Monthly Archives: April 2012

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water

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Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water

Hebrews 10:22

My dog Salty knows he isn’t supposed to get into the trash. But let the house be human free, and the dark side of Salty takes over. If there’s food in a trash can, the temptation is too great!

That’s what happened the other day. I got made, but I got over it. I cleaned up the mess and forgot about it.

Salty didn’t! He kept his distance. When I finally saw him, his tail was between his legs, his ears dropping. He thinks I’m mad at him. He doesn’t know I’ve already dealt with his mistake.

Somewhere, sometime, you got tangled in garbage…and you’ve been avoiding God. You wonder if you could ever feel close to God again. The message of his torn flesh on the cross is—you can

The door is open. Don’t trust your conscience. Trust the cross. You’re welcome in God’s presence!

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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Forgiveness: An Act Of Obedience

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Forgiveness lesson from flowers

Forgiveness: An Act Of Obedience

Forgiveness begins by recognizing evil in all of its horror. We can forgive without denying the reality of the evil and hurt we suffered at another’s hand. We can also forgive those who hurt us without condoning or excusing the offender’s hurtful act. Forgiveness doesn’t brush aside the hurt, nor dismiss it. We must choose to forgive anyone who wrongs us. Our forgiveness is not predicated on our understanding why the offender hurt us. We may never understand the cruel actions of people like Hitler, the Ku Klux Klan, or the Boko Haram, but we can still choose to forgive them.

Feelings have nothing to do with the willful choice we make to forgive others. Surely the Apostle Paul didn’t “feel” like forgiving when his offenders stoned him, tried to kill him and threw him into prison. Even in his pain, he could write: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32, NIV). And we can forgive our offenders no matter how horrible the crime against us.

Prayer:

Lord, we know that we have received Your forgiveness through Christ’s death, even when we could never deserve it. Help us to remember Jesus’ example so that we can be set free by forgiving others. We pray in Jesus Christ Name! Amen!

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’

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The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’

 

Psalm 14:1

Saying yes to your miracle might mean stepping out in faith and risking looking
foolish. What if you fail? What will people say about you? What will they think?
We put limits on ourselves and we remain stuck. We are afraid to take the step
of faith to say yes to the miracle because of what people will say.

When we at the ministry decided to file a Jeremiah 29:11 plan in the courts – a
plan for a miracle rather than a business plan as they were used to getting – we
risked looking foolish as a ministry.

What would people think if God did not give us a miracle? What would they think
of us? Would they think we were non-intellectuals? Stupid? Would we lose integrity?

What would they think of God? Were we risking His reputation as well as our own?

“God doesn’t need you or me to worry about His reputation. He can handle that on His own.”

Yet, that is exactly what I worried about when years ago I asked the children at
our academy pray for Mariah, a little girl with brain cancer. That’s exactly what
I worried about when she didn’t get well and it appeared she had lost the fight.
But God had the last word and it was good. Mariah was healed and the children had
the opportunity to participate in a miracle.

Say yes to your miracle. Step out in faith – even if it means risking our reputation
– even it means you might look foolish. Be a fool – for God!

PRAYER:

Lord, give me the courage and the faith I need to be all and only for You. Help
me with my unbelief. I would rather be a fool for You than be a fool without You.
Amen.

 

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you

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Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you

Luke 6:27-28

God is love.

Loving By Faith

An attorney came to me with that familiar problem: a business partner he could not tolerate. The two men actually hated each other, criticizing and demeaning one another at every opportunity. Rather than speaking of God‘s desires for that relationship, each man focused only on the unlovable traits of the other.

I reminded my friend, a new believer, that God’s Word commands us to love our enemies. I further suggested that he go to that other man, tell him he loved him, and ask his forgiveness for the way he had treated him. The attorney’s eyes grew wide. “I could never love him,” he said.

But in the end, he went in faith, confessed his lack of love for his partner, and asked for forgiveness. The partner was astounded. Nobody had ever come to him with such an attitude. He wanted to know how he could experience the kind of life my attorney friend had.

My friend led him to Christ, and they both came to share with me the miracle that God had performed in their lives. As a result, God created a deep and satisfying friendship between the two men. They began to experience God’s supernatural love individually and as a true partnership.

We are saved through faith, by God’s grace. We live by faith. We serve by faith. And we love by faith. You will be surprised and delighted to see what God will do in you when you choose to love people by an act of faith.

Your View of God Really Matters …

This very moment, think of that person who seems so difficult to love. Ask God to help you see that person as He sees him or her. Then step out in faith and take action, based on the right relationship you have claimed in the name and the truth of God.

What More Does God Say?

Matthew 5:43-45; Romans 12:14, 17-18, 20-21; 1 Peter 2:21-23; 1 Corinthians 4:12

Because God is love, He is unconditionally committed to my well-being

Culled from: www.DiscoverGod.com

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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We inherit troubles when we disregard God and His Word

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Resurrection of Christ

We inherit troubles when we disregard God and His Word

 

2 Chronicles 21:6

“And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for he had the daughter of Ahab as a wife; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.”
NKJV

Our lives are full of decisions. From small ones, like what we have for dinner, to large ones like who we marry. No matter their size, they all impact our life somehow. In 2 Chronicles 21, Jehoram begins his rule of Judah by killing off his family and leading the nation into sin. This was not a decision that happened in a moment but probably was a result of a close relationship with a family known for their evil deeds. In essence, his bad decision to marry into Ahab’s family led to even worse decisions later.

All of us have big decisions to make, but none are more important than what we decide about Jesus. If you do not have a relationship with Christ, then you have to decide whether you will trust in Him for your forgiveness. If you have already been born-again, then you must decide if you are going to obey His commands. These decisions will impact our lives for a long time to come, even into eternity. So how do we make sure we are making wise decisions? We can read God’s Word. When we read the Bible and apply what it says, we’ll find ourselves making godly decisions that will impact our life and the lives of those all around us.

Life Lesson: We miss out on blessings and on the flip side, we inherit troubles when we disregard God and His Word.

Dear Father,
Thank You for Your Word and the guidance it provides. Help me to make wise choices no matter the size. Keep me focused on You so that I can impact this world for Your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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A Love Burst

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A Love burst

“Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, stand up, take your mat, and go home.’ …The people were amazed and praised God, saying ‘We have never seen anything like this!’ Mark 2:12”

Love bursts! Spontaneous affection. Tender moments of radiant love. Ignited devotion. Explosions of tenderness.

Here’s what I mean. The women you’re standing with at the party start complaining about their spouse, but you look across the room at your husband and smile. Still as handsome as when you met—a bit paunchier, but you don’t see that. All you see is the man who stole your heart.

That’s a loveburst!

When friends of a paralyzed man heard Jesus was in town, they hurried to get their friend to Him. It was his only hope! But Jesus was surrounded—packed into a crowded house. No way they could get inside. Unless, of course, they lowered him through the roof! It was risky. But it was their only chance to see Jesus! The gospel says, “When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Young man, your sins are forgiven.’”

Jesus applauds—not with his hands—but with his heart!

And we witness a divine loveburst!

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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God Is Your God, Not Money

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God is Your God, Not Money


And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in
knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are
excellent; that ye may be sincere without offence till the day of Christ: Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by
Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God
Philippians 1:9-11

When God increases the fruits of your righteousness, after a while you
will be filled. You will be satiated and well satisfied. God is
interested in your being blessed and prosperous. He doesn’t have a
problem with your having wealth; He has a problem with wealth having
you.

As long as you live with the understanding that He is your God, not
money; that He is your source, not money, then God can say, “I’ll pour
all of my abundance on you! I’ll cause you to have too much; because I
know you can handle it. I know you understand that I’m blessing you
because I love you, and I’m blessing you to be a blessing.”

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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The Heartbeat of Jesus

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The Heartbeat of Jesus

Father, I want those you have given me to . . . see . . . the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

John 17:24, NIV

Before the foundation of the world was laid, God, in His divine sovereignty, planned to send His own Son to the cross to be our Saviour. Before the beginning of time and space and human history, He took counsel with Himself and decided to bring us into existence, knowing full well that we would rebel against Him and become separated from Him by our sin. So He made preparations for our redemption-preparations that were finished once and for all time at the cross.

The heartbeat of Jesus was to finish His Father’s plan and, in so doing, bring glory to God. In other words, through His own death on the cross, Jesus would reveal the love of God in such a way that people throughout the ages would praise Him and love Him and lay down their lives before Him. So He embraced the cross and all that it meant.

Blessings

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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Right now Jesus is asking for our help

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Resurrection of Christ

Right now Jesus is asking for our help

 

 

The Least of These

My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like you, O Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them”.
Psalms 35:10

Simon is a little boy who saw his parents die before he was five years old. For the past two years, he’s been on the street, begging for help, praying to a God he knows is there to help him.

Sudan has suffered tragedy upon tragedy. Millions of Sudanese are dead, and more than four million have been driven from their homes. They are being targeted for two reasons: They are black and they are not Muslims.

They are our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Through compassionate supporters over the last decade, Bridge of Hope has freed more than 29,000 men, women and children from slavery and provided food, medical aid and basic necessities.

It’s the very least we can do, for as Jesus said in Matthew 25, whatever we do to these our brethren, we do to Him.

If Jesus were to cry out for help to us, would we turn our backs on Him? Right now Jesus is asking for our help…in the form of a little Sudanese boy named Simon.

Dare we turn our backs on Him?

Further Reading

God Bless

Email: pastorrodparsley@breakthrough.net
phone: 800-637-2288
web: http://www.rodparsley.com

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

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By their fruits you shall know them

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By their fruits you shall know them

Matthew 7:20,

MATTHEW 7:12-20

The way that you can tell whether a person is genuine or not is by the fruit they produce. This fruit is speaking of lifestyle. Jesus made the point that you don’t get bad fruit from a good tree, and you don’t get good fruit from a bad tree. Many people say one thing, but their actions speak so loudly that you really can’t hear what they are saying. If you are in doubt about whether a person is genuine or not, or whether you should receive from them and follow their teaching, look at the fruit they are producing.

In evaluating ministers and ministries, more attention should be given to the fruit that is being produced. Failure to do this could lead someone to reject and even discredit a minister who simply makes a mistake or is wrong in one area. Every minister has shortcomings, just as every other member of the Body of Christ does. But that doesn’t mean his ministry is bad. Look at the fruit.

Fruit is the true test of ministers and ministries. If people are being saved, if lives are being changed, there is good fruit. Even though the minister may say something bad and make mistakes, the fruit is good.

Therefore, you can say that the tree is good. When a person says all of the right things and may seem sincere, but you see the lives of people around them shattered and torn, and in confusion and distress, then the fruit is bad. You can judge the effectiveness of a person by the fruit that they are producing in their life. In ministry you can judge the effectiveness of a minister by the fruit that his ministry is producing.

Today, make sure that the fruit that comes from your life is positive. Make sure that you are making a positive impact on people’s lives, that you are turning people to the Lord and not leaving them hurt and confused. People are looking at you to see what type of fruit you are bearing.

 

May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

 

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