Abiding TV

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty (1 Timothy 2:1-2).



As a Christian, it’s important to pray always for your country and the leaders; be it your country of residence or earthly nationality. Some people don’t know this: many a time, there’s a strong spiritual conflict for the soul of nations. In the days of Daniel, an angel had to fight the Prince of Persia (Daniel 10:10-13). Such spiritual conflicts still happen today, over countries of the world. There’re forces fighting for the destruction and impoverishment of nations. But there’re also angels, sent by God for the protection and prosperity of those nations.

There’re very difficult days ahead, for many nations of the world. But the Lord wants His people prepared and ready. As we pray, angels sent by God are able to fulfil their assignments in the nations of the world. So, in your privacy, take time to pray for your country. Pray for the President or the Prime Minister and leaders of your country.

As we pray, we mount pressure in the realm of the spirit against the forces of darkness, and prevail against them. Consequently, God’s purpose for those nations is fulfilled. It’s been said that evil prevail when good men do nothing. So, keep praying for your country, that the Word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified (2 Thessalonians 3:1). Our prayers for the nations enable the Gospel to spread unhindered. And when the Word of God saturates your nation, evil can’t prevail.

Our opening verse says we should pray "For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." When the Bible talks about "peace" here, it means a state of rest, where everything is flourishing and in the right direction. This is the life God expects us to live; and our prayer brings it into reality. Glory to God!

Prayer

Dear Father, I pray for my country today, that wisdom and understanding is imparted to the leaders, to help them make the right decisions for the benefit of the people, and the spread of the Gospel, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

further study: Jeremiah 29:7; Ezekiel 33:6-7; Isaiah 62:1

: Joshua 5-6 Luke 8:22-39

: Romans 4:11-25 Psalm 102

For the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV)

In common vernacular, the word joy means “delight, happiness and pleasure.” However, from a biblical standpoint, joy is a powerful force that resides in your spirit once you’ve made Jesus the Lord of your life.



Just because you may walk around all day with a frown on your face doesn’t mean joy is not in your spirit. It just means you’ve suppressed it—you haven’t tapped into it. And if you haven’t tapped into joy, then you are not experiencing the strength of the Lord.

Appropriating the joy of the Lord is a matter of choice, and act of your will. You can get up in the morning and will to be happy, or you can will to be unhappy. Either way, the choice is yours. In order to walk in the joy of the Lord, you must choose to reach down into your spirit and tap in to the joy that resides there.

Of course, the devil will do everything he can to prevent you from connecting to the force of joy, but he can’t succeed unless you let him. He will attempt to deceive you into thinking there is no joy within you. And if he can get you to choose not to tap in to it, you will be a weak and easy target for the devil to overcome.

Regardless of the frustrations and challenges you may be facing at this moment, the joy of the Lord resides within you. Choose today to tap in to the force of joy, and then take a step of faith and choose to rejoice. When you do, you will experience renewed strength.

Confession: I will not be deceived into letting go of my joy. The joy of the Lord is my strength, and I choose to tap in to the force of joy today. Regardless of my circumstances or how I feel, I choose to rejoice in the Lord.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)

God put us on Earth to do a certain work that only we can do. Ephesians says that God made us to do good works and that he planned in advance what we would spend our lives doing. However, he didn’t plan for us to do that work alone. We need people to work with us.



You know the feeling you get when you do too much work on your own. You get exhausted and burned out. Why? Because you’re trying to do your work alone, while God never meant for it to be that way.

God tells us in Ecclesiastes 4:9 that “two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together” (NCV). When you work as a team, you get so much more done. Plus, having good teammates alongside you is a whole lot more fun and less tiring!

Picture this: Each of us is like a snowflake. On our own, we can’t make a big difference. However, when one fragile snowflake sticks with a lot of other snowflakes, they can stop traffic. Like snowflakes, we can make a big difference if we work together, each one of us doing only our small part.

Did you know that when we work together here on Earth, we’re actually practicing for eternity? In Heaven, we will all have to work, but each of us will have just a small piece of work, so we’ll never get overloaded or tired. Though no one will carry a heavy burden as each one of us does our small part, all the work will still get done.

As you walk through life, remember that you’re not supposed to do everything on your own. You need other people to walk alongside you, but you also need other people to work alongside you. As you share the burden of your work with fellow Christians, you’ll find that you actually accomplish more for the glory of God.

Talk It Over

Have you been trying to accomplish too much work on your own? What has been the effect?
How does/should the Church exemplify working together to accomplish more for the glory of God?
How can you get people to help you in the work God wants you to do? Who can you help?

Now these [Jews] were better disposed and more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they were entirely ready and accepted and welcomed the message [concerning the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God] with inclination of mind and eagerness, searching and examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
—Acts 17:11


One of my much-published writer friends taught a series of classes at a writers’ conference on beginning writing. He wanted to reach people who felt God had called them to write and show them how to get their articles and books published.

At the beginning, he asked the attendees how long they had been writing and if they had ever been published. Two women, who sat in the front row, said they had both been writing for almost twelve years, but had not yet published anything.

At the end of the first lecture, my friend overheard one of the women say to the other, “Oh, we know all of that. We don’t need to come back to this class.”

They may have already known the things he was teaching, but there was no evidence they had applied what they knew. He also commented that the most eager students in the classroom were those who had already begun to publish. They wanted to learn and improve. Only people who are humble enough to continue learning will ever succeed.

That incident makes me think of an event in the book of Acts. The apostles Paul and Silas preached in Thessalonica, and the people tried to kill them, so believers helped them flee. From there, they went to the city of Berea. Luke records that the people there were fair in their thinking. They received the message “with all readiness,” or, as I like to say, they had ready minds.

That means those were people who were open to God—they were willing to hear what God said, no matter whether it was good news or bad.

If I asked any group of Christians, “Are you ready-minded?” they would immediately say that they were. That’s what we assume being a Christian means—ready, open, willing to hear God, and to be obedient to what He says.

For many people, being ready-minded means that they are ready and open if the message is what they want to hear. If it’s not what they want to hear, they don’t try to kill the messengers like the Thessalonians, but they say, “Oh, we know all of that,” and stop listening.

What does it really mean to be ready-minded? It means being willing to turn away from every lie and deception that Satan offers. It means being willing to say, “I was wrong.” It means that instead of listening only for what we want to hear, we listen for what we need to hear.

To be ready-minded means we discern the source of the voice. We love to hear words that make us feel good and encourage us, but we don’t like words that make us aware of our shortcomings. In Satan’s battle for our minds, one of his tricks is to convince us that a message isn’t important or that we already know it. He may even say that the message is not correct, and by doing so, he prevents us from hearing what we really need in order to gain our own freedom.

For example, a pastor preached a sermon against gossip one day. He aimed his message at one woman—who delighted in telling people tales about others. What she didn’t know, she allowed her imagination to fill in. At the end of the service, she said to the pastor, “That was an excellent message. A lot of people in this church need to hear that.”

The pastor said she wasn’t being sarcastic or hypocritical. She simply didn’t get the message. She didn’t have that ready mind—the mind that was open to receive a message of grace and help from God. It never occurred to her that she needed the message. To have a ready mind is not always easy. In fact, the more seriously the Holy Spirit wants to deal with us, the more Satan tries to convince us that we already “know all that” or it’s not something we need to hear.

Lord Jesus, please give me a ready mind. Enable me to hear You clearly and easily. Enable me to say, “Yes, Lord,” no matter what Your Spirit has to say to me. I want to have a ready mind that pleases You in everything. I ask this in Your name. Amen.

Galatians 3:5
Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?...

Imagine that you are at a healing service. An alcoholic walks into the church reeking of alcohol. He sits behind the pianist, a nice elderly lady who has been serving in the church for 50 years. Both of them are suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. The healing power of God is present. In an instant, the alcoholic, who has never been in church before, gets healed. The pianist does not.



Most people, on hearing stories like this, would get upset and confused. They might ask, “Shouldn’t God heal this nice, old lady who has been serving Him faithfully all these years, and not that debauched drunkard?” You see, many people still believe that God heals only the deserving.

But that is not how God works. God looks at faith, not works. His power is made manifest in those who trust His goodness instead of their good behavior. So if we go back to the above example, God wants to heal both the alcoholic and the nice elderly pianist. All they need to do is to receive by grace, or unmerited favor, through faith.

You see, we cannot earn the blessings of God. We receive them by believing God’s love and grace toward us. If we receive the greatest blessing—salvation—by simply believing that Jesus did it all for us and not by working for it, what makes us think that the other lesser blessings can be obtained by our works?

So if my daughter Jessica falls sick, I don’t go to the Father and say, “Father, heal my daughter because I am Pastor Joseph Prince and I preach healing to the people.” No, I go to Him by the blood of Jesus and say, “Father, I thank You that 2,000 years ago, Jesus bore Jessica’s sickness in His body. On that basis alone and by Your grace, I pronounce her healed in Jesus’ name.”

When you simply believe that you receive your blessings based on Jesus’ finished work and by His grace alone, you will receive your blessings!

Thought For The Day
God’s power is made manifest in those who trust His goodness instead of their good behavior.

Everything you need flows from My Hand. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights. If you thirst, come to Me and drink to your heart's content. I shall satisfy your soul. Look not at the circumstances, but look to Me, Beloved. See the crystal clear Living Water flowing to you from the Throne of your God and the Lamb. Though your tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer you; I will not forsake you. Stand in My Waterfalls, and be renewed.



Deep is calling unto deep. Come in all the way, Beloved. Be not afraid. Let the River of God dissolve all those cares as it flows over you and through you. Stand in My waters and you shall live. There is Peace in My Waters. Peace that cannot be found in the world.

The Water is sweet and refreshing and alive with My lovingkindness and goodness. My breakers and waves of Glory are rolling over you, Beloved. Receive it by faith. I am pouring My Spirit out upon you. The anointing shall break every yoke.

Psalm 42:7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. 8The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life.

Isaiah 55:1 "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

John 7:37 It was the last and great day of the religious gathering. Jesus stood up and spoke with a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

John 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life

Revelation 21:6 Jesus said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life."

Revelation 22:1,17 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let the one who hears say, "Come!" Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Ezekiel 47
The River Coming from the House of God

Memorise: 
The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Luke 12:23

Read; Matthew 16:25-26, 
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?



Bible in one year: 
Ruth 1-4,
Proverbs 2:1-19

Messages:
What many believers have failed to realise is that only God knows all our needs and only God can meet all our needs. Sometimes we think we know what is good for us, but time and time again, I have discovered that you cannot have something better than what God has in store for you. We have been given dominion over material needs; therefore the rush for them is uncalled for.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all those things shall be added unto you”

Matthew 6:33
It is the instruction of our Lord and master of think beyond worldly treasures. They are never worth our focus; they are mere additions to the blessings of God in our lives. If you serve God faithfully, He will reward you in return. It is better to stick with Jesus and be a partaker of His blessing than to go after the ephemeral things of this world. It will surprise you to know the strange kinds of satanic covenants people go into to have a few years of access to some material possessions without minding the consequences. The easiest way to have all these things is not to run after them but after Jesus.
Anything we value more than Jesus is a worldly treasure. Such treasures could be popularity, wealth, power, houses, educational certificates, cloths, food, jewelleries etc. Those are things many people find difficult to part with. We want to keep money we will not spend.

We want to get to a position, not for the purpose of making life good for other people, but for our own selfish motives. It is important to realise that it is the Almighty God that can give you wealth without adding sorrow. God is the source of all good things, and if you want these things to last in your hands, you have to put Jesus over and above them all. Give yourself up in total surrender to the Almighty God and begin to store up treasures for yourself in heaven where thieves and robbers will not have access to them. There are cases of people who have stored up treasures for themselves in this world and death came suddenly. There are people who are so wealthy but are suffering from one sickness or the other and so they cannot enjoy their wealth. That will not be your portion in Jesus’ name. Trust God and take your attention off those treasures. Nothing in this world is good enough to replace God in your life.

Don’t bother how your needs will be met. We are of great importance to the Almighty God. He has made us His ambassadors on earth. He dwells in us and He carries out His mission through us, He is more committed to meeting our needs that we can ever imagine. Let nothing distract or divert your attention from God. Focus on Him to meet all the needs of your life. If you serve God faithfully, what to eat, what to wear, the car to drive, the house to live, will not even be a prayer point because He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.  

Prayer point
Father, please help me to treasure you above material possessions.

But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another.

1 John 1:7, The Amplified Bible



One area of our lives we believers have particularly neglected is the area of our relationships. We simply haven’t heeded the Word of God where they’re concerned. We’ve fussed with one another and criticized one another so much that we’ve hindered the forces that God has given us to make us successful in this world. That’s right! Strife causes trouble in the spirit realm.

It opens the door to the devil. It keeps our prayers from being answered. It even keeps our angels from moving on our behalf!

Peter wrote to husbands in 1 Peter 3:7 to live considerately with their wives, “with an intelligent recognition [of the marriage relation], honoring the woman as [physically] the weaker, but [realizing that you] are joint heirs of the grace (God's unmerited favor) of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered and cut off” (The Amplified Bible). Husbands and wives. Parents and children. Co-workers. Fellow church members. All of us need to wake up to the danger of strife and start walking in love.

Shed the light of God’s Word on your relationships. Dig in to and get a revelation of the fact that we are all part of each other. Recognize that, as Ephesians tells us, we are one Body and of one Spirit, and be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of that Spirit (Ephesians 4:3-4).

Let the power of God flow in all of your relationships. Learn to walk in the light!

Scripture Reading:
Romans 15:1-7

"But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself,so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."
Acts 20:24, NKJV

TODAY'S WORD:
I think it's interesting that the apostle Paul never prayed for every challenge to go away. He prayed that God would give him the strength to go through them with a good attitude. He sought emotional maturity.



Our level of emotional maturity can be seen by how much it takes to get us upset. You've heard the saying, "A small pot boils the quickest." That means if we don't keep our emotions in check, we'll always be stressed out and make mountains out of molehills. If we lose our cool because our child forgot his or her homework, or we're aggravated because somebody didn't do something we wanted them to do, then we're not passing the test. We've got to grow and mature to the point where we can say what the apostle Paul said, "None of these things move me." He said in effect, "It's no big deal. I'm not worried about it. I trust God. I have a destiny to fulfill."

Today, choose to see things from God's perspective. Keep your emotions in check. Don't be moved by your circumstances; instead, trust God because He is faithful. He's working behind the scenes, and He will fulfill His promises to you!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:
"Father, thank You for doing a work in my life. Thank You for molding me and shaping me into Your image. I ask for Your supernatural joy and strength to stand strong no matter what I face in Jesus' name. Amen."