EXPECT RESULTS

 GOD'S OPTIONS OR OURS?

Matthew 14:27-28. "But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou bid me come unto thee on the water."

It is important to analyze Peter's statement. Peter was overwhelmed when he saw Jesus walking on the water, and he wanted to do the same. While there is really nothing wrong with his desire, the request he put before Jesus was totally wrong. He didn't ask the Lord if he wanted him to walk on the water, or if his faith was up to it. Instead he said, "If it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." What was Jesus going to say, "It isn't me. Don't come."?

There are no other examples of someone walking on water in the Word of God. Jesus had a definite reason for walking on the water; however, Peter simply wanted to see if he could do it. God will permit us to do things that are not His perfect will for us.

Many times we hinder our own prayers by the way we ask things of God. We say, "Do you want me to do (a) or (b)?" The Lord may not want us to do either one. We should offer Him a third choice - (c) none of the above. We should trust God's wisdom and even allow Him to select the options.

HEART MATTERS

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. —Proverbs 4:23

Our hearts pump at a rate of 70-75 beats per minute. Though weighing only 11 ounces on average, a healthy heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day. Every day, the heart creates enough energy to drive a truck 20 miles. In a lifetime, that is equivalent to driving to the moon and back. A healthy heart can do amazing things. Conversely, if our heart malfunctions, our whole body shuts down.

The same could be said of our “spiritual heart.” In Scripture, the word heart represents the center of our emotions, thinking, and reasoning. It is the “command center” of our life.

So when we read, “Keep your heart with all diligence” (Prov. 4:23), it makes a lot of sense. But it’s difficult advice to keep. Life will always make demands upon our time and energy that cry out for immediate attention. By comparison, taking time to hear God’s Word and to do what it says may not shout quite so loudly. We may not notice the consequences of neglect right away, but over time it may give way to a spiritual heart attack.

I’m thankful God has given us His Word. We need His help not to neglect it, but to use it to align our hearts with His every day.

Dear Jesus, take my heart and hand,
And grant me this, I pray:
That I through Your sweet love may grow
More like You day by day.

To keep spiritually fit, consult the Great Physician.

FAILURE IS NOT FINAL :

“...But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” - (Phillipians 3:13, NIV)

Are you down on yourself today because of past mistakes you’ve made or because you’re not where you want to be in life? God knows every poor choice, every difficulty, every wrong turn you may have made, and He’s already planned your comeback! In scripture, Jonah took a detour, so to speak. It took him a little bit longer, but because he called out to God, because he believed, God not only rescued him, but God got him to his final destination.

Friend, know today that failure is not final. God always has the final say. Mistakes don’t have to keep you from your destiny. God’s plan can override every setback. Your world may be in turmoil today in a relationship, in your finances or health. But know this: not only will God rescue you; He will set your feet on a rock and lead you to your final destination in life. Remember, the promise He placed on the inside of you didn’t go away because you had some personal failures. No, that failure is only temporary but His Word remains forever! Keep hoping, keep believing because He will move you into the blessing and victory He has prepared for you!

“Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!” (Isaiah 32:1).

Never trust in man or your own ability; trust in God only.

Trouble doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love you. Trouble strengthens you and gives you a spine of steel. It's a reminder that your strength is not enough; you need Almighty God on your side

Embrace the fact that God is on your side today, and if God is on your side, you are destined for victory!

Trial comes before triumph. The cross comes before the crown. Darkness comes before dawning. Promises come before problems, and problems come before provision

IN DUE SEASON :

“I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase and the trees of the field yield their fruit” - (Leviticus 26:4, AMP)

God has set up seasons in our lives. It’s easy to get frustrated when our dreams aren’t coming to pass on our timetable, but every season is not harvest season. There are plowing seasons. There are planting seasons. There are watering seasons. Sure, we would love for every season to be a time of increase left and right, good breaks here and there. But without the other seasons, we wouldn’t be prepared. For example, it’s during the plowing seasons that God brings issues to light that we need to deal with. He’s getting us prepared for promotion.

If you’re not making as much progress as you would like, the key is to not lose any ground. Don’t go backwards. Hold your position. Keep a good attitude and do the right thing even when it’s hard. When you do that, you are passing the test, and God promises that your due season of harvest is coming. Be encouraged because your appointed time of increase, favor and promotion is on its way, and He will fulfill every dream and desire He’s placed within your heart!

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).

God is so strong that there is nothing He can't do, and so loving that there is nothing He won’t do for us!

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35). After considering all these things, he came to one conclusion: in all these things, we are more than conquerors. To many people, this means that no matter what they face, they will conquer but that’s a little blind to the true meaning. To be “more than a conqueror” means that you have passed conquering and this is the consciousness that you must have throughout this month.

You see, there are three levels of victory. The first level is when you have competed and have been declared the winner, like a man who has just won a race at the Olympics. The second level is the celebration stage, where you are jubilating and celebrating your victory. At the third stage, the celebration is now over and you are now living in that victory. Your name is now in the archives as a past winner of the race and you are enjoying the prize that goes with your victory. It’s no longer news now that you won the race, because that was a while ago!

This third stage is what Paul is talking about when he says you are “more than a conqueror”. You have grown past the level of conquering, because you conquered a long time ago; you are now living in the victory of Christ! Can you see it now? That means that there is nothing to struggle with or try to overcome because you have won! When you were born again, you were born into a life of victory. Don’t allow the circumstances of life try to make you condescend to the level of trying to overcome anything, because you are more than a conqueror- you have already won! Glory to God!

"I will give thee for a covenant of the people." --Isaiah 49:8

Jesus Christ is Himself the sum and substance of the covenant, and as one of its gifts. He is the property of every believer. Believer, canst thou estimate what thou hast gotten in Christ? "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Consider that word "God" and its infinity, and then meditate upon "perfect man" and all his beauty; for all that Christ, as God and man, ever had, or can have, is thine--out of pure free favour, passed over to thee to be thine entailed property forever. Our blessed Jesus, as God, is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. Will it not console you to know that all these great and glorious attributes are altogether yours? Has he power? That power is yours to support and strengthen you, to overcome your enemies, and to preserve you even to the end. Has He love? Well, there is not a drop of love in His heart which is not yours; you may dive into the immense ocean of His love, and you may say of it all, "It is mine." Hath He justice? It may seem a stern attribute, but even that is yours, for He will by His justice see to it that all which is promised to you in the covenant of grace shall be most certainly secured to you. And all that He has as perfect man is yours. As a perfect man the Father's delight was upon Him. He stood accepted by the Most High. O believer, God's acceptance of Christ is thine acceptance; for knowest thou not that the love which the Father set on a perfect Christ, He sets on thee now? For all that Christ did is thine. That perfect righteousness which Jesus wrought out, when through His stainless life He kept the law and made it honourable, is thine, and is imputed to thee. Christ is in the covenant.

"My God, I am thine--what a comfort divine! What a blessing to know that the Saviour is mine! In the heavenly Lamb thrice happy I am, And my heart it doth dance at the sound of His name."

Believing Is Receiving

28For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” 29Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. Mark 5:28–29

You have heard people of the world say, “I will believe it only when I see it.” Generally, that is the way the world thinks. But God’s ways are not like the ways of the world. The world says, “If I can’t feel it or see it, I cannot believe the miracle is here.” God says, “If you believe it before you feel it or see it, you will see your miracle.”

Believing first before seeing the evidence of what we are believing for is called faith. Faith is like a spark and Jesus is the dynamite powder.

In the story of the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, there were many people who touched Jesus (Mark 5:31), but nothing happened to them. They didn’t touch Him in faith. But when the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years came to Him and touched Him in faith, He felt power leave His body (Mark 5:30), and it sparked off an explosion of healing in the woman’s body!

Hearing about how good, kind and loving Jesus was fired her faith to believe that He could and would heal her. So convinced was she (even when the condition in her body was still evident) that she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Did she experience her healing first before she believed? No, she believed first in Jesus’ goodness and power, acted in faith and only then felt the healing in her body.

In the same way, God wants you to believe in His goodness and love toward you. He wants you to know how willing He is to act on your behalf to bless you, and how, with Christ, He will freely give you every good thing. (Romans 8:32)

He wants you to declare by faith that all is and shall be well with you, and to expect to see just that. And then, no matter how long you have had the problem, no matter how bad the experts say it is, an explosion of healing and restoration will take place, and you will receive what you are believing for!

Thought For The Day
Believe in God’s goodness and love toward you, and you will receive what you are believing for.

I AM :

“God replied to Moses, ‘I Am Who I Am...’ ” - (Exodus 3:14, NLT)

In the Bible, God has many names that describe His character and attributes. In the same way that someone named “Joe” might also be called “father” or “husband” or “the boss,” God has names that describe Him and His relationship to His people.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew name for “God” was considered so holy that the people wouldn’t even say it. So, when God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and sent Him to lead the Israelites out of captivity, Moses asked God, “Who should I say sent me?” After all, He couldn’t breathe the name of God in public. God replied by saying, “Moses, my name is I Am.” In other words, “I am anything and everything you need. I am your joy. I am your peace. I am your strength. I am your victory. I am your way of escape. I am whatever you need.”

Today, God is saying the same thing to us! What is it that you need? The Great I Am, the Almighty God is ready to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory. Open your heart of faith to Him today and receive all the blessings He has in store for you

EXPECT RESULTS :

Ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss. – James 4:2-3

Are all your needs met today? If not, why not?

According to the Word of God, it's either because you're not praying about them at all or because when you do pray, you're praying wrong.

What does it mean to pray wrong? In many cases it simply means to pray without expecting results. Many believers do that, you know. They use prayer as a kind of spiritual wishbone. They just play around with it. "This probably won't do much good," they think, "but who knows? It won't hurt to give it a try."

If that's been your attitude, then change it! Start getting serious about prayer. Stop praying just because it's proper. Stop praying just because you always pray at this point in the church service. And start praying to get results.

Start praying in the Name of Jesus, according to the Word of God, and expecting to receive what you ask for every single time. Isn't that a little presumptuous? No, but it is bold, and you have a scriptural right to be bold.

According to the Word of God, you have a standing invitation from your heavenly Father to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that [you] may obtain" (Heb. 4:16). That word obtain is a word of certainty. The dictionary says it means "to get possession of."

So pray, expecting to get possession of what you need, not just once in a while, but every time! When prayers do go unanswered, don't just wander away saying, "I guess you never know what God's going to do." Tackle the problem with both hands! Go to God in prayer and in the Word and find out where you missed it and get the problem corrected.

When you go to God in accurate, Word of God based, Spirit inspired prayer, you do know what He's going to do. He's going to answer you. He's going to meet your need exactly as you asked Him. Start expecting Him to do it today

PRAYER FOR THE DAY :

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.” (Psalm 28:7)

Dear Lord God, I praise You. I honor You. You arise from the east in the midst of jubilant trumpet sounds. Your glory shines through the cloud and brighten up the world. Your beautiful smile shines upon my face that all sadness is gone; my heart leaps for joy and sings loud Your praise and not be silent. Let the unfailing love of God embrace me like a cloak and adore me with heavenly jewelries for I am Your fearfully and wonderfully made child. Bless me O God, remember me with favor O Lord; for all I have done in Your name.

Gratefully, in Jesus’ holy name. Amen !!!