EXPECT GOOD THINGS TO HAPPEN TO YOU
Ephesians 6:17 - And take the helmet of salvation…
When the phone rings at odd times, most people think, “Oh dear, it must be bad news.” They don’t think, “I wonder what the good news is that it cannot wait till morning!”
When we hear, “The boss wants to see you,” instinctively, we think, “Oh dear, this is not good.” But how do we know that it is not going to be about a promotion?
Our minds are inclined toward the negative. So to guard our minds against negative thoughts, we are to put on “the helmet of salvation”, which is “the hope of salvation”. (1 Thessalonians 5:8)
If you are going through a trial right now, putting on as a helmet the hope of salvation means that you have a confident expectation of good coming your way. It means that you choose to believe that this trial that you are going through is only temporary because God will see you through it. It means that you believe that this difficult period will end with your salvation—your preservation, wholeness, wellness and health!
You may not know what is going to happen this week. But one thing you can do is to put on the helmet of the hope of salvation and tell yourself that you are going to have a fantastic week!
“Well, you know, Pastor, you never know what to expect. We hear so much bad news these days—another flu outbreak, another company retrenching its workers…I really hope that I will not be retrenched next. But I cannot be sure. I am keeping my fingers crossed.”
No, my friend, biblical hope is not “I hope so” but “I know so”! You can have a confident expectation of good happening to you because you are not like the people of the world. You are a child of the living God. You have a Savior watching over you.
There are more angels given charge over you than there are demons against you. And greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4) There is every reason for you to have a confident expectation of good happening to you!
Thought For The Day :
As a child of the living God, you can have a confident expectation of good happening to you.
SET THE BLESSING IN MOTION :
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. - Luke 6:38, ESV
God is a god of abundance! He wants to pour out His abundance on you until you are so full that you are running over with His goodness. Notice how this verse starts. It says, “Give, and it will be given to you.” That’s because your giving sets the blessing of God into motion in your life. Giving is like a seed. When you plant an apple seed, it doesn’t just grow a single fruit. That one seed grows into a tree that produces an abundance of apples! That’s what happens when you obey God in your giving. You receive an abundant harvest in return. It’s overflowing, literally “running over!” And when the blessing is running over, it means you have so much that you want to give more. The cycle just keeps repeating itself! Is there something the Lord is telling you to give today? It could be financial, material or even your talents and service to others.
What do you have in your hand that you can use to bless someone else? Take a step today and set the blessing of God into motion in your life. Open the door for His blessing to be running over in every area of your life today!
RECEIVE GOD'S LOVE
Before you can love others, you must receive God's love for yourself, because you cannot give away something you don't have.
God deeply and intimately loves you! His love for you is unconditional—no strings attached, and there is nothing that you can do to get God not to love you. Indeed, Romans 8:38-39 says that there is nothing that can ever separate us from God's love.
Knowing that God loves you is central to your understanding of the Gospel, for the entire Gospel is based on God's love (SeeJohn 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 3:16, 1 John 4:9-10). The good news is that God hasn't withheld His love from us; instead, God has poured out his love into our hearts (Romans 5:5).
But what do we do with that love? We know God loves us, but so what? What should we do with God's love? Give it away! Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:11). In other words, our response to the news of God's love for us needs to be to love others. Indeed, Jesus repeatedly commanded us to love others (See Matthew 5:43-47, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 6:27-35,John 13:34-35, John 15:12,17).
However, it is impossible to love others unless you know, believe and receive God's love. 1 John 4:19 says, We love because he first loved us. In other words, we are able to love other people, because God first showed His love to us. If God hadn't shown His love to us, we would have no standard and no example on which to base our love for others.
Similarly, 1 John 4:7 says, Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Here again, our ability to love one another is only because love comes from God.
Think of your ability to love others like a glass of water. At first, the glass is empty. If you don't have any water in your glass, then you obviously can't give water to anyone else. But when you hold your glass under a faucet and let the water pour out into your glass, it will fill up. Then, once it is full, your glass will overflow, and you can let the water pour out to everyone around you.
If you don't have love in you, then you can't give love to anyone else. Therefore, you must first receive God's love, before you can love one another
RECOGNIZING AND WALKING IN GOD'S WILL (3)
'This is God's will for you.' 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV
Pray that you may know God’s will.Strive to live in an attitude of prayer. ‘Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will.’ (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 NIV) Rejoicing, praying continually, and giving thanks puts you in the active hub of God’s will. If you only pray when you’re desperate for answers, your receptors will be rusty and your impressions nebulous at best. Regular communication with God sharpens your senses and fine–tunes your ability to distinguish His voice from all the rest. ‘Teach me to do Your will…my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.’ (Psalm 143:10 NIV) Seek God, and He will smooth the path for you. Receive the counsel of others for confirmation, not necessarily direction.Paul said, ‘When God…called me…I did not consult any man.’ (Galatians1:15–16 NIV) Only embrace other people’s advice when it agrees with God’s Word and the Spirit’s leading. Friends can be a source of confirmation, but not revelation. Even your own experiences and impressions aren’t enough to discern God’s will unless they line up with His Word. Peter did this on Christ’s transfiguration. ‘We ourselves heard this voice...when we were with Him on the sacred mountain. And we have the word of the prophets made more certain...as to a light shining in a dark place.’ (2 Peter 1:18–19 NIV) Paul’s converts at Berea received his teachings enthusiastically, but they also checked them against the written Word of God (Acts 17:11). That’s always a good policy.
NEED HEALING AND MIRACLES FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS
http://youtu.be/qth2CNaXPbU
Free Christian Ebooks http://walthope.tripod.com
http://walthope.wordpress.com
Ephesians 6:17 - And take the helmet of salvation…
When the phone rings at odd times, most people think, “Oh dear, it must be bad news.” They don’t think, “I wonder what the good news is that it cannot wait till morning!”
When we hear, “The boss wants to see you,” instinctively, we think, “Oh dear, this is not good.” But how do we know that it is not going to be about a promotion?
Our minds are inclined toward the negative. So to guard our minds against negative thoughts, we are to put on “the helmet of salvation”, which is “the hope of salvation”. (1 Thessalonians 5:8)
If you are going through a trial right now, putting on as a helmet the hope of salvation means that you have a confident expectation of good coming your way. It means that you choose to believe that this trial that you are going through is only temporary because God will see you through it. It means that you believe that this difficult period will end with your salvation—your preservation, wholeness, wellness and health!
You may not know what is going to happen this week. But one thing you can do is to put on the helmet of the hope of salvation and tell yourself that you are going to have a fantastic week!
“Well, you know, Pastor, you never know what to expect. We hear so much bad news these days—another flu outbreak, another company retrenching its workers…I really hope that I will not be retrenched next. But I cannot be sure. I am keeping my fingers crossed.”
No, my friend, biblical hope is not “I hope so” but “I know so”! You can have a confident expectation of good happening to you because you are not like the people of the world. You are a child of the living God. You have a Savior watching over you.
There are more angels given charge over you than there are demons against you. And greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4) There is every reason for you to have a confident expectation of good happening to you!
Thought For The Day :
As a child of the living God, you can have a confident expectation of good happening to you.
SET THE BLESSING IN MOTION :
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. - Luke 6:38, ESV
God is a god of abundance! He wants to pour out His abundance on you until you are so full that you are running over with His goodness. Notice how this verse starts. It says, “Give, and it will be given to you.” That’s because your giving sets the blessing of God into motion in your life. Giving is like a seed. When you plant an apple seed, it doesn’t just grow a single fruit. That one seed grows into a tree that produces an abundance of apples! That’s what happens when you obey God in your giving. You receive an abundant harvest in return. It’s overflowing, literally “running over!” And when the blessing is running over, it means you have so much that you want to give more. The cycle just keeps repeating itself! Is there something the Lord is telling you to give today? It could be financial, material or even your talents and service to others.
What do you have in your hand that you can use to bless someone else? Take a step today and set the blessing of God into motion in your life. Open the door for His blessing to be running over in every area of your life today!
RECEIVE GOD'S LOVE
Before you can love others, you must receive God's love for yourself, because you cannot give away something you don't have.
God deeply and intimately loves you! His love for you is unconditional—no strings attached, and there is nothing that you can do to get God not to love you. Indeed, Romans 8:38-39 says that there is nothing that can ever separate us from God's love.
Knowing that God loves you is central to your understanding of the Gospel, for the entire Gospel is based on God's love (SeeJohn 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 3:16, 1 John 4:9-10). The good news is that God hasn't withheld His love from us; instead, God has poured out his love into our hearts (Romans 5:5).
But what do we do with that love? We know God loves us, but so what? What should we do with God's love? Give it away! Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:11). In other words, our response to the news of God's love for us needs to be to love others. Indeed, Jesus repeatedly commanded us to love others (See Matthew 5:43-47, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 6:27-35,John 13:34-35, John 15:12,17).
However, it is impossible to love others unless you know, believe and receive God's love. 1 John 4:19 says, We love because he first loved us. In other words, we are able to love other people, because God first showed His love to us. If God hadn't shown His love to us, we would have no standard and no example on which to base our love for others.
Similarly, 1 John 4:7 says, Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Here again, our ability to love one another is only because love comes from God.
Think of your ability to love others like a glass of water. At first, the glass is empty. If you don't have any water in your glass, then you obviously can't give water to anyone else. But when you hold your glass under a faucet and let the water pour out into your glass, it will fill up. Then, once it is full, your glass will overflow, and you can let the water pour out to everyone around you.
If you don't have love in you, then you can't give love to anyone else. Therefore, you must first receive God's love, before you can love one another
RECOGNIZING AND WALKING IN GOD'S WILL (3)
'This is God's will for you.' 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV
Pray that you may know God’s will.Strive to live in an attitude of prayer. ‘Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will.’ (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 NIV) Rejoicing, praying continually, and giving thanks puts you in the active hub of God’s will. If you only pray when you’re desperate for answers, your receptors will be rusty and your impressions nebulous at best. Regular communication with God sharpens your senses and fine–tunes your ability to distinguish His voice from all the rest. ‘Teach me to do Your will…my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.’ (Psalm 143:10 NIV) Seek God, and He will smooth the path for you. Receive the counsel of others for confirmation, not necessarily direction.Paul said, ‘When God…called me…I did not consult any man.’ (Galatians1:15–16 NIV) Only embrace other people’s advice when it agrees with God’s Word and the Spirit’s leading. Friends can be a source of confirmation, but not revelation. Even your own experiences and impressions aren’t enough to discern God’s will unless they line up with His Word. Peter did this on Christ’s transfiguration. ‘We ourselves heard this voice...when we were with Him on the sacred mountain. And we have the word of the prophets made more certain...as to a light shining in a dark place.’ (2 Peter 1:18–19 NIV) Paul’s converts at Berea received his teachings enthusiastically, but they also checked them against the written Word of God (Acts 17:11). That’s always a good policy.
NEED HEALING AND MIRACLES FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS
http://youtu.be/qth2CNaXPbU
Free Christian Ebooks http://walthope.tripod.com
http://walthope.wordpress.com
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