Who God Rewards

By Joel Osteen – Posted April 30, 2017

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:6, NIV

TODAY'S WORD:

When God is first place in your life, and you make pleasing Him is your highest priority, then you can fully expect to live a blessed, fulfilled life! In today’s verse, notice who God rewards. It’s not people who half-heartedly seek Him. It doesn’t say “people who only think about Him when they’re having a problem” or “people who will only come to church when something special is going on.” No, God rewards people who earnestly seek after Him. That means we are determined. We get up every morning and thank Him for His goodness. We go through the day meditating on His promises. We give Him praise in the good times and the tough times. We are constantly stretching, growing, learning and striving to know Him better. 

Today, remember, when you diligently seek God, He promises that a reward is coming. He promises He will give you strength, wisdom, favor, good breaks, promotion, healing and restoration. When you seek Him with your whole heart, you will find Him, and you won’t be able to outrun His goodness and blessing and reward!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Father, I desire to please You in everything I do. I declare that You are good and faithful. I trust You with my whole heart and believe that You are a rewarder of those who diligently seek You. I bless You and honor You today in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 God’s Boundaries

By Joyce Meyer - Posted April 30, 2017

Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body. 
—1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The word stress was originally an engineering term used to refer to the amount of force a beam or other physical support could bear without collapsing under strain.

In our time, the word has been expanded to refer not only to physical pressure but also to mental and emotional tension. As human beings, you and I are built to handle a normal amount of stress. God has created us to withstand a certain amount of pressure and tension. The problem comes when we push ourselves beyond our limitations, beyond what we were intended to bear without permanent damage. But like so many people, because I have things to do, I just keep pushing myself even though it is causing me physical damage.

Of course, when sickness tries to come on Dave or me, we immediately pray for healing. But if you become sick as a result of running your body down by pushing it beyond the limits God set for you to operate in good health, you need rest as well as prayer to restore your health. The boundaries He has set for us are for our own good.

 JESUS’ HIGH PRIESTHOOD IS FOREVER

By Joseph Prince – Posted April 30, 2017

Hebrews 6:20

…Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Jesus is our High Priest forever. This “forever” aspect changes the way we are blessed and how we receive our blessings from God. As our High Priest, Jesus represents us before God. Since His priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek, which is one of righteousness, His righteousness becomes our righteousness forever. This means that we are forever righteous in God’s eyes!

And because He will never die, but continue as our High Priest forever, we have an everlasting righteousness, not merely a here-today-gone-tomorrow righteousness based on our works. No, we have a perpetual and everlasting righteousness because Jesus is our High Priest forever.

This also means that blessings are perpetually on your head because the Bible says that blessings are on the head of the righteous (Proverbs 10:6), and you are righteous forever!

Unlike the priesthood according to the Levitical order, which blesses as well as curses, the priesthood of Jesus according to the Melchizedek order only blesses. There is no cursing, only blessing—always and forever!

And because Jesus is our High Priest forever, the blessings do not come to us in intermittent drips, but stream into our lives in a never-ending flow. Because He is our High Priest forever, we can never stop His blessings.

By being our High Priest forever, Jesus also touches the blessings that He gives us with a forever effect. He touches our lives and we have eternal life. He touches our ministry and its impact becomes eternal. And the more we see His priesthood as having a forever effect, the more permanent our blessings will be.

Truly, there is nothing temporal about what Jesus our High Priest does. It is not a case of blessed today, cursed tomorrow. The blessings we receive are sure and steadfast because Jesus is our High Priest today, tomorrow and forever.

So rejoice because Jesus your High Priest changes how you are blessed forever!

Thought For The Day

God’s blessings are sure and steadfast because Jesus is our High Priest today, tomorrow and forever.

Fear Leads to Worry

By Joyce Meyer - Posted April 29, 2017

And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?  
—Matthew 6:27 

Fear and worry are closely related. You might say fear is the parent of every kind of worry because every worry starts as a fear. The Bible clearly teaches that God’s children are not to worry. When we worry, we rotate our minds around and around a problem and come up with no answers. The more we do it, the more anxious we feel. When we worry, we actually torment ourselves with a type of thinking that produces no good fruit. Worry starts with our thoughts, but it affects our moods and even our physical bodies. 

A person can worry so much that it makes them feel depressed and sad. Worry places stress on your entire system and causes a lot of physical ailments like headaches, tension in muscles, stomach problems, and many other things. It never helps, and it does not solve our problems. 

We can worry about hundreds of different things, from what people think of us to what will happen to us as we age. How long will we be able to work? Who will take care of us when we get old? What happens if the stock market crashes? What if gas prices go up? What if I lose my job? Quite often, worry does not even have a basis or a nugget of truth to it. There is no known reason to even think about the things that worry and then frighten us. 

The only answer is to stop worrying by placing your trust in God. He has the future all planned, and He knows the answer to everything. What we worry about frequently never happens anyway, and if it is going to happen, worrying won’t prevent it. God’s Word promises us that He will take care of us if we trust in Him. 

Trust in Him: What are you worrying about? Cast your cares on Jesus. He wants you to trust Him with every thought, burden, and worry that you’re carrying because He’s fully capable of taking care of you (see 1 Peter 5:7).

Captured by Grace: Amazing Grace

By DR. David Jeremiah – Posted April 29, 2017

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
1 Timothy 1:15

The story of the slave-ship captain John Newton is well known, and the words of his famous hymn come as no surprise: “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.” John Newton’s salvation surprised many people but none as much as John Newton himself. He might have claimed the title “chief of sinners” for himself if the apostle Paul had not claimed it first.

Recommended Reading: Acts 22:1-5

No greater testament to the grace of God exists than when a life like John Newton’s or the apostle Paul’s is interrupted and dramatically changed. As famous as Paul became for building up Christians, he was equally famous for tearing them down before meeting Christ. He became known to theologians as the “apostle of grace” because he never seemed to get over the fact that he, the “chief of sinners,” had been saved by the Lord he had once persecuted.

But it is not just the worst sinners who are trophies of grace. Because all have sinned (Romans 3:23), every soul saved is saved by amazing grace.

Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin. 
Julia H. Johnston

SEE GOD’S GOODNESS IN THE MIDST OF EVIL

By Joseph Prince – Posted April 29, 2017

Matthew 2:13

…an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

God does not play a game of counterattack with the devil—the devil does something bad, then God steps in to bring something good out of it. The truth is, when something bad happens, it is the devil reacting to something good that God has started. The Lord once told me, “Tell My people that if they want to understand what I am doing, just look at what the devil is doing and see it in reverse. That is what I am doing, multiplied many times over.”

I see this truth in the Bible. When Christ was born, soldiers were sent to kill all baby boys under the age of two in Bethlehem. The folks in Bethlehem then would have seen only evil. But there were those like Mary who saw God’s goodness. They knew that God had sent a Savior into the world! The killing of the infants was just the devil’s reaction to the gift of salvation that God had sent.

The Lord showed me that this was how we were to look at the bird flu when it hit our region not too long ago. While I was pondering the significance of birds, the Lord showed me Matthew 6:26: “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

If God takes care of the birds, how much more will He take care of you! So, by attacking the birds with disease, the devil is, in essence, reacting to God’s provision for His people. In other words, he saw that God’s provision had already been released on His people in a big way!

With every new virus that the devil throws at us, you must discern that the devil is trying to pervert and reverse what God is already doing. Then, you will know that something good is going to come out of it. You see, every new strain of virus tells us that God has already released a new anointing of health for His people. And I believe that He releases new levels of increase for His people too. So don’t just see the evil. See the good that God is already doing!

Thought For The Day

Don’t just see the evil around you. See the good that God is already doing!

Raise the Standard

By Joel Osteen – Posted April 29, 2017

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:

REMIND PEOPLE to be submissive to [their] magistrates and authorities, to be obedient, to be prepared and willing to do any upright and honorable work.
Titus 3:1, AMPC

TODAY'S WORD:

How do you honor God? A lot of times people think, “Oh, I go to church to honor God. I read my Bible to honor God. I sing and clap in worship to honor God.” And yes, those are ways to honor God, but did you know that you also honor God when you get to work on time? You honor God when you are productive each day and respect the people who are in authority over you. You honor God when you excel in your career. 

Actions speak louder than words. When you give your very best in the workplace, your whole life is giving praise to God. Showing up with a good attitude, friendly, organized, being your best—people will notice there’s something different about you. They’ll want what you have. 

As believers, we should set the standard in all areas of life. People should see the depth of your character and your spirit of excellence and know that you are a child of the Most High God. Today, make the decision to honor Him in all that you do because you are His representative, His hands and feet in the Earth.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Father, I choose to honor You in all that I do. I choose to set the standard and do my very best. Thank You for the privilege of being Your representative. Help me to show Your love and excellence in everything I do in Jesus’ name. Amen.