Be a Lifetime Learner

By Joyce Meyer - Posted May 19, 2017

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…
—Ecclesiastes 9:10

Over the years we have released several great people from the ministry because they did not continue with their training, even when we offered it to them, so they could go into the future with us. It has always amazed me how some people will be aggressive and obtain whatever training they need to be all they can be in life, while others do nothing but complain because nobody is dropping opportunities in their lap. 

We don’t deserve a promotion and pay raise just because we sit in a company chair for another year. We must be willing to be more valuable to our employer, and the only way we can do that is by taking more responsibility or doing the job we do better than we have done it in the past.

Be a lifetime learner. Read, listen, and learn. Go to school or take special classes to keep up with advancing technology in your field. If you make an investment, you will reap a reward. The more you know about what you are doing, the more confidence you will have. The more confidence you have, the more confidence others will be able to place in you. If you get prepared now, you will be promoted later.

Lord, I don’t want to be left behind in my life because I was too lazy or inattentive to get the training I need to stay current and relevant. Help me to invest in the right things that will reap a reward. Amen.

 Your Deliverer

By DR. David Jeremiah – Posted May 19, 2017

But deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:13b

Recommended Reading: 2 Thessalonians 3:3

The defining act in the history of the Jews is the Exodus. God delivered the descendants of Jacob from the oppression of the Egyptian Pharaoh: “Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them” (Psalm 22:4). The word deliverance became a defining biblical idea for God’s saving acts of His people in both the Old and the New Testament.

Just as God delivered the Jews from Pharaoh’s kingdom, so God delivers those who trust in Jesus from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13-14). When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “But deliver us from the evil one,” He was likely speaking against the backdrop of God being the deliverer of His people. In the New Testament, that idea is affirmed by the apostles in terms of eternal security: Satan will do what he can to prevent us from reaching God’s eternal kingdom but God “will deliver [us] from every evil work and preserve [us] for His heavenly kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:18).

In Christ you are protected from every temporal and eternal desire of “the evil one” to harm you: “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer” (2 Samuel 22:2).

There is no devil in the first two chapters of the Bible and no devil in the last two chapters. Thank God for a Book that disposes of the devil! 
Vance Havner

MOVED BY THE SPIRIT, NOT HUMAN HONEY

By Joseph Prince – Posted May 19, 2017

Leviticus 2:11

No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the Lord made by fire.

Imagine yourself walking past the prodigal son sitting in the pigpen. (Luke 15:11–24) You look at him and see him salivating for the pigs’ food. Believing that it is good to show kindness, you give him money to buy food for himself.

That is human kindness which says, “I am a Christian. I should be kind, good and forgiving.” Such human sweetness or kindness may be likened to honey. Interestingly, while we elevate it, God tells His people not to bring Him a grain offering with honey in it.

The grain offering speaks of Jesus’ life on earth. Not mixing honey in the grain offering speaks of how the compassion and goodness we see in Jesus during His earthly ministry were all divine. There was no “honey” of human goodness that is tainted with human weakness.

In retrospect, the worst thing one could do for the prodigal son was to give him money when he was in the pigpen. Not only would he not have gone home, but what the Lord was doing in his heart would also have been spoiled. This is what happens when we go by the goodness of our human hearts instead of the goodness of God in our hearts, which is directed by His love, wisdom and perfect timing.

My friend, God does not want you to be moved by what you see but by His Spirit. There were many needy folks surrounding Jesus during His time on earth. But He did not heal every sick person around Him, feed every hungry stomach he passed or raise all who were dead. Isaiah 11:2–3 tells us that the Lord was not moved by what He saw or heard. He was moved only by the Spirit.

You too have the Spirit in you. (1 Corinthians 3:16) Be moved by Him. Follow the peace that He puts within your spirit to do or refrain from doing something. That peace is the peace of God. Acting on that peace will cause God to be exalted, and His divine goodness and kindness to really be a blessing to you and others!

Thought For The Day

Don’t be moved by the honey of human kindness but by God’s Spirit.

Stir Up Your Dreams

By Joel Osteen – Posted May 19, 2017

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:

"Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you…"
(2 Timothy 1:6, NKJV)

TODAY'S WORD:

Do you need some freshness in your life today? It’s probably time to stir up what God has placed on the inside of you. It’s time to stir up those gifts, stir up those dreams, stir up those talents inside. Start stretching yourself. This doesn’t just mean making New Year’s resolutions; this means tapping into the destiny God has placed in your heart. 

Scripture tells us that without vision, people perish. If you don’t have a dream, you’re not really living the way God intends; you’re merely existing. Maybe at one time you had a dream, but you went through some disappointments or setbacks. Things didn’t turn out the way you planned. But here’s a key: when one dream dies, dream another dream. Just because it didn’t work out the way you had it planned doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have another plan. You cannot allow one disappointment or even a series of disappointments to convince you that your dream is over. It’s time to dig your heels in and hold on to the promises in your heart. As you stir up those God-given dreams and desires, He’ll pour out His favor and blessings and fulfill every desire in your heart!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Father, I come humbly to You. I give You my past, my disappointments, my brokenness. I choose forgiveness and peace. Fill me with Your hope and expectation as You fulfill the dreams and desires that You have placed within me in Jesus’ name. Amen.