The sower soweth the word. – Mark 4:14
Right now, at this very moment, you have hidden within you a treasure that can change the world. A treasure that can change a man's eternal destiny, that can take him to heaven and save him from hell. A treasure that can turn a person's poverty into prosperity, his sickness into health, his sorrow into joy.
You have within you the all-powerful Word of God.
Don't keep it to yourself. Plant it wherever you go! Sow it into the hearts of those you meet. Share it at every opportunity.
"But I don't know how!" you may say.
Then start learning. Let these three steps help guide the way.
One: Make a decision. Make up your mind and heart today that you are going to share the Word with others no matter what! Determine right now that it's the most important thing you'll ever do. Commit to it. Once you've done that, you'll find the rest is easy.
Two: Prepare yourself. Spend time meditating in the Word each day. Allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you. That will make it easy for you to minister to others. You'll be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and be able to hear His voice. He'll help you know what to say in each situation.
Three: Stay in faith. Once you've shared the Word with someone, trust God for the results. The Word of God does not return void. Even if they seem indifferent to you, even if it appears the Word had no effect, keep believing. Your faith will keep that Word alive inside them, and eventually, it will do its transforming work.
You have hidden within you a treasure that can change the world. What are you going to do with it today?
WHY CAUSE GRIEF?
Obey those who rule over you, . . . for they watch out for your souls. —Hebrews 13:17
Pastors make an easy target for criticism. Every week they are on display, carefully explaining God’s Word, challenging us toward Christlike living. But sometimes we look to find things to criticize. It’s easy to overlook all the good things a pastor does and focus on our personal opinions.
Like all of us, our pastors are not perfect. So I’m not saying that we should follow them blindly and never confront error through the proper channels. But some words from the writer of Hebrews may help us find the right way of thinking about our leaders who are presenting God’s truth and modeling servant leadership. The writer says, “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account” (13:17 NIV).
Think about that. Before God, our pastor is responsible for guiding us spiritually. We should want that burden to be joyous, not grievous. The passage indicates that causing grief for the pastor “would be of no benefit” (v.17 NIV).
We honor God and make things better for our church when we give honor to those He has appointed as our leaders.
Our gracious Father, thank You for the person You led to our church as pastor. May we provide encouragement and support, and may You protect
our pastor from error in both word and actions.
Pastors who preach God’s Word need a good word from God’s people.
FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT :
Luke 4:24, "And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country."
A modern day equivalent of this verse is "familiarity breeds contempt." Those who know the most about us also know more of our faults than anyone else. As a general rule, our weaknesses will blind most people to our strengths.
However, in the case of Jesus, there were no faults or failures to bias these people. In this instance, the problem stemmed from the people's lack of perception. They knew Jesus better than most in the flesh, but they had failed to see who He was in the Spirit.
Jesus was God in all His power and majesty, yet He was clothed in flesh --a human in every respect (1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1:3). These people looked on Jesus' outward appearance and failed to see God within (1 Sam. 16:7).
Likewise, we fail to see the potential in others and even in ourselves because of our preoccupation with the outward appearance and actions. But within every born again person is a new creation which is waiting to be released (2 Cor. 5:17). All it takes is someone who believes.
Today look beyond the exterior in yourself and others and help bring into reality what we can be in Christ.
THE LORD IS YOUR REFUGE : PSALM 91:1–2
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”
Every day, we are bombarded with news of conflicts, natural disasters, diseases and new strains of drug-resistant viruses. We also hear of people losing their loved ones in freak accidents. And we ask ourselves, “Is there a place where I can take refuge from a world gone mad?”
Yes, there is! God foresaw all these things and He has promised in His Word protection from every evil known to man. There is no trap set by the devil that our Father cannot deliver us from, if we trust in Him and take Him as our refuge. That is His promise in Psalm 91.
Whether it is an earthquake at midnight, a crazy sniper, an unknown virus or a terrorist attack, God says, “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.” (Psalm 91:5–6)
Because you have made Him your dwelling place, angels are watching over you right now. (Psalm 91:9–11) They give heed to the voice of God’s Word, so you should give voice to God’s Word. This means that you should agree with and speak what God’s Word says about His preserving and protecting you. Then, angels are sent to minister for you. (Hebrews 1:14)
My friend, don’t say, “If it can happen to them, it can also happen to me!” Say, “A thousand may fall at my side and 10,000 at my right hand, but it will not come near me!” (Psalm 91:7) The world says that you cannot but expect danger all around. God says, “You are in this world but not of this world. You have My protection because you are of Me and in Me.” (John 17:14–23)
You have access by faith into the secret place of the Most High where no evil can touch you. There is no need to fear living in the end times because the Lord is your refuge and fortress. His Word says so. And those who trust His Word completely find His Word completely true
TODAY IS A NEW BEGINNING !!!
In Matthew 22, Jesus talked about two of the greatest commandments. The first is to love God; the second is to love your neighbor as yourself.
Notice that there are three connections in those two commands: the connection between you and God, the connection between you and others, and the connection you have internally, or the way you see yourself. See, you can’t love others if you don’t love yourself first. And, you can’t love yourself without receiving God’s love for you.
That’s the love connection. God’s love works in us and empowers us to love others as we love ourselves. Loving yourself isn’t about being selfish; it’s about honoring God’s creation … you.
I encourage you today to receive God’s love in a new way. Ask Him to show you His unconditional love. Love sets you free from fear and insecurity. His love grounds you and helps you to make the love connection.
If you’ve never accepted this love and forgiveness that Jesus offers, let me encourage you to do so. I’m not talking about becoming religious and trying to be good enough; I’m talking about having a relationship with the Creator of the universe through His Son, Jesus Christ. It’s so simple. Just pray this prayer in your heart. "Dear Jesus, I know I’m a sinner, and I need a Savior. I believe You are the Son of God, that You died, paying the price for my sins, and rose again. I ask You to come into my life; make me fresh and new. I accept You as my Lord and Savior and receive Your love."
I believe today is a new beginning for you. Let go of the past. Let go of insecurity and doubt and receive God’s love. Let Him build strength and confidence in you to live the abundant life He has in store for you!
God uses trials to bring about His promises. He is not going to just help you survive; He’s going to help you thrive and come out the other side blessed.
Slow down and enjoy the journey right now. Take time for the people God has put in your life—they won’t always be there.
THE POWER OF PRAYER
…pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored…The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. - James 5:16, AMP
A precious lady wrote to us with a testimony that reveals how God releases His power when His people pray. She said:
Just one month after submitting my prayer request to XXXXXXXX Ministries for my husband to find a job, we received amazing news. After four long, hard years of unemployment, my husband got a job with a great position, right in his field and training. He was also offered $5,000 more than the pay amount listed in the job posting! You have no idea what a miracle this is with thousands of people losing their jobs just this week!
Beloved, never underestimate the power of prayer or agreement when believers pray for each other and stand together in faith. God gives grace to those who are humble enough to ask of Him and look to Him for help.
And because He loves you practically, He has placed pastors, teachers, counselors, prayer teams and other gifts in the body of Christ to stand in faith with you to see God bring His Word to pass in your situation.
God’s greatest gifts to us are people, so don’t discount asking for help and encouragement through prayer when the going gets rough. When the righteous stand together in faith and pray, the tremendous dynamic power of God is released, resulting in healing, provision and restoration
WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUE :
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. – Matthew 5:11-12
When persecution comes, don't sit around whining about it. Don't waste your time feeling sorry for yourself. Despite what you may think, that persecution hasn't come because the devil gets his kicks out of picking on you. It comes because you've become a threat to him. It comes because you've put the Word in your heart, and he knows that if he doesn't get it out, you're going to cause him more trouble than he can handle.
So rejoice! Heavy duty persecution means you've made it to the big league. It means the devil is taking you so seriously that he's sending in his best players in an effort to get you out of the game!
The players that make it to the Superbowl don't look for some way out of it, do they? They don't say, "Boy, I sure wish I didn't have to be in that Superbowl game. Those guys are the biggest, meanest players in the country. "Maybe I'll get sick and I won't have to play." No! They relish the opportunity. "Let me at 'em," they say. "I've worked all my life to get here and now I'm going to prove I'm the best!"
That's how you should be when the devil challenges you. You should accept that challenge with joy, knowing you're going to come out a winner. After all, your God is sufficient to see you through. He never stops and wonders if He's going to have enough resources to get you over your problems this time. He knows He can beat anything the devil brings against you.
So, when persecution comes, trust Him and rejoice, knowing that you've made it to the big leagues now!
THE IMPORTANCE OF HABIT
'...This has been your manner from your youth...' Jeremiah 22:21 NKJV
You will discover that successful people like Peter and John are always creatures of habit. 'Peter and John went...to the temple at the hour of prayer...' (Acts 3:1 NKJV) And this day God used them to bring healing to a man who'd been crippled from birth. As a result, 3,000 people were won to Christ and joined the church. But it all began with a daily habit.
Your habits determine your future. Psychologists estimate that 90 per cent of your behaviour is habitual - 90 per cent! Habits can help you do things more quickly and remove mental clutter so that you can think about more important things. But they can also be detrimental and lead you in a direction that is out of line with your dream. Think about the person who dreams of winning an Olympic gold medal in the marathon, but smokes two packs of cigarettes a day. Or the person who dreams of being a fashion model, but eats 6,000 calories a day without exercising. Or the business person who dreams of leading a winning team, but habitually insults and belittles employees. Habits have a cumulative effect, and often the results don't show up until much later in life. If your habits are bad, by the time the damage is evident it's too late to alter your results.
That's why you need to take control of your habits, now. Unless you are willing to confront the habits you need to change, and institute new ones, you can stand on 101 different Scriptures, claiming God's promises, but you'll get nowhere.
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