God is Almighty
Luke 1:37: "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
Jeremiah 33:3: "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

We have power
Luke 10:18-20:
18 Jesus replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to walk all over snakes and scorpions. You will be able to destroy all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. 20 But do not be glad when the evil spirits obey you. Instead, be glad that your names are written in heaven."

Angels around us
Psalm 34:7: "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them."
Hebrews 1:14 All angels are spirits who serve. God sends them to serve those who will receive salvation.

God is for us
Romans 8:31-32:
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"
Isaiah 54:17:
“But no weapon that is used against you will succeed. People might bring charges against you. But you will prove that they are wrong. Those are the things I do for my servants. I make everything right for them,” announces the Lord.

God protects the upright
Proverbs 16:7 When the way you live pleases the Lord, he makes even your enemies live at peace with you.
Psalm 84:11: "For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."
Deuteronomy 28:7: Enemies will rise up against you. But the Lord will help you win the battle over them. They will come at you from one direction. But they'll run away from you in seven directions.

Praise and thanks be to Lord God Almighty for these wonderful promises. I claim them by faith with thanks giving in Jesus Most wonderful Name. Amen.

Peace and Joy

Romans 5:1~11
Peace and Joy

1 We have been made right with God (justified, declared righteous, in right standing) because of our faith. Now we have peace (of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy) with him because of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through faith in Jesus we have received God's grace (state of God’s favor). In that grace we stand. We are full of joy because we expect to share in God's glory.

3 And that's not all. We are full of joy even when we suffer. We know that our suffering gives us (produces) the strength (of patient and unswerving endurance) to go on. 4 The strength to go on produces (developes) character (of approved faith and tried integrity). Character produces hope (eternal salvation). 5 And hope will never let us down. God has poured his love into our hearts. He did it through the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.

6 At just the right time Christ died for ungodly people. He died for us when we had no power of our own. 7 It is unusual for anyone to die for a godly person. Maybe someone would be willing to die for a good person. 8 But here is how God has shown his love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 The blood of Christ has made us right (justified, brought into right relationship) with God. So we are even more sure that Jesus will save us from God's anger. 10 Once we were God's enemies. But we have been brought back (reconciled) to him because his Son has died for us. Now that God has brought us back, we are even more secure. We know that we will be saved (daily delivered from sin’s dominion) because Christ lives (resurrection life).

11 And that is not all. We are full of joy in God (His love and perfection)[ rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God] because of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of him, God has brought us back to himself.

Summary:

The word “Peace” in verse 1,

• We have peace because we have been thru faith in Jesus declared righteous and is in right standing with God. As a result, we have this peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy from now till erternal.

Paul mentioned 3 times in this chapter that we are "full of Joy".

• In verse 2 : In God’s grace (favor) thru faith in Jesus, we are full of joy because we expect to share in God’s glory.
• In verse 3 : we are full of joy even in our suffering. This is because thru suffering produces strenght of patient, and patient developes character of approved faith and tried integrity. And this approved character of faith and integrity produces hope of eternal salvation. This hope does not make us ashamed, because the love of God hath been poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit that hath been given to us.
• In verse 11: we are full of joy in God’s love and perfection. We rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God

Prayer:

Father I thank you for the Peace of reconciliation and the Joy in this wonderful new relationship with You thru Jesus our Messiah. Thank you for the Joy that produces strenghth for us to hold and to enjoy. Help us to receive your power to enjoy this peace and joy daily for your glory.
In Jesus Name I pray and give thanks.

Encouraging Words For The Downcast Soul

Lift Up Your Eyes!

by Alex Leong alexkleong@yahoo.com

Lift up your eyes, My beloved, lift up your eyes! You have been looking down for too long, pre-occupied with earthly things, remembering days of mourning and disappointment--even as you wait. Your soul has quietly pronounced these to be terrible days.

I see your soul is downcast and heaviness is upon you. You have been caught down, entangled by created things. You have struggled in your own strength. I invite you now to lift up your eyes to know where your help comes from. Let go of the things below. Let go. Desire Me. Now lift up your eyes! Lift up the very gates of your soul to Me! Sing a song, give your praise to your Creator. The King of Glory is coming; your deliverer is coming!

Fix your eyes are on Me, and you will mount up on eagle's wings. You will begin to receive fresh impartation of My Spirit, revelations from My Spirit, and I will begin to carry you with a wind of gladness in your soul. I will pour out a fresh anointing, and you will rise up with peace and joy. You will see beauty instead of ashes, you will gaze into My face and hear My voice once again. You will soar above the earthly things and realize the earth truly belongs to Me. Then you can truly co-labor with Me, and know My yoke is easy and light.

Amen n Amen! Glory to Jesus!
Lord, I praise your and give thanks for these encouragement words. I claim your blessings in full!
Jesus, thank you for reminding us thaat you desire to bless us and set us free from all bondages. Help us to accept your truth and acknowledge that you are our King and our Deliverer. Give us power to know how to let go of our wordly burden each day and fix our eyes upon Jesus.
Help us to love you as You have first love us! Put songs in our hearts to praise you. Give us strength to following you and wait upon you daily.
Lord, I long to gaze upon your loveliness each day. Hear my prayer and grant it Lord!
In Jesus Name I pray. Amen!

1 King 17:1-24

An Ordinary Woman was the Conduit
for Extraordinary Miracles!"
by Cindi Whitman

1 Kings 17:1-24

Elijah was a mighty man of God. He was a prophet that God used to speak forth a time of famine in the land. Elijah had been through a time of testing and had been living by faith at the brook Cherith. God had been providing for his needs through the ravens and the brook. It was a miraculous provision. The provision came to an end as the brook dried up. The source of provision that Elijah relied upon was no longer available. It was only then that God directed him to move. The direction to move didn’t come before the source dried up and wasn’t until after the source dried up. I wonder if Elijah would have listened to God about moving before the source of his provision dried up? Often it seems that we have to reach a place of desperation before we will really listen to the direction of the Lord.

Elijah responded and went to Zarephath to see the widow that God had told to provide for Elijah. The widow was at the gates of the city, which represented the place of decision making, the place of government, and the place where the religious leaders would gather. God had the plan of provision in place for Elijah but he had to respond in obedience. Maybe he didn’t really want to move. Maybe he liked the Brook of Cherith. He had to set aside his own wants to follow the instruction of the Lord to receive his provision. As Elijah went into Zarephath he saw a widow collecting sticks. He didn't have to search her out...she was right there! He asked her for a drink and then for a bit of bread as well. She told Elijah the truth of her desperate circumstance. She was preparing the last meal for herself and her son. She had no other source of food. She was desperate and had given up hope. She was preparing to die. So we have 2 desperate people - Elijah and the widow. Both of them needed to have their needs met, and their destinies were connected to one another. God’s provision would come as both responded in obedience.

Interestingly, Zarephath means “ambush of the mouth”. Often as our testing comes, the words that we speak indicate the condition of our hearts. The widow had no faith to believe for a miracle. She spoke only of what she knew to be true…she looked at her circumstances as she saw them. She didn’t realize that standing before her was a prophet of God. She didn’t realize that God had brought to her provision at the time she needed it most. She was preparing to die, she had given up all hope, she saw no other provision in sight and yet Elijah, the man of God, showed up…in the nick of time. She had to respond to Elijah’s request. She had to trust and respond in obedience even if it meant that her provision would dry up sooner than later. We know that as a result of her obedience the oil and the flour continued to multiply. What if she hadn’t obeyed? What if she hadn’t put others before herself? Her selfless act of obedience released a continuous flow of provision not only for her, and her son, but also for Elijah. Their destinies were related to one another's obedience! Her obedience affected the present and the future generation!

God used an ordinary widow as a conduit for a miracle.

A widow was a woman of no social standing, no significant importance, no financial resources and yet God chose to use her. She was willing to serve the prophet Elijah. She wasn’t a woman of great faith. She was barely scraping by and had given up hope; she was at the bottom of her own barrel, but she was willing to respond to the voice of the Lord. Her heart had remained tender towards the voice of God even in her desperate situation. God used her to bring the provision for Elijah. Then God used Elijah to bring the miracle of continuous provision to her. Each act of obedience opened the door to the continuous miracle supply of the Lord for one another!

Ordinary people responding to the voice of God are used to bring about extraordinary miracles!

Amen! Praise God for using ordinary people to bring about the extraordinary miracles.
May all God's children cry, "Abba Father! May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!"
In Jesus Name .