Comment

Comment by Ruth McD on April 23, 2011 at 9:02am

He is risen, and our Savior. We need to let God help us when we are in need to get through something hard for us. Thank you God for your power!
Thanks Alcedes.

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on April 22, 2011 at 4:34pm

	He is Risen! TODAY’S SCRIPTURE "…He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen…" (Matthew 28:6, NLT TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria We have a reason to celebrate today because we serve a God who is alive and filled with resurrection power! Not only did He resurrect Jesus from the dead, but He wants to extend His resurrection power into every single area of your life, today! Maybe you have a dream to get out of debt, pay off your house or be free from that burden of lack; but it looks like it's impossible. Business is slow. The economy is down. You've gone as far as your education allows. But God is saying, "I'm not limited by those things. I've got resurrection power. I can give you one break that will thrust you to a new level. I can open up doors that no man can shut. I can bring talent out of you that you didn't know you had. I can cause people, for no reason, to go out of their way to want to be good to you." Your part is to keep believing today knowing that He wants to bring you into supernatural increase. Remember, He is risen, He is alive, and He is faithful to His Word. Trust Him today and let His resurrection power work in your life! A PRAYER FOR TODAY Father God, thank You for Your resurrection power at work in my life. Today, I give You my broken dreams, disappointments, failures and setbacks and trust that You will breathe Your life into me. I trust that You have a good plan for my future and are leading me into total victory! In Jesus' Name.Amen

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on April 21, 2011 at 8:04am

just had to share this

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on April 21, 2011 at 8:03am

The Christian Response to Disappointment

Learn How to Respond to Disappointment as a Christian

From Jack Zavada

The Christian life can sometimes feel like a roller coaster ride when strong hope and faith collide with an unexpected reality. When our prayers aren't answered as we desired and our dreams become shattered, disappointment is the natural result. Jack Zavada examines "The Christian Response to Disappointment" and offers practical advice for turning disappointment in a positive direction, moving you closer to God.

The Christian Response to Disappointment

If you're a Christian, you're well-acquainted with disappointment.

All of us, whether new Christians or lifelong believers, battle feelings of disappointment when life goes wrong. Deep down, we think that following Christ should give us special immunity against trouble. We're like Peter, who tried to remind Jesus, "We have left everything to follow you." (Mark 10:28).

Maybe we haven't left everything, but we have made some painful sacrifices. Doesn't that count for something? Shouldn't that give us a free pass when it comes to disappointment?

You already know the answer to that. As we’re each struggling with our own private setbacks, godless people seem to be thriving. We wonder why they’re doing so well and we’re not. We fight our way through loss and disappointment and wonder what’s going on.

Asking the Right Question

After many years of hurts and frustration, I finally realized that the question I should ask God isn't "Why, Lord?" but rather, "What now, Lord?"

Asking “What now, Lord?” instead of “Why, Lord?” is a hard lesson to learn. It's hard to ask the right question when you’re feeling disappointed. It's hard to ask when your heart is breaking. It's hard to ask “What now?” when your dreams have been shattered.

But your life will begin to change when you start asking God, "What would you have me do now, Lord?" Oh sure, you’ll still feel angry or disheartened by disappointments, but you’ll also discover that God is eager to show you what he wants you to do next. Not only that, but he’ll equip you with everything you need to do it.

Where to Take Your Heartaches

In the face of trouble, our natural tendency is not to ask the right question. Our natural tendency is to complain. Unfortunately, griping to other people rarely helps solve our problems. Instead, it tends to drive people away. Nobody wants to hang around a person who has a self-pitying, pessimistic outlook on life.

But we can't just let it go. We need to pour our heart out to someone. Disappointment is too heavy a burden to bear. If we let disappointments pile up, they lead to discouragement. Too much discouragement leads to despair. God doesn’t want that for us. In his grace, God asks us to take our heartaches to him.

If another Christian tells you that it's wrong to gripe to God, just send that person to the Psalms. Many of them, like Psalms 31, 102 and 109, are poetic accounts of hurts and grievances. God listens. He'd rather have us empty our heart to him than keep that bitterness inside. He is not offended by our discontent.

Complaining to God is wise because he's capable of doing something about it, while our friends and relations may not be. God has the power to change us, our situation, or both. He knows all the facts and he knows the future. He knows exactly what needs to be done.

The Answer to 'What Now?'

When we pour out our hurt to God and find the courage to ask him, "What do you want me to do now, Lord?," we can expect him to answer. He will communicate through another person, our circumstances, instructions from him (very rarely), or through his Word, the Bible.

The Bible is such an important guidebook that we should immerse ourselves in it regularly. It's call the Living Word of God because its truths are constant yet they apply to our changing situations. You can read the same passage at different times in your life and get a different answer--a relevant answer--from it every time. That is God speaking through his Word.

Seeking God's answer to "What now?" helps us grow in faith. Through experience, we learn that God is trustworthy. He can take our disappointments and work them for our good. When that happens, we come to the staggering conclusion that the all-powerful God of the universe is on our side.

No matter how painful your disappointment may be, God's answer to your question of "What now, Lord?" always begins with this simple command: "Trust me. Trust me."

Comment by Ruth McD on April 20, 2011 at 4:18pm

Mark 4:9 And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

 

Listening with your mind and heart is necessary to gain spiritual understanding from Jesus' words. We truly want to learn and grow. Jesus' words are for the honest seekers.

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on April 19, 2011 at 8:56pm

YES AMEN IN JESUS NAME

Comment by Ruth McD on April 19, 2011 at 7:24am

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts.

vs24 Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

 

Spiritual health is determined by how we live. Let's ask God to search us, know our hearts, and lead us in His way.

Search me, O God, cleanse me from every sin and set me free.

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on April 18, 2011 at 4:05am

	The Same Spirit TODAY’S SCRIPTURE "And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11, AMP TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit of God makes His home inside of you. That's the same Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. That resurrection power can bring back health, strength and life to your physical body, and it can bring back life to your hopes and dreams. In fact, it can bring life to any area that may seem dormant on the inside of you. The next time you feel overwhelmed by sickness, challenges or despair, remember, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you. You may have been burdened by an addiction, fear or worry, but there's nothing that can stand against the power of God. Rise up and declare by faith, "He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. I am restored and healed in the name of Jesus! No weapon formed against me can prosper!" As you rise up in faith and declare the Word of God, you are activating His power within you, and you are moving forward in the victory He has for you! A PRAYER FOR TODAY Father in heaven, thank You for filling me with Your power by the Holy Spirit. I choose to feed my faith by declaring Your Word over my life so that I can tap in to every blessing You have for me. In Jesus' Name.Amen.

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on April 17, 2011 at 1:24pm

Subject: Satan's Tools

 

------------

April 17

Satan's Tools

"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and, let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1).

There are weights which are not sins in themselves, but which become distractions and stumbling blocks in our Christian progress. One of the worst of these is despondency. The heavy heart is indeed a weight that will surely drag us down in our holiness and usefulness.

The failure of Israel to enter the land of promise began in murmuring, or, as the text in Numbers literally puts it, "as it were murmured." Just a faint desire to complain and be discontented. This led on until it blossomed and ripened into rebellion and ruin. Let us give ourselves no liberty ever to doubt God or His love and faithfulness to us in everything and forever.

We can set our will against doubt just as we do against any other sin; and as we stand firm and refuse to doubt, the Holy Spirit will come to our aid and give us the faith of God and crown us with victory.

It is very easy to fall into the habit of doubting, fretting, and wondering if God has forsaken us and if after all our hopes are to end in failure. Let us refuse to be discouraged. Let us refuse to be unhappy. Let us "count it all joy" when we cannot feel one emotion of happiness. Let us rejoice by faith, by resolution, by reckoning, and we shall surely find that God will make the reckoning real.--Selected

***

The devil has two master tricks. One is to get us discouraged; then for a time at least we can be of no service to others, and so are defeated. The other is to make us doubt, thus breaking the faith link by which we are bound to our Father. Lookout! Do not be tricked either way.--G.E.M.

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on April 17, 2011 at 1:22pm

1 Corinthians 1:18

[Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom] For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 98
• 99
• 100
• 101
• Next ›
• Page