“Do not remember the former things, or ponder the things of the past. Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing….” — Isaiah 43:18-19 (AMP)
Faith is the evidence of the things that we do not see and the proof of their reality (see Hebrews 11:1). Faith is what we have while we are waiting for God to answer our prayer and provide what we need. But what if God takes a long, long time to answer? That is when waiting can become difficult, and that is also when our faith is tested.
I am currently waiting on at least seven things I have prayed about, and they are all things I have been waiting on for a long time, some of them for years. As I was feeling a little disappointed yesterday about having no answers yet, I was reminded that faith has no expiration date, and if it does, then it is not faith that can endure testing.
Faith means that we not only ask God for something, but also that we must trust Him to be the head of the “ways and means committee”! He chooses the way to answer us and the timing to do so. In the meantime, we get to be patient, or we can at least learn to be patient! I am still learning, and perhaps you are also.
Let me encourage you today to know that although God probably won’t show up in your timing, He promises not to be late. Don’t just trust God for something, but trust Him all the way through the process it takes to get it. Don’t let your faith expire!
Prayer Starter: Father, thank You that I have faith while I am waiting for a breakthrough in my situation. Help me remain faithful, even as You are faithful! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
You don’t have to be intimidated by trouble and trials any longer; God is right there with you through any challenge. His favor is going to make things happen that you didn’t see coming. It’s easy to believe we have favor when good things are happening, but Joel wants to show you how we have favor even in the challenge. God will cause you to succeed in the middle of trouble. He’s not limited by our conditions; He’s limited by our thinking. When you believe, all things are possible.
Memorise: “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”- Genesis 2:18
Read: 1 Peter 3:7-9 (KJV)
7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
Bible in One Year: Ecclesiastes 8-12, Mark 11:1-19
MESSAGE:
The way some men relate with their wives is unbecoming of a child of God. Some husbands deal with their wives like a highhanded boss would deal with an employee. When one beholds such sights, one begins to wonder whether it was love that brought them together in the first place or something else. They talk to their wives as if their wives are nonentities. Husbands who behave in this manner do not understand the essence of a woman in a man’s life Genesis 2:18 says it all:
“And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”
What led to this divine decision, seen in Genesis 2:20, is equally intriguing:
“And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.”
We need to note some points from these two scriptures first of which is that as fearfully and wonderfully made as Adam was, he needed a helpmate, of which none was found amongst other creatures. God then decided to create a woman customized and tailored to meet this need. Secondly, men do not seek help from an inferior entity; at best, they look in the direction of an associate that is at least equal to their status. Thirdly, if Adam needed help, he required a quality helper to render it, and this was exactly what God provided. Therefore, any man who treats his wife as an inferior being does not know Gog and cannot appreciate God’s gift in the woman God has given him. This is an unfortunate situation. The word “weaker” used when describing women as vessels should not be taken to mean “inferior vessel”; rather, it is best interpreted as flexible vessels. Indeed, women are flexible, and they must be if they would serve the purpose for which they were created as helpmates of men. It is however, unfortunate that some men take advantage of the flexible nature of women to extort and manipulate them. The consequence of this terrible act is seen in Malachi 2:14:
“Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.”
Furthermore, note that God is angry with domestic treachery and unfaithfulness. It has negative effects on your spirit and on the children of your union. If your marriage is experiencing difficulties, may God restore peace to it today in Jesus’ Name.
Prayer Point:
Father, please help me restore and maintain peace in my home, as I give due regard to my spouse from now on in Jesus’ Name.
Hymn 17: God Give Us Christian Homes
1. God, give us christian homes!
Homes where the Bible is loved and taught,
Homes where the master’s
Will is sought,
Homes crowned with beauty thy love hath wrought;
God, give us christian homes;
God, give us christian homes!
2. God, give us christian homes!
Homes where the father is true and strong,
Homes that are free from the blight of wrong,
Homes that are joyous with love and song;
God, give us christian homes;
God, give us christian homes!
3. God, give us christian homes!
Homes where the mother, in queenly quest
Strive to show others thy way is best
Homes where the lord is an honoured guest;
God, give us christian homes;
God, give us christian homes!
4. God, give us christian homes!
Homes where the children are led to know
Christ in His beauty who loves them so,
Homes where the altar fires burn and glow;
God, give us christian homes;
God, give us christian homes!
Amen.
Open Heavens 21 September 2018 Friday Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC. Open Heavens 21 September 2018 Friday Daily Devotional.
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. – Ephesians 4:11-13
Till we all come in the unity of the faith. What this scripture means is simply this: If we’re ever going to become truly powerful in the kingdom of God, if we’re ever going to be any great threat to the devil, we’re going to have to grow up—together.
It won’t be enough for just a few of us to grow up on our own and say, “Too bad” about everyone else. It doesn’t work that way. We’re a part of each other. The Bible calls us one body…the Body of Christ.
Let me give you an example. When I began teaching God’s revelation on the laws of prosperity, I started getting an amazing amount of flack. Preachers started calling me and chewing me out because I wouldn’t borrow money and things like that. Finally God said to me one day in prayer, Don’t teach on the laws of prosperity anymore until I tell you to.
“Why not?” I asked.
There’s strife in the camp, He told me. Other preachers are mad at you and in strife over it.
I didn’t realize then that the level where we stopped would affect us all. I didn’t realize that even I wouldn’t be able to go on and operate in the additional laws of prosperity until the rest of the Body would go with me.
We’re not islands unto ourselves. I can’t do anything without affecting you. You can’t do anything without affecting me. We’re joined together by God but held together by one another (Ephesians 4:16). We can only grow up…together!
Learn to walk in love. Refuse to fall prey to division and isolation. Feed on the Word daily and encourage your brothers and sisters by feeding it to them too, so we can all grow up to be “a perfect [or mature] man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:13-28
This message was written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, the leader of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries (www.KCM.org) that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith – prayer, healing, salvation and other biblical topics.
Read: 1 Kings 19:1–12, Bible in a Year: Ecclesiastes 7–9; 2 Corinthians 13
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. John 14:9
In 1986, five-year-old Levan Merritt fell twenty feet into the gorilla enclosure of England’s Jersey zoo. As parents and onlookers cried out for help, a full-grown male silverback, named Jambo, placed himself between the motionless boy and several other gorillas. Then he began to gently stroke the child’s back. When Levan began to cry, Jambo led the other gorillas into their own enclosure as zoo-keepers and an ambulance driver came to the rescue. More than thirty years later Levan still talks about Jambo the gentle giant—his guardian angel who had acted in a shockingly unexpected way, changing his perception of gorillas forever.
Elijah may have expected God to act in certain ways, but the God of gods used a rock-shattering wind, a powerful earthquake, and raging fire to show His prophet how not to think of Him. Then He used a gentle whisper to show His heart and to express His presence (1 Kings 19:11–12).
Elijah had seen God’s power before (18:38–39). But he didn’t fully understand the One who wants to be known as more than the greatest and most fearsome of gods (19:10, 14).
Eventually, that quiet whisper found fullness of meaning in the powerful gentleness of Jesus, who said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Then He quietly allowed Himself to be nailed to a tree—an unexpected, compassionate act by the great God who loves us.
Prayer: Father in heaven, please help us to find courage in Your whisper—and in the ways of Your Son. Have mercy on us for not seeing beyond Your power to a love we’ve barely begun to know.
God won’t shout if we only need a whisper.
This message was written By Mart DeHaan [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]
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