  This is where the Word of God comes in. The Word of God contains the character, attributes and nature of God.  The more you learn the Word, the better you get to know God and His ways. Further, the more you learn the Word and you are transformed by it, the more your mind (the way you think), emotions (the way you feel) and will (the way you make decisions) align with God.  Simply put, the more you become like the Word of God, the more you become like the God of the Word.

c)  David asked God to teach him to make good decisions.  This tutelage is received by accepting God’s Word/Will above your own and by being led of God’s Spirit in all things.  The more you do this, the more your decisions will be Godly decisions. In John 15:7 Jesus explained that if you ever get to the point where God’s Word abides IN you and you abide IN God, you can ask for whatever you want.  Because at that point what you want IS what God wants. That is the goal!

2.  Looking back you often appreciate challenges and adversity.  David said, “The challenges you brought me through was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me your ways.” (Psalm 119:71).  The traditional King James Version reads, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”

a)  Adversity is a great teacher.  David endured tremendous challenges in his life and looking back, he was glad he did.  He learned things through adversity that he did not believe he could have learned any other way.  Applying this, think of your own life. While overcoming challenges and enduring adverse situations are not always pleasant, we can most certainly come out the other side of the challenge a better person.  So keep the proper perspective, never give up, and learn all you can from every challenge.

b)  My wife (Isabella) and I grew up in adverse situations.  We both endured many challenges before meeting each other and we have endured countless challenges together.  A great parenting conundrum we often discuss is that fact that while we do not want our children to endure what we endured, we also know that the challenges we faced helped make us who we are.  Without those challenges we would not have the resolve and resilience we have today. So like most parents who are in position to give their children a life better than the one they had, we are also posed with instilling in our children the fire, passion and resolve required to overcome the challenges every human must face on the road to their destiny.  Looking back Isabella and I can say like David said, “I am glad I went through what I went through.  I would not have it any other way.”  So no matter what you are facing this morning, keep going, never give up, never quit.  It may not be pleasant now, but in the end, you will appreciate what you learned in the process.  Great people are not people who did not face challenges. Great people are normal people who simply refused to quit!

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I read and apply Your Word daily. I learn to think and act like You.  I am transformed by Your Word to the point where my will IS Your will, my desires ARE Your desires, and my actions ARE Your actions through me.  Living this way, I am ready for anything I face. For it is You Father, living in me… You give me the words and You perform the work. Come what may, I will never give up, never cave in and never quit.  And through it all, I will learn from every challenge and appreciate all adversity. For I get to experience a side of You in adversity that I do not experience any other way. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

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Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 37.  We have been looking at Psalm 119.  Let’s continue to walk through this amazing psalm.  Today we will look at verses 116 and 118 from The Passion Bible Translation.

David said:

(v.116)  Lord, strengthen my inner being by the promises of your word so that I may live faithful and unashamed for you.

(v.118)  Lord, you reject those who reject your laws, for they fool no one but themselves!

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  God strengthens you on the inside and His divine strength is manifested on the outside.  David said, “Lord, strengthen my inner being by the promises of your word so that I may live faithful and unashamed for you.” (Psalm 119:116 TPT).

a)  When you meditate and medicate on God’s promises it helps you build your internal strength to the point where you are able to handle the external pressures of this world.

b)  When you are strengthened in your inner man, you are empowered to overcome anything that is happening external to you.

c)  When you have strength and peace on the inside, you are not moved by what is happening on the outside.

d)  When you are confident in God and your confidence is settled on the inside (in your heart), you are not ashamed of God and you will not be overly concerned with what others say or think.

e)  When you truly believe the promises of God it creates an invisible inner strength that will be seen and felt in this visible world.

f)  When are you strong on the inside you are not moved by what you see on the outside; and you are never ashamed of what you believe!

2. People who reject God and His ways are only hurting themselves.  David said, “Lord, you reject those who reject your laws, for they fool no one but themselves!” (Psalm 119:118 TPT).

a)  People can mock God and His ways all they want.  Someday they will regret their decision. In the meantime, you don’t have to argue with them.  God is more than capable of defending  Himself. Just love them and keep living as an example before them.

b)  When people reject the God in you or the ways of God you are walking in, don’t take it personal.  The world rejected Jesus. They are rejecting God, not you. Pray for them, love them, and keep it moving.

c)  Don’t ever allow the mockery of the world to cause you to question or deviate from God’s ways.  They will reap what they are sowing and so will you! So keep going, it will prove itself out in the long run.

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I meditate and medicate Your Word daily. Your promises to me is what keeps me going.  I am continually built UP in my inner man. I am not moved by what people say or think.  I am strong on the inside. Therefore, I am never moved by what is happening on the outside.  My spiritual and invisible inner strength manifests itself in natural and visible ways. People and places on the outside are impacted by the relationship I have with You Father, ON THE INSIDE!  So I am not moved by man. I am not phased by the mockery of this present world. I pray for them, love them, and bless them, because I am strong enough on the inside to NOT BE MOVED by them! I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!

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