EPHESIANS 6:10 NIV
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
No one can successfully argue against the statement, "You are strong in the Lord." It is a given that if you are in the Lord, you are strong. Nothing that is "in the Lord" could be weak.
So the only real question is whether you are "in the Lord.
I JOHN 5:20 NASB
20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 NIV
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
The choice is yours. You choose whether to accept Christ and thus be identified as "in Him." God does no force this, you must choose.
EPHESIANS 2:8-10 NASB
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
From Ephesians 2:8-10 we can see that when we are saved through faith, we are created a new IN Christ Jesus. That is our position. So, anyone and everyone who has received Jesus Christ can be said to be legally "in Him" according to the Scripture.
Always remember that your strength is not in your own ability or resources, but your strength is in the Lord. Depend on Hm. He will never fail you. (He probably will test your patience and maybe even let the situation look hopeless, but He will not ever fail you.)
PSALM 27:1 NKJ
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
HEBREWS 13:5-6 NKJ
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
6 So we ay boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
PSALM 28:8 NIV
8 The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
SAY THIS: I am strong in the Lord. In the Lord, I am strong, for the Lord is my strength.
COLOSSIANS 1:13 NKJ
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Many people are afraid of the devil. As believers we have no need to be afraid of the devil, although we should be aware and on guard against his schemes.
The only true power the devil holds over a believer now is the power of deception. If you do not know the truth the devil will take advantage of you. The only way to know the truth is to read, understand, and act on the Scriptures.
To illustrate, imagine entering the hospital room of patient paralyzed from their neck down. All they can do is talk. They pose no threat to you, unless they convince you to take the gun from beside the bed and shoot yourself with it.
(How could they do that? One way would be to convince you that the gun was not real or not loaded, so it wouldn't harm you.)
You may think this is ridiculous, but it happens constantly with people who do not realize that the words they speak are powerful, and that the ideas they speak originate with the devil. Every day the devil convinces millions of people to take a spiritual "weapon" -- their words -- and use it against themselves.
The devil operates against you through fear and ignorance. God's Word gives you the information that will set you free from both fear and ignorance.
HEBREWS 2:14-15 NASB
14 Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
MARK 16:17 NKJ
17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; for believers to cast out demons, it means they must have authority over the devil and his forces. However, unused authority conveys no benefit.
SAY THIS: Jesus is my lord, and the devil has no owner over me.
I have been delivered from the devil's authority. I am free, so leave me alone, devil!
2 CORINTHIANS 5:19 AMPLIFIED
19 It was God (personally present) in Christ, reconciling and restoring the work to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them]; and committing to us the message of reconciliation -- of the restoration to favor.
Most people mistakenly think they have to beg God to forgive them. Instead, God has already forgiven. It was His idea -- done on His own initiative. (Whether you accept God's forgiveness and benefit from it is another question.)
1 JOHN 2:12 NKJ
12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.
No matter what you have done -- God has already forgiven you!
God is not mad at you. Instead He loves you and desires to have a close relationship with you. Yes, God is against sin, because sin is harmful to humans. But He has already made provision for you to be forgiven and set free from sin.
Jesus Christ paid the price for all your sins -- and God is no longer holding any sin against you! You have been forgiven.
When you accept that, you can begin to receive the benefit of Jesus' sacrifice.
EPHESIANS 1:7 NKJ
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
COLOSSIANS 2:13 NKJ
13 An you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, Through Jesus we have redemption from the devil and forgiveness for our sins.
Wouldn't it be great if you could tell someone who has messed up their life that God is not mad at them and not against them?
That He desires to be their friend and help them?
SAY THIS: Thank You Father God for forgiving me and loving me.
1 PETER 2:24 NKJ
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness -- by whose stripes you were healed.
"Time" is difficult to understand. Scientists tell us that time is "relative," just something that seems real to us.
The Bible indicates God is "outside of time." God created time so He is not confined to it. Can we easily comprehend this? No.
When a human makes a statement that is not true at this present moment in time, we call it a lie -- not the truth.
But when God says something that does not seem to be true at this moment -- we cannot accuse Him of telling a lie -- because God is not limited to our time frame. (Also, we do not know everything.)
Having said all that, the Bible clearly says that you ARE healed.
ISAIAH 53:4-5 NRSV
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
So, you have a choice. You can look at it from your perspective and say, "That is not true. I am not healed."
Or, you can view the situation from God's perspective, and because of your faith in Him, agree with what He said.
Which choice is best? As you decide your answer, remember to include eternity in your evaluation. Pleasing God by accepting His Word can bring benefits to you after this life.
Here is one way of understanding all this. God made provision for everyone to be healed. That provision must be received by faith -- by believing and acting on what God has said in His Word. Humans have a choice: believe God's Word and resist anything that would try to steal their health, or, let their feelings and circumstances control them.
If you disagree with all this, let's not argue or fight. That will not help anyone. But remember, the Bible will still say what it says.
MATTHEW 8:16-17 NKJ
16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,
17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."
God made provision for your healing, but the devil tries to steal it away from you. Here is the bottom line: we do not understand everything. God does. Since God loves us, it seems best to trust in
Him instead of trusting in our own limited understanding. So, I choose to believe and say what God says, whether I understand it or not.
SAY THIS: The Bible says I am healed. I choose to
agree with what God has said in the Bible.
Confession is the act disclosing your sinfulness before God.
The Bible tells you to hang on tight to saying God's Word.
HEBREWS 10:23 NKJ
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. God has no reason to tell us to hold fast, or hang on tight, to our confession, unless someone, or something, will be trying to get us to turn loose of it and say something else.
HEBREWS 3:1 NKJ
1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,
HEBREWS 4:14 NKJ
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Jesus is the High Priest of our confession what we say. He represents us before God with the words we speak.
The Bible says:
You are righteous in Christ. Romans 3:2
You are forgiven. Colossians 2:13
You are healed. 1 Peter 2:24
You are delivered from the devil. Colossians 1:13
You can do all things through Christ. Philippians 4:13
You are strong in the Lord. Ephesians 6:10
The Greater One is in you. 1 John 4:4
The Lord is guiding you. John 16:13
God is working in you. Philippians 2:13
The Lord is your helper. Hebrews 13:6
Jesus became poor to make you rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9
You may wonder why you should say what God says in the Bible about you. First, God is looking for faith, and second, it is the Word planted in your life that will make you free. Speaking God's Word is a way of planting it in you.
Yes, it can take faith to say what the Bible says about you. Especially when you don't feel like it and the circumstances don't agree, either. But we have to choose: will we rely on our feelings, or God's Word? Do we trust the circumstances more than God's Word?
But you may say, "What the Word says is just not true in my life." You are the establishing witness. God has said something about you. Now when you come into agreement with Him, it will become manifest in your life.
MARK 11:23 NKJ
2 "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.
Jesus told you that we will have whatever we say if we believe it. It will come to pass. So you see why the devil tries to get us to quit saying God's Word, which will set us free.
SAY THIS: I will say what God says about me regardless of my feelings o circumstances.
Those who sow in tears shall rear in joy. -Psalm 126.5
Friends can hold your hands and cheer you up, but shepherding a God-given dream to fulfilment always involves watering it with your own tears. Those who sow in tears will reap with joy. He who goes you weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with joy, carrying sheaves with him. But you must recognise what reason you are in.
1. A time for weeping - This is not an excuse for passivity, or a posture of weakness that reduces you to tears because life's not fair and things are tough. In difficult times, sough God, develop a plan, put together a team if possible then move on. What moves you? What do you feel passionate about?
2. A time for reaping - In life, everything has a reason and a reason. (Ecc 3.1-4) Those who understand the reason and maximize the season are 'like a tree planted by stream of water, which yields its fruit in season. (Psalm 1.3) Fruits won't grow before it time, that's why you must discern your life's changing season and adjust to then. You need to know it's time to stop weeping and start reaping, otherwise, you'll miss your harvest. Tears are for sower, joy is for the reaper. When your season changes, harvest your yield with joy. You've paid your dues. now it's time to enjoy what God has promised you.
Palm Sunday is the day we remember the "triumphal entry" of Jesus into Jerusalem, exactly one week before His resurrection (Matthew 21:1-11).
Some 450-500 years earlier, the Prophet Zechariah had prophesied, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah
9:9
Matthew 21:7-9 records the fulfillment of that prophecy:
"They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!’” This event took place on the Sunday before Jesus' crucifixion.
In remembrance of this event, we celebrate Palm Sunday. It is referred to as Palm Sunday because of the palm branches that were laid on the road as Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday was the fulfillment of the Prophet Daniel's "seventy sevens" prophecy:
"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the
command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times" (Daniel 9:25).
John 1:11 tells us, "He (Jesus) came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." The same crowds that were crying out "Hosanna" were crying out "crucify Him" five days later (Matthew 27:22-23).
1st Cori 3:16-17 - Our bodies are Gods Temple
Psalm 37:18-19 - The day of the blameless
HIDDEN GREATNESS.
The world is full of educated derelicts. Anytime the enemy plans evil. God plans good to counter the evil.
‘Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart, all you that hope in the Lord.’ Furthermore I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.
When someone criticizes you and says that it cannot be done, it means that they don’t know how to do it themselves. If you listen to negative critics you will find it difficult to succeed. Life offers enormous blessing for those who persist. Blessings start with accepting life as a gift.
In life, there are adventures, dare them!
Tears flow more frequently. Sleep comes less easily and you may begin to wonder why God doesn’t seem to care, if God is really listening or if God is even there at all. You find yourself without any resource or income.
You have almost, overnight, become a beggar. You feel like sinking into a depression. It is a time that no one understands you, not even your children or your relatives. This is a point of testing. It is a time that can make a person either bitter or better. When some people reach this point, they simply accept defeat and give up. Others refuse to allow the tough times to defeat them and persevere to overcome their difficulties.
What can you do when all hope seems lost? Why do some people manage to turn their problems into opportunities and impossibilities into possibilities?
‘The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at the time of challenge and controversy’. The world will pay for courage and persistence and nothing else.
‘No weapons formed against you shall prosper and every tongue shall be condemned Psalms 139:14.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of you, says the Lord’ [1 Samuel 24:4-6].
Hidden Greatness
You must have decided
- What you want,
- When you want it and
- What you need to know to get it,
- Who you need to know to help you get it.
- Your motivation must also be pure.
- You should not be pursuing a goal in order to rock a snook at somebody and make him / her feel bad. The goal must be worthwhile, not flaky goals. Goals must be balanced. It doesn’t pay to succeed in the
- Workplace or home and neglect your
- Relatives,
- Parents and your friends.
- Balance is a key to success in life.
Goals must be purified through the filter of God’s word. As we read His word and pray about our goals, clarity begins to come into our operations.
The Bible says,
‘Commit the way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. When you read the Book of Joshua. ‘This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you shall have good success.’
Success is the achievement of a desired aim. Success will stabilize and sustain you through your greatest accomplishment and your bitterest adversities. If you remain focused in the midst of adversities you will realize that what appears a permanent obstacle in the way of your attainment of your dreams is only a figment of your imagination. Have you wondered why so many men and women work so hard and honestly without ever achieving anything in particular? Why others do not work hard at all and yet get everything?
The Bible says,
‘For I know the plan I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and hope’.
Seed of Greatness:-
- There is in you a seed of greatness,
- Created and hidden within you.
- It awaits you to arouse it,
- Water it,
- Weed it, thereafter, it just grows.
Successful people have formed the habits of doing those things that most people don’t want to do. Good and bad habits ape, tiny daily choices that accumulate. It is like a child who grows a little each day. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention sometimes; the challenges that come our way could be blessings in disguise.
People often run away from challenges rather than deal with them. It is through facing such challenges that you will discover hidden strengths and skills you never thought you had. Start looking at your challenges from a different perspective because out of every challenge there is a blessing. Behind every giant there is a Promised Land flowing with milk and honey.
Do not let your focus be on the giant but on the promise you may be faced with difficulties and lacks, through the experience the Lord will teach you to trust in him and maximize the little that you have. Your situation provides an opportunity for you to see the divine provision and intervention of God when the apostle Paul was put in prison for preaching the gospel; he turned that trial into an opportunity to write part of the New Testament, his life in prison influenced more lives than when he preached from city to city in the eastern terrains. His prison epistles are influencing millions of Christians today. Turn your challenges into blessing; you will indeed discover amazing treasures.
WHAT DO OTHERS SEE IN YOU?
Others may see gift and special talents in you that you might not see yourself. It does not take long before your family, friends, or mentors notice the hidden treasure in you.
Often the talent becomes obvious when a person can do a task with ease and enjoyment, while others seem to strain to perform the same task. Sometimes you may never know how good you are until someone tells you.
The Apostle Paul saw the hidden gift in Timothy, his spiritual son. He admonished him to stir up the gift within him [2 Tim 1:6]
Timothy became a preacher of the gospel and was very instrumental in the Ministry of Paul It is my prayer that you find these three keys valuable as you pursue to discover the hidden treasure in you once you discover these treasures;
Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping carrying seed to sow will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him”
In order to maximize, start manufacturing the gift of God put in you so you can maximize the potential He gave you, God has given you his moment and it’s yours to maximize. Stop Bickering, murmuring, frustration and look for ways to get double for your trouble.
God wants you to start going fishing and bringing in a double harvest. When we talk about maximizing the moment, we mean maximizing your relationships.
AMEN
Jesus said in John 10.30, "I and the Father are one".
The Lord Jesus is exactly like the Father. He is the full icon of the Father.
Hebrews 1.3, "thus the things He did are indicative of the Father's character.
For Him to have chosen to bring out the best wine at the end rather than at the beginning of middle of the ceremony is very instructive.
(...Everyone else serves the best wine first, and after the guests have drunk a lot he serves the ordinary wine. But you have kept the best wine until now! John 2.10)
This tells us that sometimes, our Lord could reserve the best for last.
Now let's bring this home, the Lord could choose to reserve the blessings and impartation of the Spirit you're meant to receive during a church service till the end of the meeting. Mostly in our various churches, there are 2 groups of people. The first group is those who hardly wait for the service to end before they're gone. As soon as the pastor is done, they're gone, always in a hurry.
The second group of people will come early and stay through till the end of the service. The Word that someone in the first group needs to change his situation may sometimes come right at the end of the service, but he's may be already gone, hence misses his hour of visitation.
You must learn to wait until the service closes when you in to church. The Lord may not always do things the way we expect Him to. It pays to be patient, it's better to discipline yourself to stay in the presence of God, and never be in a hurry to leave, for that's just what your anticipated Word of blessing and miracle may come to you.
Patient is all you need, be at the right place at the right time. That way, you'll never miss out on God's best for you, for He sometimes saves the best for last.
