Albert Finch's Blog – April 2012 Archive (21)

2 Chronicles 17:9 -- For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him...

The word tells us that God shows Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are "perfect" toward Him. "Perfect does not mean that we have to do everything just right and live without making a mistake. I means "devoted"…

Jeremiah 29:11-14 "For i know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord. thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and…

Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen.

Worldy hope is just a kind of wish.

Whenever we see hope in the bible, it means there is an expectiation. According to Mark 11:24, when we pray, we should believe we receive.

We should expect -- not just desire -- that those things…

Song of Solomon 2:9 - "Behold, He is standing behind our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is peering through the lattice."

Yes, Christ dwells within us, but He is standing behind our "walls." The walls between us and the Savior are primarily the work of :

1. Unrenewed Minds

2. Hardened…

Romans 15:13 -- May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing -- through the experience of your faith --that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.

Hope is a divine dream. It's an inner image that's bigger than you are because it's built on the promises of God.

 …

John 13:13-15 -- Jesus said, "You call me 'Teacher and Lord' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I , your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. You also should wash one another's feet. I have set you and example that you should do as I have done for you. - "John 20:21

Just as the Father has sent me forth so I am sending you.

This is…

1 Kings 19:10 - And he said, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and Killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

MUCH OF ELIJAH'S DISCOURAGEMENT CAME FROM THE FALSE EXPECTATIONS HE HAD PLACED UPON HIMSELF. IN HIS DEJECTION, ALONE AND HURTING,…

John 5:14 - "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."

In saying this, Jesus shows that sin causes the tragedies that come into our lives. The reason for holiness in the life of the believer is that when we give in to sin, we yield ourselves to Satan, the author of that sin. Yielding to sin is yielding to…

Philippians 3:12 -- But I keep going on, trying to grasp that purpose for which Christ Jesus grasped me.

Psalm 63:1 -- O God, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You: my inner self thirsts for you, in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

 …

Ephesians 5:14-18 - "Wake up from your sleep, and arise from the dead, And Christ shall shine upon you. Live life with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning of life but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the evils of these days. Don't be vague but grasp firmly what you know to be the will of the Lord."

As believers, we are instructed…

Numbers 13:27,28,33 - We came unto the land where thou sent us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great. And there we saw the giants.

THE EXODUS FROM THE MIND TO THE HEART DEMANDS THAT WE MUST FACE AND CONQUER THE GIANTS OF SIN, CONDEMNATION AND IGNORANCE. AS WITH ANY…

Psalm 119:62 - "At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, because of Your righteous judgments."

Midnight usually meant halfway between dark and the breaking of the light or the midle-point of the night before the light could break through.

THE MIDNIGHT HOUR IS WHERE OUR VICTORY LIES!

The midnight hour was the time that the…

Matthew 12:28 -- "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you."

The unseen world has influence over the visible.

The Kingdom is here and now.

We must acknowledge that it's in the invisible realm. Just as Jesus worked only through the…

Going to church, reading the bible, listening to Christian music will not advance your spiritual life. These activities may give you more understanding but until you are ready to lay down your life and take up your cross this leads nowhere.

What I am talking about is the sacrifice of self to advance the cause of Jesus Christ in the world. There is a destiny that God had for each of us that only we can personally discover. We…

Hebrews 4:9,10 - There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.

Affirmation

THE REST THAT I SEEK IS NOT A REJUVENATION OF MY ENERGY, IT IS THE EXCHANGE OF…

Luke 10:38-42 - "As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him in her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the feet of the Lord and listened to His teaching. Martha was upset over all the work she had to do; so she came and said, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!'…

Zechariah 12:1 -- Thus says the Lord, Who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.

God is spirit, and Zechariah 12 tells us that God formed the spirit of man within him. This human spirit is what makes relationship and fellowship with God possible at all.

Through his spirit, man can walk in…

(Read Leviticus 23; Mark 15:33-47; Luke 23:44-56 & John 20:1-17)

Matthew 12:38-40 38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the…

Some people that attend church are looking for "Christian Counseling" but what would be more beneficial in most circumstances would be discipleship equipping. That would involve focusing on their spiritual condition rather than their personal problems.



Areas that involve discipling are:

1. Understanding their inheritance in Christ and who they are in Christ.…

Acts 8:12 - "But when they believed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ as Philip preached it, they were baptized, both men and women."

A popular belief among Christians is that God wants to use us to help people see their sins and give them the choice of whether or not to receive Jesus. If we look more closely at what the Bible really declares as Jesus' message, we…