The Gracious Hand of God

By Joel Osteen – Posted May 6, 2017

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:

For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them. 
Psalm 44:3, NKJV

TODAY'S WORD:

Have you ever thought about the fact that the victories you saw in your past weren’t just your own doing? When you made it through a difficult time, when you received an unexpected break, when things turned around for no reason, it was because God favored you. You wouldn’t be where you are if the gracious hand of God was not on your life! 

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have as much education as someone else. It doesn’t matter how influential your family is. It doesn’t matter what your background is. God’s favor can take you where you could not go on your own. When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He places something undeniable on the inside of you. Something that cannot be measured, can’t be put on paper, and can’t be explained—it is His Holy Spirit and His favor shining down on you! Other people may not be able to figure it out. All they know is that you’ve got something—that’s the gracious hand of God. 

Today let this truth sink down deeply into your heart. Don’t be discouraged by what you can see, be encouraged by what you can’t see! Put your shoulders back and go out with faith and confidence knowing that His gracious hand is upon you!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Father God, thank You for Your gracious hand that is upon my life. I give You glory today for all You have done in my past, all that You are doing today, and all that You will do in my future. I love You and trust You in all things knowing that Your favor surrounds me like a shield in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 THE MIND OF CHRIST DOESN’T GROW OLD

By Joseph Prince – May 6, 2017

1 Corinthians 2:16

…we have the mind of Christ.

“Oh dear, my memory is not as good as it used to be. I must be getting old.” Have you heard that before? Maybe you have even said it yourself a couple of times! But who says that as you grow older, you are supposed to forget things?

When the late Reverend Kenneth E Hagin was in his eighties, he was still healthy and strong. This amazing man of God would run around the platform as he preached. And those who have heard him preach would tell you that he had an amazing memory with which he could recall specific details such as the day of the week that a specific date fell on and even the time. Even at that age, the man’s memory was superb!

He once shared how he had started to forget things when he was in his fifties. He had read a medical journal which said that every day millions of cells in our brains die. He didn’t realize it, but those words got into his spirit and he started to forget things.

So he asked the Lord, “What is happening to me?” And the Lord said, “You read that article and you believed it.” He repented and asked the Lord what he should do. The Lord said, “Confess My Word. My Word says that you have the mind of Christ, and the mind of Christ never forgets.” He started to confess that he had the mind of Christ and that was how his memory remained sharp for the rest of his life.

My friend, the Word of God says that you have the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ is not old, slow or forgetful! I don’t care how old you get. You don’t have to become forgetful. Don’t believe and confess what medical science or your friends say. Believe and confess the Word of God which brings life.

The power of life and death is in your tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) So use your tongue for life. Don’t sit around saying, “I am getting old and forgetful.” Say, “I have the mind of Christ. My mind is sharp and quick because it is the mind of Christ!” Believe it, confess it, and see your thinking and memory live up to it!

Thought For The Day

You have the mind of Christ which is not old, slow or forgetful!

 Pray at All Times

By Joyce Meyer - Posted May 06, 2017

Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty.… 
—Ephesians 6:18

In the verse for today, Paul is basically saying that we are to pray in every circumstance, following the Holy Spirit's direction, using different types of prayer in different situations. But how do we "pray at all times," as the Bible instructs? We do it by keeping an attitude of thanksgiving and total dependence upon God as we go about our everyday lives, turning our thoughts toward Him in the midst of doing all the things we have to do and listening for His voice in every situation. 

I believe God really wants us to live a lifestyle of prayer and that He wants to help us stop thinking about prayer as an event and begin to see it as a way of life, as an internal activity that undergirds everything else we do. He wants us to talk to Him and listen to Him continually—to pray our way through every day with our hearts connected to His and our ears attuned to His voice.

We often hear about a prayer need or think about a situation and say to ourselves, I need to pray about that later when I pray. That thought is a stall tactic of the enemy. Why not pray right that minute? We do not pray right away because of the wrong mind-sets we have about prayer. It would be easy if we just followed our hearts, but Satan wants to complicate prayer. He wants us to procrastinate in the hope that we will forget the matter entirely. 

Praying as we sense the desire or need to pray is simple, and it is the way we can pray continually and stay connected to God in every situation throughout the day.

 Nameless Mothers in the Bible: The Mother of Peter’s Wife

By DR. David Jeremiah – Posted May 6, 2017

Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.
Matthew 8:14-15

We can only imagine the backstory. Here was an old mother, sick, living with her daughter and son-in-law, and perhaps wondering if she was on her deathbed. Perhaps she marveled at the change that had come over her family since Jesus of Nazareth had come to Capernaum. Perhaps she lay there, ill, but deeply satisfied, having lived long enough to see the Redeemer. Perhaps she thanked God as she watched her burley son-in-law listening intently to his new Friend. Perhaps she felt her work was done.

Recommended Reading: Matthew 8:14-17

 It wasn’t. As she pondered those things in her feverish state, the Savior Himself stepped into her room. He stooped over and touched her hand, and suddenly her fever left, her strength returned, and she arose—to serve.

We don’t know this woman’s name, but we know her middle name was “servant.” She was the mother of an apostolic wife, and her silent legacy contributed to the spread of the Good News. She leaves us a lesson: Few mothers see their names on marquees, but no one influences the world more than a woman who arises and serves.

God is not greater if you reverence Him, but you are greater if you serve Him.
Augustine