October 2012 Blog Posts (26)

Colossians 3:2: -"Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."



God creates a new category in our thinking. It is called "Heavenly things." Then He slides new files into that folder. He gives us pictures of His heart, pictures of our DESTINY in Him, and pictures of His love, and shows us how that love unfolds to others.

He begins to show us His perspective on things. He is the…

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

Having faith means that we do not require proof prior to our actions. And as we stand in faith on the word of God, declaring it without doubt, we can expect evidence to be produced because of our faith (see Hebrews 11:3). It is pleasing to God that we go to Him believing that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him out (as the Word states in Hebrews…

Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:52

“Every … disciple of the kingdom of heaven … brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

—Matthew 13:52

All of us are called to be balanced Christians. The brief parable we are looking at today indicates the value of the Old Testament teachings and…

HALLOWEEN IN AMERICA TODAY

Halloween as it has evolved to what it is now in this country is largely a post-WWII, “boomers” phenomenon. In fact, in the early years of our nation’s genesis, there were laws prohibiting the practice of Halloween because the early founders, along with political, social, intellectual, and religious leaders, wanted to ensure that there was no proliferation in the new republic during its…

Scripture Reading: Luke 16:1-9

“Use worldly wealth to gain friends … so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”

—Luke 16:9

In his parables, Jesus often uses controversial ideas and characters to gain the crowd’s attention. In this story a corrupt financial manager becomes a sort of hero. The manager has wasted his master’s resources. And when he is about to lose his job, he reduces the amounts owed by his master’s debtors, to gain their goodwill.…

Scripture Reading: Luke 12:13-21; Matthew 6:22-23

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us...and put his Spirit in our hearts..." - 2 Corinthians 1:21,22



"That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.....that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." - Ephesians 3:16,19



To be effective we must minister according to His…

"For she said within herself, 'If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.'" (Matthew 9:21)

To touch God, we are to be properly positioned to endure the "press." The woman with the issue of blood pressed past the multitudes to "touch Jesus." As a result, she was made whole. This woman was desperate. She suffered with an unclean condition and none of those who were considered "unclean" were allowed within the city gates. This desperate woman…

"Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee...." - 1 Timothy 4:14

For too long, Christians have been motivated by guilt, instead of reaponding to the unction of the Holy Spirit. As each of us yields to what God has CALLED us to be, then God will bring each part to fulfilment.

"be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath…

Scripture Reading: Luke 13:20-21

“The kingdom of God … is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour.”

—Luke 13:20-21

Like the parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the yeast also points to something small that produces amazing results. But in Israel, yeast often represented sin and evil. Did Jesus intend to speak of yeast that way in this parable? Apparently.

Only bread without yeast could be used at Israel’s feasts. The smoke…

Abraham wasn't found righteous until he BELIEVED...

It wasn't his adherence to the law or the Word, nor was it his daily prayer life or faithfulness that caused the grace of God to shine upon Abraham's life. It may have been prayer or faithfulness that got God's attention, but neither of these did anything in the way of making him worthy of a relationship with God, nor did they serve to fulfill any promise. Romans 4:3 says, "What does the Scripture say?…

Scripture Reading: Mark 4:26-29

“All by itself the soil produces grain …”

—Mark 4:28

Mark 4 contains three seed parables. The parable of the sower (vv. 2-20) promises that the seed will take hold in the life of believers. The parable of the mustard seed (vv. 30-32) describes how small beginnings can produce amazing results. And today’s reading, the parable of the seed growing secretly, pictures the growth of kingdom seed after its planting and before the…

Scripture Reading: Mark 4:2-9

“Other seed fell on good soil. It … produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

—Mark 4:8

Christians often become discouraged when they ponder the loss of Christian values in some parts of the world today. Christianity seems to be…

2 Timothy 1:9, "God...who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began."

The term "holy calling" could also be interpreted "sacred DESTINY." The Lord considers it a sacred thing for us to enter into the divinely ordained function that He has destined for us. The prophet David once said, "Your eyes…

Hebrews 11:1 - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen."

That word "evidence" means an outward sign or indication. Faith is something that furnishes proof. Faith is no longer going to be an obscure or intangible concept that a Believer's hope will bring change. Rather, it is a reality or a sign of what the Believer knows is there, even if "sight" of the full physical manifestation…

Philippians 3:17 - "Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you."



Apostle Paul taught the Church in Philippi that they were to live "according to the pattern" they had seen modeled in himself and his team (Philippians 3:17). Pattern makers are visionary leaders who model and exemplify a lifestyle of holiness with Christ, so that others are enabled and…

In Luke 13, Jesus saw a crippled woman who had been bent over for 18 years; He called her to Himself and healed her. The ruler of the synagogue was indignant, not because He healed her but because He healed on the Sabbath. Jesus replied, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from…

O that God would stir our hearts with passion; that we would encounter Him with such abandon, that we could all say: "God, I'm as hungry for You today as I was at any other time in my life!"



Psalms 42:1-2, "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?"…