“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor… to preach deliverance to the captives…” ~ Luke 4:18 (KJV) REFERENCE: Luke 4:13-20 (KJV) Many Christians go around seeking deliverance. What they are looking for is someone to say a ‘powerful’ prayer: to tell them to ‘connect’ with the anointing with a token, turn and spin, drink or bathe with anointing oil or holy water, pray naked at night, go on a three-day dry fast, etc. That is not deliverance; there is no scriptural basis for such practices. Jesus said, “I...
“Now it came to pass, when David was dwelling in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under tent curtains.” ~ I Chronicles 17:1 Reference: I Chronicles 17:1-17 Do you remember David? He was the little boy that killed Goliath with a sling and a stone. The one kept in the fields by family, to roam with sheep, not found fit to be presented to Samuel for consideration for kingship when the sons of his Father were considered...
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~ I Corinthians 15:57 REFERENCE: I Corinthians 15:56-58 In this chapter, Paul writes the Corinthians about death, the king of terrors, to comfort them and to remove its sting and tyranny through fear over their lives. He encourages them that death is just a transformation of mortality to immortality, weakness to power, and dishonor to glory (I Cor 15:42-45). He then concludes that, "death has been swallowed up in victory." Even over death, we have the ultimate victory in Christ. If God guarantees victory over death, be...
“And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so, he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.” – Jeremiah 18:4 REFERENCE: Jeremiah 18:1-6 Our world runs in cycles. The earth, sun, moon, and planets are spheres. The earth rotates around the sun in cycles, as the clock turns. They both account for the seasons that come in turns - night-day, summer-winter, rain-dry, or cold-heat. There is a local parlance that says, “life is turn-by-turn". It just means that it does not matter how...
“For we who have believed do enter that rest…” ~ Hebrews 4:3a REFERENCE: Hebrews 4:1-3 The writer of Hebrews highlights today’s truth from Old Testament Israel. God delivered them from Egypt, took them through the wilderness, and finally gave them rest in the land of Canaan. The sad truth, however, is that many Israelites died in the wilderness, and never made it to the Promised Land of rest. These ones failed to believe in God, despite His many miracles. We serve a God who is the giver of peace and rest. He brought rest to a stormy situation by...
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.” ~ Psalm 23:5 REFERENCE Psalm 23:1-6 This Psalm has offered comfort to saints for many generations. It is the picture of a shepherd’s extraordinary care for his sheep. He spares no expense to bring them to green pastures and watering spots; to guide, lead, and protect them from all perceived and present dangers. ‘A table in the presence of enemies’ speaks of God’s favor – honor when men feel you are not qualified or when those who don’t...
“Love…is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].” ~ I Corinthians 13:7 (AMPC) REFERENCE I Corinthians 13:4-8 (AMPC) In this powerful chapter, the apostle Paul seconds every other Christian virtue to love; he places love above prophetic and miraculous powers; and lifts it above showy charity or daring acts of martyrdom. Love should be the ultimate motivation for everything a Christian does; else, no matter how applaudable whatever he does is, Paul says, “He is still a useless nobody.” Christianity is about relationships, relationships...
“And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?” ~ Luke 16:12 REFERENCE: Luke 16:10-12 We all desire to be bigger than where we presently are, anticipating better positions, pay, and privileges. We look forward to a day that we will have our own business, project, house, office, clientele, workshop, or showroom. It is a good desire (ambition); however, the likelihood of any of this happening is in connection to where you are today. THE BIG IS IN THE SMALL. Notice the language (tense) in verse 10 of...
“Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God”?” ~ Isaiah 40:27 Reference Isaiah 40:27-31 Life can get so tough with troubles coming back-to-back that you wonder if God sees or cares about you. The pressures of life can overwhelm the mind so that it completely shuts out the possibility that there is a God who cares, sees, and gets personally involved in our lives. Israel’s captivity lasted so long that they began to murmur against God. They wondered if...
“Abraham, when hope was dead within him, went on hoping in faith, believing that he would become “the father of many nations.” He relied on the word of God which definitely referred to ‘your descendants’.” Romans 4:18 (PHILLIPS) REFERENCE Romans 4:18-22 (PHILLIPS) Faith is the power that brings the world to its knees. Where faith is at work, everything works. Every reasonable cause for Abraham to hope was gone. Yet, in faith, he kept on hoping; what an expression of faith! He could have given up on God, saying His promises were untrue, or He has favorites, but not Abraham....