by dailyd | Sep 17, 2018 | More
TOPIC: THE POWER OF WORDS
The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do . . . — James 3:5 (TLB)
There is a story of a woman in England who came to her vicar with a troubled conscience. The vicar knew her to be a habitual gossip—she had maligned nearly everyone in the village. “How can I make amends?” she pleaded. The vicar said, “If you want to make peace with your conscience, take a bag of goose feathers and drop one on the porch of each one you have slandered.” When she had done so, she came back to the vicar and said, “Is that all?” “No,” said the wise old minister, “you must go now and gather up every feather and bring them all back to me.” After a long time the woman returned without a single feather. “The wind has blown them all away,” she said. “My good woman,” said the vicar, “so it is with gossip. Unkind words are easily dropped, but we can never take them back again.”
Prayer for the day: Might my words about another be ones that are spoken in the spirit of Your loving kindness, Father.
“If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read Billy Graham’s Daily Devotional HERE
Written by Billy Graham, Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association(BGEA). BGEA exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by every effective means and to equip the church and others to do the same.
by dailyd | Sep 17, 2018 | More
Topic: Be Courageous
Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. – Joshua 1:7
Living a life of faith takes courage. Most people don’t realize it, but it does! It takes courage to stand up in the face of sickness and declare you’re healed by the stripes of Jesus. It takes courage to believe for prosperity and put your last dime in the offering plate when poverty is staring you in the face. There are going to be some days when you’d rather pull the covers over your head and hide than take another faith stand against the devil. But you can’t. Because the battle of faith isn’t fought once and then forgotten. If you want to keep living in victory, you have to fight it again and again.
There’s no way around it. Of course, some of God’s people still try to find one. The Israelites, for example, thought their battles should be over when they crossed the Red Sea. So when they heard reports of giants living in the Promised Land, they decided they couldn’t face the fight. Their courage failed them. So they took a 40-year detour through the wilderness.
But you know what? They still couldn’t avoid that fight. When the time came for the next generation to enter the Promised Land, the giants were still there!
This time, however, they found the courage to face them. Where did they find it? In the Word of God. Their leader, Joshua, had obeyed the instruction of the Lord and kept that Word on his mind and in his heart day and night. He’d meditated on it and let it constantly remind him that God was on their side.
If you’re going to fight the good fight of faith to the finish, you’ll have to do just like Joshua did. You’ll have to continually draw courage from the Word of God. So make up your mind to do it. Get into that Word and let it change you from a coward to an overcomer. Then march into battle and slay the giants in your land.
Scripture Reading: Joshua 1
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.
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by dailyd | Sep 17, 2018 | More
Topic: Legacies of Love
Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
I was paging through my great-grandmother’s Bible when a treasure fell into my lap. On a small scrap of paper, in a young child’s handwriting, were the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:3–4 kjv). Scribbled beside those verses in wobbly cursive was my mother’s signature.
My great-grandmother had a habit of teaching her grandchildren to write out Scripture verses so they would learn them and take them to heart. But the story behind this verse brought tears to my eyes. My grandfather died when my mother was very young, and her little brother (my uncle) died just weeks later. It was in that tragic season that my great-grandmother pointed my mother to Jesus and the comfort only He can give.
Paul wrote Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5). Faith isn’t inherited, but it is shared. Timothy’s mother and grandmother shared their faith with him, and he believed.
When we encourage those close to us to have hope in Jesus, we offer them a legacy of love. Through a simple note, my mother left evidence of my great-grandmother’s love for her Savior and her family. Oh, to share Him with those who come after us!
Prayer: Thank You for those who shared Your love with me, Father. Please help me to point others to Your salvation today.
When we share our faith, we share the greatest treasure of all.
This message was written By James Banks [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]
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by dailyd | Sep 17, 2018 | More
Topic: The Middle Man
Text: 1 Kings 18:41-46 (KJV)
Key Verse: “And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain“ (1 Kings 18:41).
MESSAGE:
From Bible days to this contemporary period, spiritual awakening or revivals often began with a man or people standing in the gap through prayers.
Elijah had practical confidence in God’s word. As soon as the word of the Lord came to him, nothing could stop him from plunging into action. With all the prophets of Baal killed, their was a mighty spiritual reformation. The judgment of heaven had been executed; the people had confessed their sins and acknowledged the God of their fathers. Now the curse was to be withdrawn and the land refreshed with rain. “Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain”, Elijah had said to Ahab. Then the prophet went to the top of the mountain to pray. In humility, Elijah pleaded with God on behalf of repentant Israel. He sent his servant repeatedly until a visible sign of answer to his prayer was seen. With the undaunted faith and persistent prayer of this intermediary, the expected miracle took place.
God still needs men and women like Elijah, Abraham, Daniel and Esther who will stand in the gap between Him and the people. It is only through persistent prayer of faith that we can experience the needed revival (James 5:17).
As you face this new day, endeavour to quit your comfort zone and be “detained” in the place of prayer. The increase of iniquities in the land and the lukewarm credentials of so-called believers should ignite burden and passion in true believers to stand in the gap till God rains righteousness on the earth.
Thought For The Day: Stand in the gap and make a difference for God in the world.
Bible Reading In One Year: Daniel 10-12
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
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by dailyd | Sep 16, 2018 | More
Topic: God’s Vision for You
Good sense and discretion make a man slow to anger, and it is his honor and glory to overlook a transgression or an offense [without seeking revenge and harboring resentment]. — Proverbs 19:11 (AMP)
God’s plan for the people of the nation of Israel was only for their good. Yet they wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years on what was actually an 11-day journey. Why? Was it their enemies, their circumstances, the trials along the way, or something entirely different that prevented them from arriving at their destination in a timely manner?
God called the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt to go to the land He had promised to give them as a perpetual inheritance—a land that flowed with milk and honey and every good thing they could imagine—a land in which there would be no shortage of anything they needed—a land of prosperity in every realm of their existence.
But the Israelites had no positive vision for their lives—no dreams. They knew where they came from, but they did not know where they were going. Everything was based on what they had seen in the past or what they could presently see. They did not know how to see with “the eye of faith.”
We really shouldn’t view the Israelites with astonishment because most of us do the same thing they did. We keep dealing with the same problems over and over again. The disappointing result is that it takes us years to experience victory over something that could have and should have been dealt with quickly.
I come from a background of abuse. My childhood was filled with fear and torment, and my personality was a mess! I built up walls of protection to keep people from hurting me, not realizing that while I was locking others out, I was also locking myself in. I was filled with fear and believed that the only way I could face life was to be in control so no one could hurt me.
As a young adult trying to live for Christ and follow the Christian lifestyle, I knew where I had come from, but I did not know where I was going. I felt that my future would always be marred by my past. I thought, How could anyone with a past like mine ever be all right? It’s impossible!
But Jesus had a different plan. He said, The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me . . . to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity] (Luke 4:18 AMPC).
Jesus came to open the prison doors and set the captives free—and that included me. However, I did not make any progress until I started to believe that I really could be set free. I had to get rid of my negative thinking and replace it with a positive vision for my life. I had to believe that neither my past nor my present could determine my future. Only then could Jesus free me from the bondage of my past—and free me, He did. What a marvelous miracle!
You may have had a miserable past; you may even be in current circumstances that are very negative and depressing. You may be facing situations that are so bad it seems you have no real reason to hope. But I say to you boldly: Your future is not determined by your past or your present!
Most of the generation the Lord called out of Egypt never entered into the Promised Land. Instead, they died in the wilderness. To me, this is one of the saddest things that can happen to a child of God—to have so much available and yet never be able to enjoy any of it.
Start believing that God’s Word is true. Mark 9:23 assures you that with God all things are possible. Because you serve a God who created everything you see out of the unseen realm (see Hebrews 11:3), you can give Him your nothingness and watch Him go to work on your behalf. All you have to do is have faith in Him and believe His Word—He will do the rest!
Prayer Starter: Dear Father, I thank You for loving me and having a vision—a good plan—for my life. I pray that You will help me overcome any negative thoughts of problems, past or present, that come against my mind, and make my life what You want it to be. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
From Joyce Meyer’s Ministries.
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by dailyd | Sep 16, 2018 | More
Topic: Righteousness Depends On God, Not On Self [Andrew Wommack 16 September 2018 Daily Devotional]
Matthew 21:28-30 “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.“
Text: Matthew 21:23-24; Mark 11:27-33; 12:1-2; Luke 20:1-9
This parable was given in response to the religious leaders rejecting Jesus’ authority. Through this parable, Jesus reveals God’s rejection of the Jews in response to their rejection of His Son. Jesus is showing that those who do the will of God are actually the ones invested with God’s authority.
These leaders had a form of godliness like this second son, but they were not doing the will of God. The publicans and harlots had no form of godliness, but when confronted with the preaching of John, many of them repented and began to do the will of God like the first son in the story.
These religious Jews, who sat in the seat of Moses, disqualified themselves from being God’s representatives here on earth, because of their hypocrisy and hard hearts. Even the publicans and harlots, who repented at John’s preaching, were ahead of them. There is no sin more frequent among religious people than that of self-righteousness; that is to honor the Lord with the mouth when the heart is far from Him.
These sinners were entering the kingdom of God ahead of the very religious Jews because they knew they were sinners and they put their faith in a Savior. One of the deadliest things about religious self-righteousness is the deception that we will be saved because of our good deeds. We cannot save ourselves regardless of how good we act. Who wants to be the best sinner that ever was sent to Hell?
This message was written by The Association of Related Ministries International (ARMI) is an extension of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM). ARMI is a unique partnership committed to providing resources to help like-minded ministers succeed in a spirit of excellence and to draw from the experience and expertise of both the AWM and Charis Bible College staff. (www.awmi.net).
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