Read:
17 The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him three times as they were sitting there? If you can remember, Peter denied Jesus three times, and Jesus asked him, " Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was cut to the heart. There has to be a cutting for a healing and revelation to take place. I know in my own life that when God is dealing with me about a certain area, I feel that spiritual cutting before the healing. It's a healthy fear of God that brings such a pure and loving relationship with Him. We are not to fear God as believers concerning the wrath of God because that was taken care of on the cross. But we are to have a healthy fear of God. This generation has no fear of God today, and it's a shame for us as Christians. One thing I want us to see here in John chapter 21 is that Jesus didn't leave Peter there hurting. Peter had to have a revelation before ministry could begin as an apostle of Christ. I can remember having my devotional worship with the Lord and I felt the Holy Spirit say, "Put your guitar down for a moment!" I felt like the Lord asked me the same thing that He will ask every Christian believer at one point in their walk with the Lord, even after that initial true conversion of repentance. The Lord asked me, "Do you love me son? Do you love me more than my power?" I said yes Lord, I love you more than your sovereign power. Do you love me more than the things that I give you?" Yes Lord, I love you more than the things that you give. Do you love me more than your own family?" I hesitated for a moment, then I said, "Yes Lord, I love you more than my family. There was a cutting there that made me want God more than anything. More than the music, more than teaching, more than anything. But I need to let you in on a secret that will help you and I along our journey as true Christians. We need to always stay in check on this particular thing everyday. I know of many unbelievable ministers who lost their first love in the middle of ministry. It can happen, and that's why it is so important to have a healthy repentance everyday in our walk with Him. I'm not talking about the forgive forgive forgive me thing that brings forth condemnation instead of true heart repentance. I talking about sitting at Jesus feet in our daily devotion and learning His ways. He will show us His ways when our heart is truly towards Him. I really meant it that day, and it was a revelation to sit at Jesus' feet daily and to hear His heartbeat. Let me ask you today! Do you love Jesus more than the things that He has blessed you with?" Do you love Him more than ministry?" I know it is painful, but oh the healing and revelation that it brings to advance the Kingdom of God as believers, to make disciples, and to let God's righteousness ring across the whole earth. The last thing that I want us to understand is that we need to understand the importance of feeding the sheep as minister's. We are "all" called to advance God's kingdom, whether it is in our workplace, ministry, or wherever we are at, we are called to advance God's kingdom. We should all be making disciples. The pastor's and those called in the church as leaders are to equip all believers to go out and do the works of Christ. This is the revelation that every Pastor should have before He opens up that front door of His church. The revelation of how God builds, how He thinks, and the very rock of revelation of what the church should be doing to carry on the great commission.
Prayer:
Lord we come to you and ask that you would help us to hear your heartbeat in this generation. We ask that you touch us by your spirit, and that you would lead us in the way we should go. Let us hear you heart in you precious name. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
God With Us December 19th Weekly Devotional by Keith Edwards
Read
Isaiah 9:6
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Also Read:
Michah 5:1,2
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
In this time of celebrating Christmas, we will have gifts, quality time with family etc. Let's remember what Christmas is all about and thank God for being Immanuel God with us. When Christ was born, this was one of the greatest prophecies that was fulfilled. There are more than 300 prophecies pertaining to the Messiah, and every last one of these prophecies came to pass to the letter. We see in Zechariah of Jesus riding on a donkey, Isaiah 53 speaks of Christ' death, and we also see in Micah 5 that Jesus would be born in a little town called Behlehem. The prohecy say's that He would be ruler over Israel. It also say's that He would be wonderful Councelor, "Mighty God" Prince of peace. Not only is God above and beyond, but He is also within all believers who have repented and made Him Lord of our lives. Unto us a child was born and now He is seated at the right hand of God making intercession for us.
Prayer:
Lord, we thank you for coming down to earth and being born. We want to give you a gift today of our sacrifice, and we want you to know that we do love you and thank you for everything you have given us in this time of Christmas, amen.
by Keith Edwards
Isaiah 9:6
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Also Read:
Michah 5:1,2
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
In this time of celebrating Christmas, we will have gifts, quality time with family etc. Let's remember what Christmas is all about and thank God for being Immanuel God with us. When Christ was born, this was one of the greatest prophecies that was fulfilled. There are more than 300 prophecies pertaining to the Messiah, and every last one of these prophecies came to pass to the letter. We see in Zechariah of Jesus riding on a donkey, Isaiah 53 speaks of Christ' death, and we also see in Micah 5 that Jesus would be born in a little town called Behlehem. The prohecy say's that He would be ruler over Israel. It also say's that He would be wonderful Councelor, "Mighty God" Prince of peace. Not only is God above and beyond, but He is also within all believers who have repented and made Him Lord of our lives. Unto us a child was born and now He is seated at the right hand of God making intercession for us.
Prayer:
Lord, we thank you for coming down to earth and being born. We want to give you a gift today of our sacrifice, and we want you to know that we do love you and thank you for everything you have given us in this time of Christmas, amen.
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Thank God For His Grace December 12th Devotional by Keith Edwards worship leader/speaker
Read:
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
There was a story told one time about what the difference between the law and grace was. This story gave an example of an ole' hound dog that wanted to be a German Sheppard police dog. When the old man would come to do role check with all of the other German Sheppard's, the hound dog would sit there and act like a German Sheppard police dog, and bark like a Sheppard police dog. The old man finally got tired of him acting like a German Sheppard police dog and told him one day, "your not a German Sheppard police dog!" The ole' hound dog said, "sure I am!" I can talk, act, and walk like one. So one day the old man came with a quail behind his back. When he pulled that old quail out, that old' hound dog jerked and kicked and ran after that old quail. You see, the quail is like the law. That quail strengthened what was really inside of him. This is what the law of God does. It strengthens what is already in us before we are born again. The only way we can be changed on the inside is to repent of our sins and make Jesus Christ Lord of our life. We need a miracle, and if it were not for the grace of God that really changes us and make us new creatures, we would never really be changed on the inside. You can take an old donkey, pull his ears back, make him look like a beautiful race horse, but when you put that old donkey on the race line, he will kick and scream and act just like an old donkey. You can take a pig and call him Feefy. You can walk him, feed him dog food, and let him sit at the foot of your bed, but eventually that old pig will run right back to the mud where it was created to be at. Thank God for His grace that can change our old spirit and make us brand new in Him. The Greek word for creature in 2 Corinthians 5:17 is Ktisis and it means the act of founding, establishing. Our new spirit on the inside of us has no bad past. We still have memories in our head and emotions about our past, and that's why we need the blood of Jesus everyday to purge our "conscience" from dead works through a healthy repentance, but our spirit is brand new and unused. The Greek word for new in this scripture is Kainos and it means recently made, unused and unworn. I want to encourage you today if you don't know Christ in a true conversion to really repent and ask Him to change you on the inside. If you have accepted Christ Jesus don't try and walk this Christian walk alone. You can't change yourself before you come to Christ, and you can't grow in the Lord through the law after you have accepted Christ in your own righteousness. It's all by His grace. His grace will help you do things that you can't do. It will help you walk in the spirit, and it will guide and direct you in His ways.
prayer:
Lord we come to you today and ask that you help us to totally rely upon your grace to get us through each day. Help us to realize that there is nothing we can do in our own strength that helps us to walk in your spirit. We need you Lord and we love you today. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
There was a story told one time about what the difference between the law and grace was. This story gave an example of an ole' hound dog that wanted to be a German Sheppard police dog. When the old man would come to do role check with all of the other German Sheppard's, the hound dog would sit there and act like a German Sheppard police dog, and bark like a Sheppard police dog. The old man finally got tired of him acting like a German Sheppard police dog and told him one day, "your not a German Sheppard police dog!" The ole' hound dog said, "sure I am!" I can talk, act, and walk like one. So one day the old man came with a quail behind his back. When he pulled that old quail out, that old' hound dog jerked and kicked and ran after that old quail. You see, the quail is like the law. That quail strengthened what was really inside of him. This is what the law of God does. It strengthens what is already in us before we are born again. The only way we can be changed on the inside is to repent of our sins and make Jesus Christ Lord of our life. We need a miracle, and if it were not for the grace of God that really changes us and make us new creatures, we would never really be changed on the inside. You can take an old donkey, pull his ears back, make him look like a beautiful race horse, but when you put that old donkey on the race line, he will kick and scream and act just like an old donkey. You can take a pig and call him Feefy. You can walk him, feed him dog food, and let him sit at the foot of your bed, but eventually that old pig will run right back to the mud where it was created to be at. Thank God for His grace that can change our old spirit and make us brand new in Him. The Greek word for creature in 2 Corinthians 5:17 is Ktisis and it means the act of founding, establishing. Our new spirit on the inside of us has no bad past. We still have memories in our head and emotions about our past, and that's why we need the blood of Jesus everyday to purge our "conscience" from dead works through a healthy repentance, but our spirit is brand new and unused. The Greek word for new in this scripture is Kainos and it means recently made, unused and unworn. I want to encourage you today if you don't know Christ in a true conversion to really repent and ask Him to change you on the inside. If you have accepted Christ Jesus don't try and walk this Christian walk alone. You can't change yourself before you come to Christ, and you can't grow in the Lord through the law after you have accepted Christ in your own righteousness. It's all by His grace. His grace will help you do things that you can't do. It will help you walk in the spirit, and it will guide and direct you in His ways.
prayer:
Lord we come to you today and ask that you help us to totally rely upon your grace to get us through each day. Help us to realize that there is nothing we can do in our own strength that helps us to walk in your spirit. We need you Lord and we love you today. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, December 5, 2010
We Need A Rebible December 5th Devotional
Read:
James 1:21,22,26
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
In India, a native wrote to friend about a great revival in the area and he said, “We are having a great rebible here!” Revival means "new life" and it always starts with the bible totally saturating His bride through the bride repenting for the condition of the church.Throughout history we see Christendom with many distinctions that mark a particular denomination. We have the baptists' that center on conversion and evangelism, eastern Orthodox denomination that even centers on pentecostal gifts', the reformed church who centers on justification by faith, and pentecostal which is motivated by revelation and power of the baptism. You can get revelation from different types of denominations, but wouldn't it be nice if we could just be the new testament church. It would be nice to have a bit of each denomination and just be the church, going forth in our calling, advancing God's Kingdom, and moving forth in the power of the Holy Spirit, yet rooted in sound doctrine. If you look at each type of denomination, you will see what they emphasize is clearly taught in scripture. We see sacrament taught in scripture, conversion is definitely an essential to our protestant belief, the power of the Holy spirit is taught, and we see doctrine is taught as well. Sometimes though we see a particular denomination lift there head up in arrogance and say, "We are right, and you are wrong!" This will absolutely kill revival, because the world sees this hate among the protestants. Its amazing to see when something is wrong with our society, you will see some reformed group get together and make a declaration or some type of article dealing with a particular thing. There's nothing wrong with bringing forth sound doctrine and truth to a certain situation that needs to be dealt with, but I'm talking about the venom that is sometimes shot through the veins of the church. This can kill the fire of a productive church. Revival should be a lifestyle and not just a season. You can see some strengths and weaknesses in different denominations, but before a powerful pure revival can break lose, we have got to bind together and be the church. We sometimes get so caught up with fads and theological issues, that we lose sight with what we are really here for. Revival shouldn't be confined within the four walls of the church building, but should be out on the highways and byways. Our devotional life should be a revival. Our lifestyle should be changed day by day to reflect Christ more and more, and so we what we really need is a rebible. We need to let the word of God weed out and water the seed that is engrafted within us. We have a garden within us, and that garden has been unattended and the church has lost it's fire. The world has lost it's faith because the church has lost it's fire. I want us to concentrate on three things in this devotion that will bring forth a great revival in our world again. One, receive the engrafted word which will pull out the weeds and rocks of sin out of our soul for revival to spring up again. Two, we need to be a doer of the word of God and not just a hearer only, and this will bring forth a salt to this world as we become a living epistle right before their eyes. Three, we need to watch the words we speak out by the power of the Holy spirit and our daily devotion. Lets get the bible back in the church, and watch and see how a rebible will bring forth a revival.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will forgive us for attacking each other, and we pray that you help us bind together as one body. Help us to hold hands with one another with such a great seriousness of sacrament, yet rooted in good doctrine, and going forth in the power of the Holy Spirit. We desire Lord for many to be converted, and we want our life to be a revival, and we know Lord that this kind of life saturated with your precious word will bring forth revival all across the land, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
James 1:21,22,26
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
In India, a native wrote to friend about a great revival in the area and he said, “We are having a great rebible here!” Revival means "new life" and it always starts with the bible totally saturating His bride through the bride repenting for the condition of the church.Throughout history we see Christendom with many distinctions that mark a particular denomination. We have the baptists' that center on conversion and evangelism, eastern Orthodox denomination that even centers on pentecostal gifts', the reformed church who centers on justification by faith, and pentecostal which is motivated by revelation and power of the baptism. You can get revelation from different types of denominations, but wouldn't it be nice if we could just be the new testament church. It would be nice to have a bit of each denomination and just be the church, going forth in our calling, advancing God's Kingdom, and moving forth in the power of the Holy Spirit, yet rooted in sound doctrine. If you look at each type of denomination, you will see what they emphasize is clearly taught in scripture. We see sacrament taught in scripture, conversion is definitely an essential to our protestant belief, the power of the Holy spirit is taught, and we see doctrine is taught as well. Sometimes though we see a particular denomination lift there head up in arrogance and say, "We are right, and you are wrong!" This will absolutely kill revival, because the world sees this hate among the protestants. Its amazing to see when something is wrong with our society, you will see some reformed group get together and make a declaration or some type of article dealing with a particular thing. There's nothing wrong with bringing forth sound doctrine and truth to a certain situation that needs to be dealt with, but I'm talking about the venom that is sometimes shot through the veins of the church. This can kill the fire of a productive church. Revival should be a lifestyle and not just a season. You can see some strengths and weaknesses in different denominations, but before a powerful pure revival can break lose, we have got to bind together and be the church. We sometimes get so caught up with fads and theological issues, that we lose sight with what we are really here for. Revival shouldn't be confined within the four walls of the church building, but should be out on the highways and byways. Our devotional life should be a revival. Our lifestyle should be changed day by day to reflect Christ more and more, and so we what we really need is a rebible. We need to let the word of God weed out and water the seed that is engrafted within us. We have a garden within us, and that garden has been unattended and the church has lost it's fire. The world has lost it's faith because the church has lost it's fire. I want us to concentrate on three things in this devotion that will bring forth a great revival in our world again. One, receive the engrafted word which will pull out the weeds and rocks of sin out of our soul for revival to spring up again. Two, we need to be a doer of the word of God and not just a hearer only, and this will bring forth a salt to this world as we become a living epistle right before their eyes. Three, we need to watch the words we speak out by the power of the Holy spirit and our daily devotion. Lets get the bible back in the church, and watch and see how a rebible will bring forth a revival.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will forgive us for attacking each other, and we pray that you help us bind together as one body. Help us to hold hands with one another with such a great seriousness of sacrament, yet rooted in good doctrine, and going forth in the power of the Holy Spirit. We desire Lord for many to be converted, and we want our life to be a revival, and we know Lord that this kind of life saturated with your precious word will bring forth revival all across the land, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Let It Be The Inward Man November 21st Devotional
Read:
2 Corinthians 4:16
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day
A young china man wanted to change the world. When he was twenty, he said, "I'm going to change the world." When he was thirty, he said, "I'd like to change Asia." when he was forty he said, "We'll, I'd just like to change China." When he was fifty he said, "I'd like to change my province." When he was sixty, he said, Maybe I can just change my village." When he turned seventy, he said, "I need to change myself." How many of us have such a heart to do great things for the Lord? We really have a sincere heart, but our soul hasn't been strengthened enough to do the things we want to do. We may go for a while, but ultimately we will give up and faint. Our soul is our mind, will, and emotions. The bible Say's to renew our mind, and the word of God will touch our emotions and our will becomes disciplined to do those great things for the Lord. Some of us need a spiritual rebirth, but some of us need a character rebirth. When we build our house (soul) upon the rock (Christ) we will surely stand in the winds of trials and hard times, but when we build our house (soul) upon the sand (worldly principles) then we will surely fall. Our inner man has been born again, but our flesh has to be put under subjection, and our soul has to be built upon the rock of Christ. As our inner man grows our mind, will, and emotions grows as well, and will always glorify Christ Jesus. Spiritual growth is crucial for moving into the calling that God has got for us here on earth. As our devotional life and faithfulness in our home church increases, so shall the calling and gifts' begin to increase and unfold before us. I want to encourage you today to let God's word so fill your heart. It is always internal, then external.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you fill our hearts with your beautiful word. We long to trust you Lord and have patience. You will move us Lord at the right time, and you will take us where we need to go in our destiny here on earth. Touch us by your spirit. Amen
by Keith Edwards
2 Corinthians 4:16
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day
A young china man wanted to change the world. When he was twenty, he said, "I'm going to change the world." When he was thirty, he said, "I'd like to change Asia." when he was forty he said, "We'll, I'd just like to change China." When he was fifty he said, "I'd like to change my province." When he was sixty, he said, Maybe I can just change my village." When he turned seventy, he said, "I need to change myself." How many of us have such a heart to do great things for the Lord? We really have a sincere heart, but our soul hasn't been strengthened enough to do the things we want to do. We may go for a while, but ultimately we will give up and faint. Our soul is our mind, will, and emotions. The bible Say's to renew our mind, and the word of God will touch our emotions and our will becomes disciplined to do those great things for the Lord. Some of us need a spiritual rebirth, but some of us need a character rebirth. When we build our house (soul) upon the rock (Christ) we will surely stand in the winds of trials and hard times, but when we build our house (soul) upon the sand (worldly principles) then we will surely fall. Our inner man has been born again, but our flesh has to be put under subjection, and our soul has to be built upon the rock of Christ. As our inner man grows our mind, will, and emotions grows as well, and will always glorify Christ Jesus. Spiritual growth is crucial for moving into the calling that God has got for us here on earth. As our devotional life and faithfulness in our home church increases, so shall the calling and gifts' begin to increase and unfold before us. I want to encourage you today to let God's word so fill your heart. It is always internal, then external.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you fill our hearts with your beautiful word. We long to trust you Lord and have patience. You will move us Lord at the right time, and you will take us where we need to go in our destiny here on earth. Touch us by your spirit. Amen
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, November 14, 2010
God Will Always Supply A Ram November 14th Devotional
Read:
Genesis 22:13,14
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
Have you ever felt like God left you out to dry. You sometimes find yourself wondering, "How in the world did I get here, and where am I going?" God is in control of our life, and we need to let Him guide us and direct us in the way we should go. God will test us sometimes to see if we love Him more than the desires and dreams of our heart, and this is what He did with Abraham. Abraham loved His son so much, and to do this deed was absolutely crushing to him, and Abraham knew that God would have to provide for him or the seed not go forth like God had promised. God did provide for him a sacrifice in place of His son, and God was very pleased with him. His seed went forth. You may have a dream or goal that you need to put on the altar today. God will provide the desire that you have once we give our desires and concerns to Him. There's nothing wrong with having dreams and desires because God put those things in us. The problem is that we can take the dreams and desires that we have in our life and try and bring it to pass at the wrong timing. We find that an Ishmael has been born, and while God has to get us back on the right track we find that the Ishmael's in our life have to be dealt with. Let's go forth today with letting the Lord perfect the things that we have inside of us in His timing. If doors aren't opening right now it could be that God has to deal with some things in our life. God is concerned with the condition of our soul more than we are concerned with the dreams and desires that God does want in our life. There is always a ram in the bush, but we need to open our eyes and believe that He will provide.
Prayer:
Lord we come to you by faith and ask that you forgive us for not trusting in you. You are the Lord that provides, and you will provide us with the things that we need. The greatest thing we can offer up to you Lord is the faith that we have in your Son Jesus. Because of Jesus, we can stand when the winds blow, fulfill our destiny here on earth as we grow, and offer worship to you as we walk down life's road. We long to be more obedient Lord. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Genesis 22:13,14
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
Have you ever felt like God left you out to dry. You sometimes find yourself wondering, "How in the world did I get here, and where am I going?" God is in control of our life, and we need to let Him guide us and direct us in the way we should go. God will test us sometimes to see if we love Him more than the desires and dreams of our heart, and this is what He did with Abraham. Abraham loved His son so much, and to do this deed was absolutely crushing to him, and Abraham knew that God would have to provide for him or the seed not go forth like God had promised. God did provide for him a sacrifice in place of His son, and God was very pleased with him. His seed went forth. You may have a dream or goal that you need to put on the altar today. God will provide the desire that you have once we give our desires and concerns to Him. There's nothing wrong with having dreams and desires because God put those things in us. The problem is that we can take the dreams and desires that we have in our life and try and bring it to pass at the wrong timing. We find that an Ishmael has been born, and while God has to get us back on the right track we find that the Ishmael's in our life have to be dealt with. Let's go forth today with letting the Lord perfect the things that we have inside of us in His timing. If doors aren't opening right now it could be that God has to deal with some things in our life. God is concerned with the condition of our soul more than we are concerned with the dreams and desires that God does want in our life. There is always a ram in the bush, but we need to open our eyes and believe that He will provide.
Prayer:
Lord we come to you by faith and ask that you forgive us for not trusting in you. You are the Lord that provides, and you will provide us with the things that we need. The greatest thing we can offer up to you Lord is the faith that we have in your Son Jesus. Because of Jesus, we can stand when the winds blow, fulfill our destiny here on earth as we grow, and offer worship to you as we walk down life's road. We long to be more obedient Lord. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Daddy, You Still Love Me? November 7-14 Weekly Devotional
Read:
Romans 8:39
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There was a story about a Father and Son who went hunting together. They went to an old log cabin to spend the night, and the Father told his Son to stay in this cabin until morning and don't leave this cabin. Later on in the night the son got a little curious. He got his little shot gun, sneaked out the back door, and headed out to adventure his first hunting experience all alone. As he was walking through the woods he got caught in a bear trap. He screamed the words, "Daddy! help me! His Father ran as fast as he could, found his son, and pulled him out of the bear trap. The son looked up at his Father and said, "you still love me?" Of course I do son. You are my Son and that will never change. How many times do we mess up in our Christian walk and feel like God isn't there to forgive us. Can I get a witness? You didn't say enough prayers a particular day. You didn't obey a list about a mile long. You didn't obey the Lord in a particular area and now you feel abandoned and exiled from God forever. We'll I have and still do at times, and I have to call out to God in bear traps that I get myself into and call upon His blood in time of need. We all make mistakes and it it a growing process of His pruning to make us more like Him. But if you have missed it in some area you are not abandoned from God's love today. His love is unconditional, and His love is beyond any love that this world has to offer. We will become less likely to disobey God as we submit and grow in Him daily, but I promise you that if you step out to grow in the Lord your are going to stumble. I've got alot of behind prints in the sand where God had to drag me at times but it was for my own good and I can see it now where it was God all along protecting me. My bottom is sore to this day from God spanking me at times as a Father. You know the old saying, "Put it on the south side of a north bound mule!" You may be feeling down today because you didn't do everything right yesterday. I want to encourage you to let Daddy God wrap His loving arms around you and enter His presence today so that you won't have to go around that same mountain with Him time and time again in a certain area. We have to sell all out to God, and make Him Lord in every area through obedience. His love is like no other love, and when we get ourselves in life's bear traps, we can call out to Him and He will be there for us.
Prayer:
Lord we come to you and ask that you will forgive us for any sin that we may have gotten ourselves trapped in. We call out to you for your rescue and ask that you would wrap those big arms around our heart and guide us by your Spirit. Help us by your grace to receive your pruning, and help us by your mercy to call out to you in time of need. Amen.
Romans 8:39
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There was a story about a Father and Son who went hunting together. They went to an old log cabin to spend the night, and the Father told his Son to stay in this cabin until morning and don't leave this cabin. Later on in the night the son got a little curious. He got his little shot gun, sneaked out the back door, and headed out to adventure his first hunting experience all alone. As he was walking through the woods he got caught in a bear trap. He screamed the words, "Daddy! help me! His Father ran as fast as he could, found his son, and pulled him out of the bear trap. The son looked up at his Father and said, "you still love me?" Of course I do son. You are my Son and that will never change. How many times do we mess up in our Christian walk and feel like God isn't there to forgive us. Can I get a witness? You didn't say enough prayers a particular day. You didn't obey a list about a mile long. You didn't obey the Lord in a particular area and now you feel abandoned and exiled from God forever. We'll I have and still do at times, and I have to call out to God in bear traps that I get myself into and call upon His blood in time of need. We all make mistakes and it it a growing process of His pruning to make us more like Him. But if you have missed it in some area you are not abandoned from God's love today. His love is unconditional, and His love is beyond any love that this world has to offer. We will become less likely to disobey God as we submit and grow in Him daily, but I promise you that if you step out to grow in the Lord your are going to stumble. I've got alot of behind prints in the sand where God had to drag me at times but it was for my own good and I can see it now where it was God all along protecting me. My bottom is sore to this day from God spanking me at times as a Father. You know the old saying, "Put it on the south side of a north bound mule!" You may be feeling down today because you didn't do everything right yesterday. I want to encourage you to let Daddy God wrap His loving arms around you and enter His presence today so that you won't have to go around that same mountain with Him time and time again in a certain area. We have to sell all out to God, and make Him Lord in every area through obedience. His love is like no other love, and when we get ourselves in life's bear traps, we can call out to Him and He will be there for us.
Prayer:
Lord we come to you and ask that you will forgive us for any sin that we may have gotten ourselves trapped in. We call out to you for your rescue and ask that you would wrap those big arms around our heart and guide us by your Spirit. Help us by your grace to receive your pruning, and help us by your mercy to call out to you in time of need. Amen.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
The Blood covenant October 31st Devotional by Drew Kaylor and Keith Edwards
Read:
Luke 22:20
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
The seven redemptive names of Jehovah reveal the fullness of the gospel blessing. All that the New Testament provides for the believer is found in these seven covenant names, and that blessing that is represented by each name has all been provided by the shedding of Jesus' blood. This is the revelation of the Blood Covenant. The Lord is Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is present, Jehovah Raah, the Lord our Shepherd, Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our victory, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace, Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our righteousness, Jehovah Tireh, the Lord our provider, and the Lord Rophe, the Lord our healer. Let us appropriate these blessings by faith, and they shall become ours in power. The seven redemptive names of Jehovah give us a special revelation of Almighty God, and they reveal the covenant. They describe for us the redemptive nature of God, and when we meditate on these facts, they will be our strength in time of need. The bible is Gods' revelation of Himself to the believer.
Comment by Keith Edwards:
Today I want us to focus on Gods' name in a deep and powerful way. The bible says that the name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous run into it and they are saved. The Hebrew word for name is Shem, and it means the nature and character of God. The Hebrew word for tower is Megdawl, and it means to elevate one to a high place. We are elevated to a high place in God's name, and His name is food for our soul, and it gives us that desire to walk in His Spirit.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will elevate us to a high place in your name today. We desire Lord to get a deep revelation of who you are in us by that blood covenant, Amen.
by Drew Kaylor and Keith Edwards
Luke 22:20
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
The seven redemptive names of Jehovah reveal the fullness of the gospel blessing. All that the New Testament provides for the believer is found in these seven covenant names, and that blessing that is represented by each name has all been provided by the shedding of Jesus' blood. This is the revelation of the Blood Covenant. The Lord is Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is present, Jehovah Raah, the Lord our Shepherd, Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our victory, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace, Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our righteousness, Jehovah Tireh, the Lord our provider, and the Lord Rophe, the Lord our healer. Let us appropriate these blessings by faith, and they shall become ours in power. The seven redemptive names of Jehovah give us a special revelation of Almighty God, and they reveal the covenant. They describe for us the redemptive nature of God, and when we meditate on these facts, they will be our strength in time of need. The bible is Gods' revelation of Himself to the believer.
Comment by Keith Edwards:
Today I want us to focus on Gods' name in a deep and powerful way. The bible says that the name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous run into it and they are saved. The Hebrew word for name is Shem, and it means the nature and character of God. The Hebrew word for tower is Megdawl, and it means to elevate one to a high place. We are elevated to a high place in God's name, and His name is food for our soul, and it gives us that desire to walk in His Spirit.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will elevate us to a high place in your name today. We desire Lord to get a deep revelation of who you are in us by that blood covenant, Amen.
by Drew Kaylor and Keith Edwards
Sunday, October 24, 2010
He Will Meet Our Needs October 24th Weekly Devotional
Read:
Philippians 4:19
19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus
Are you in need today? If we keep our eyes focused on God then He will take care of us, and He will meet our need. As we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness God will meet our needs not our wants, yet so many snap there finger and expect it right now and no later. I can remember many times having to be patient even when I prayed earnestly, and the answer did come. There have been times where I had forgotten a particular prayer that I had prayed, and that prayer was answered eventually. God works that way at times. But then there are times when God will intervene in a certain situation at that very moment we pray. I remember when I was in full time ministry, and many would come in from other ministries. There were pastors, evangelists, and ministries that would come in to this particular ministry to partner with us. That morning I was in need for new tires on my car, and I prayed for exactly three-hundred dollars for some tires. That morning an evangelist came in and came up to me. After the worship he told me that he felt like the Lord told him to give me a bible. It was a very expensive bible. He told me that he just bought it for a hundred dollars, and for some reason he really felt like the Lord wanted him to bless me with it. He also wanted me to come by his house later that night and fellowship with him and his family. Little did I know what a blessing it was going to be. When I got there he told me to pull my car in the shop next to his house. He put my car on the rack and said that He felt like the Lord wanted him to bless me with two hundred dollars worth of tires. I couldn't believe it. coincidence? No, I believe it was God. They owned the tire shop, and this all come out to about three hundred dollars. Friend, God is concerned with us. He wants to meet our need but not our greed. Sometimes God wants us to ask him for a need so that it can build our faith, but our asking will never be out of line with our union in Christ. He will automatically take care of us as we are seeking him, but sometimes it is a faith builder. I still have that ole' bible, and I read it and have been blessed by it. Let's realize today that God is concerned with us, and He will supply all of our needs.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you meet our needs that we have today. We pray that you will first bless us with knowing you more, and that you will meet any needs we have, whether it is financial, physical, or emotional. Move us into a new season with you Lord, and grow us up in the ways we should go with you, Amen.
Philippians 4:19
19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus
Are you in need today? If we keep our eyes focused on God then He will take care of us, and He will meet our need. As we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness God will meet our needs not our wants, yet so many snap there finger and expect it right now and no later. I can remember many times having to be patient even when I prayed earnestly, and the answer did come. There have been times where I had forgotten a particular prayer that I had prayed, and that prayer was answered eventually. God works that way at times. But then there are times when God will intervene in a certain situation at that very moment we pray. I remember when I was in full time ministry, and many would come in from other ministries. There were pastors, evangelists, and ministries that would come in to this particular ministry to partner with us. That morning I was in need for new tires on my car, and I prayed for exactly three-hundred dollars for some tires. That morning an evangelist came in and came up to me. After the worship he told me that he felt like the Lord told him to give me a bible. It was a very expensive bible. He told me that he just bought it for a hundred dollars, and for some reason he really felt like the Lord wanted him to bless me with it. He also wanted me to come by his house later that night and fellowship with him and his family. Little did I know what a blessing it was going to be. When I got there he told me to pull my car in the shop next to his house. He put my car on the rack and said that He felt like the Lord wanted him to bless me with two hundred dollars worth of tires. I couldn't believe it. coincidence? No, I believe it was God. They owned the tire shop, and this all come out to about three hundred dollars. Friend, God is concerned with us. He wants to meet our need but not our greed. Sometimes God wants us to ask him for a need so that it can build our faith, but our asking will never be out of line with our union in Christ. He will automatically take care of us as we are seeking him, but sometimes it is a faith builder. I still have that ole' bible, and I read it and have been blessed by it. Let's realize today that God is concerned with us, and He will supply all of our needs.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you meet our needs that we have today. We pray that you will first bless us with knowing you more, and that you will meet any needs we have, whether it is financial, physical, or emotional. Move us into a new season with you Lord, and grow us up in the ways we should go with you, Amen.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Too Much For God by Joel Hawkins and Keith Edwards October 17th Devotional
Read:
Judges 7:2
"And the Lord said unto Gideon 'The people that are with thee are TOO MANY for Me to give the Midianites into their hands..."
What a predicament...to have too much for God to work! Most would blame not having enough for their not working; but God here blames having TOO MUCH for His not working! And that is exactly where Gideon found himself. From living in a cave to leading as a captain, Gideon had done everything right in preparation for this national deliverance God was about to work through him.
1) He had become officially right with God - 6:17-23
2) He had, in his new rightstanding, brought down his family's idol - 6:25-32
3) He had received and responded to the Holy Ghost (in an Old testament way) - 6:34
4) He had affirmed through two divine signs that this calling was truly of God - 6:36-40
But there was another event that took place between #3 and #4 that was not of Gideon's doing: people from all over Israel began to rally to his side. As Gideon had responded to the Holy Ghost by blowing a trumpet, the people responded to the trumpet and began to naturally amass an army. Now what could be wrong with that? Not a thing...except that what began by the Spirit was now being finished in the flesh!
In our zeal for the Lord, our imagination (of course under the more spiritually sounding tag of an "open vision" or the "discerning of spirits") often takes over from the Holy Ghost that which He has started; and we usually end up adding way more to the "mix" than God originally intended. We mean well! We really only wanted to help! Like Namaan, we just thought it ought to happen this way or that (II Kings 5:11).
Nevertheless, God said to Gideon "You've got too much for Me to work"!
I wonder if He might be saying that to the American Church?! I wonder if through the years of abundant "revelation", proseprity and freedom, we believers in this country have accumulated way too many "accessories" for the worship and work of the Lord?!
If we have, then before the "revival" move, we can like Gideon expect a "downsizing" move, where God whittles away at the excess add-ons of our ministries and lives until we are left with only that which He originally called us and graced us to walk with and in!
Let this word from the life of Gideon be like a spotlight on our multiple "irons in the fire" for God; and let it be a great release from the stress of trying to maintain more than we were meant to carry out! And let it finally be a great big "governor" on our zealous engines; so that we never again outrun and overshoot God in His working out of His will in our lives and thus have to carry the burden of "TOO MUCH" in our own strength.
II Kings 10:16
"And he (Jehu) said 'Come with me, and see MY zeal for the Lord..."
Our zeal usually embellishes (sprucing up the truth with extras that are "not so true") God's instructions and words. Yet, only HIS zeal (Isaiah 9:7) can perform His own will!
He started this thing - let Him finish it!
Comment by Keith Edwards:
Today I want us to take heed to this devotional and let God do His perfect work in our life, ministry, and workplace. We have accumlated much here in America and the church, and God wants us to put Him first place in everything. Let's be like Gideon and open our hearts to the Holy Spirit. Lets ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any mixture that we may have, and lets Let Him burn it out of us.
Prayer:
Lord, we desire you and only you today. We ask that you will forgive us for adding to your mighty work by letting things creep up in the body of Christ that is fleshly. We want to be like Gideon and trust you Lord as we fight the good fight of faith as we blow the trumpet in Zion, Amen.
by Joel Hawkins and Keith Edwards
Judges 7:2
"And the Lord said unto Gideon 'The people that are with thee are TOO MANY for Me to give the Midianites into their hands..."
What a predicament...to have too much for God to work! Most would blame not having enough for their not working; but God here blames having TOO MUCH for His not working! And that is exactly where Gideon found himself. From living in a cave to leading as a captain, Gideon had done everything right in preparation for this national deliverance God was about to work through him.
1) He had become officially right with God - 6:17-23
2) He had, in his new rightstanding, brought down his family's idol - 6:25-32
3) He had received and responded to the Holy Ghost (in an Old testament way) - 6:34
4) He had affirmed through two divine signs that this calling was truly of God - 6:36-40
But there was another event that took place between #3 and #4 that was not of Gideon's doing: people from all over Israel began to rally to his side. As Gideon had responded to the Holy Ghost by blowing a trumpet, the people responded to the trumpet and began to naturally amass an army. Now what could be wrong with that? Not a thing...except that what began by the Spirit was now being finished in the flesh!
In our zeal for the Lord, our imagination (of course under the more spiritually sounding tag of an "open vision" or the "discerning of spirits") often takes over from the Holy Ghost that which He has started; and we usually end up adding way more to the "mix" than God originally intended. We mean well! We really only wanted to help! Like Namaan, we just thought it ought to happen this way or that (II Kings 5:11).
Nevertheless, God said to Gideon "You've got too much for Me to work"!
I wonder if He might be saying that to the American Church?! I wonder if through the years of abundant "revelation", proseprity and freedom, we believers in this country have accumulated way too many "accessories" for the worship and work of the Lord?!
If we have, then before the "revival" move, we can like Gideon expect a "downsizing" move, where God whittles away at the excess add-ons of our ministries and lives until we are left with only that which He originally called us and graced us to walk with and in!
Let this word from the life of Gideon be like a spotlight on our multiple "irons in the fire" for God; and let it be a great release from the stress of trying to maintain more than we were meant to carry out! And let it finally be a great big "governor" on our zealous engines; so that we never again outrun and overshoot God in His working out of His will in our lives and thus have to carry the burden of "TOO MUCH" in our own strength.
II Kings 10:16
"And he (Jehu) said 'Come with me, and see MY zeal for the Lord..."
Our zeal usually embellishes (sprucing up the truth with extras that are "not so true") God's instructions and words. Yet, only HIS zeal (Isaiah 9:7) can perform His own will!
He started this thing - let Him finish it!
Comment by Keith Edwards:
Today I want us to take heed to this devotional and let God do His perfect work in our life, ministry, and workplace. We have accumlated much here in America and the church, and God wants us to put Him first place in everything. Let's be like Gideon and open our hearts to the Holy Spirit. Lets ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any mixture that we may have, and lets Let Him burn it out of us.
Prayer:
Lord, we desire you and only you today. We ask that you will forgive us for adding to your mighty work by letting things creep up in the body of Christ that is fleshly. We want to be like Gideon and trust you Lord as we fight the good fight of faith as we blow the trumpet in Zion, Amen.
by Joel Hawkins and Keith Edwards
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Look by Joel Hawkins and Keith Edwards October 10th Devotional
Read:
Matthew 14:14 - "Jesus...saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick"
Luke 7:13,14 - "And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her...and he said...'Arise'"
John 4:35 - "Look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."
If I have heard it once, I have heard it a thousand times - "Where's the power of God today". Believers all over the country are flocking to seminars and conferences on how to retrieve the old-time power back in our churches and ministries. Dozens of formulas have been presented that explain the loss of power as a lack of faith, a lack of prayer or maybe a lack of praise and worship. Then, upon getting these areas back on track, healing and delivering power are guaranteed to come back into your hands when you touch the sick.
However, according to the above Scriptures, the reason for the absence of power is not just a lack of faith or a lack of prayer but a LACK OF CARE! It was compassion that proceeded the above mentioned miracles - enough compassion, in fact, to MOVE the Lord! THE POWER IN HIS HANDS STARTED WITH THE BREAKING OF HIS HEART! I'm not so sure if many would come to a seminar for power today if they knew that they would have to "hurt" before they could "help"!
Sometimes, we have to use several extension cords to connect a power source to a power need. In these two accounts in Matthew and Luke, there were TWO cords from the One who had the power to the one who had the need...and this second cord of heart-moving compassion for many today in our fast-paced culture has come unplugged! We don't really mind praying for the sick - we just don't want to get so involved!
And the first cord before compassion is simply "LOOK"! I think that cord has not only been unplugged but wrapped up and hidden somewhere! Oh how quickly we change the TV channel when the hungry-children commercials come on! We dare not tarry and LOOK at someone troubled in a hospital waiting room, lest we become moved and get involved! But Jesus LOOKED! He opened His eyes and His heart to the full intensity of the need in front of Him.
In John's Gospel, Jesus tells us to look at something else...the harvest. He was actually talking about the Samaritan woman and her neighbors that were about to experience salvation (in an Old Covenant way), and He was calling them a "harvest". He looked beyond their ethnicity and viewed them spiritually, as God sees them - the harvest! We are to stop overlooking people (ignoring them as though we didn't know they were there) and we are certainly to stop "under looking" people or looking at them as something less than they are.
Exodus 2:11 - "And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and LOOKED on their burdens..."
Yes, Moses was willing to look and willing to get involved...but only with his own view and his own feelings. His well-intentioned efforts ended up in murder and him running for his life. God then had to hide him away for 40 years in order to show him the bigger picture - how GOD saw things, how GOD felt about them and what GOD intended to do. God saw more than just one Hebrew being abused. He saw a nation that needed to answer their calling, as well as other nations (Egypt and the nations of Canaan) that needed to answer for their idolatry. Moses' passion was not deep enough or wide enough to cover these other parts of the whole. With God, it is always bigger than just the immediate need in the particular individual in front of us! As Moses took on God's will in his fresh "look" at the situation (Exodus 3), then and only then was Moses ready to have divine power!
So where's the power? Its all in the look!
Comment by Keith Edwards
I want to encourage you today to "look" at what is around you. Ministry is all around us, but so many times we turn the other way. This devotion from Joel Hawkins really compels me to pay attention to ministry that is around me. It may be baking a cake for someone who is sick, reaching out to the downcast, whatever it may be, there are hurting people all around us that need that compassion of Jesus stretched there way.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will forgive us for not looking at ministry in our day to day routine. We want to be used by you Lord, but we don't want to get our hands dirty at times. We don't' want to reach out the that homeless man that needs a touch, that mother that is trying to support her child, or that orphan that needs a hug. Help us to see ministry around us, Amen.
by Joel Hawkins and Keith Edwards
Matthew 14:14 - "Jesus...saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick"
Luke 7:13,14 - "And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her...and he said...'Arise'"
John 4:35 - "Look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."
If I have heard it once, I have heard it a thousand times - "Where's the power of God today". Believers all over the country are flocking to seminars and conferences on how to retrieve the old-time power back in our churches and ministries. Dozens of formulas have been presented that explain the loss of power as a lack of faith, a lack of prayer or maybe a lack of praise and worship. Then, upon getting these areas back on track, healing and delivering power are guaranteed to come back into your hands when you touch the sick.
However, according to the above Scriptures, the reason for the absence of power is not just a lack of faith or a lack of prayer but a LACK OF CARE! It was compassion that proceeded the above mentioned miracles - enough compassion, in fact, to MOVE the Lord! THE POWER IN HIS HANDS STARTED WITH THE BREAKING OF HIS HEART! I'm not so sure if many would come to a seminar for power today if they knew that they would have to "hurt" before they could "help"!
Sometimes, we have to use several extension cords to connect a power source to a power need. In these two accounts in Matthew and Luke, there were TWO cords from the One who had the power to the one who had the need...and this second cord of heart-moving compassion for many today in our fast-paced culture has come unplugged! We don't really mind praying for the sick - we just don't want to get so involved!
And the first cord before compassion is simply "LOOK"! I think that cord has not only been unplugged but wrapped up and hidden somewhere! Oh how quickly we change the TV channel when the hungry-children commercials come on! We dare not tarry and LOOK at someone troubled in a hospital waiting room, lest we become moved and get involved! But Jesus LOOKED! He opened His eyes and His heart to the full intensity of the need in front of Him.
In John's Gospel, Jesus tells us to look at something else...the harvest. He was actually talking about the Samaritan woman and her neighbors that were about to experience salvation (in an Old Covenant way), and He was calling them a "harvest". He looked beyond their ethnicity and viewed them spiritually, as God sees them - the harvest! We are to stop overlooking people (ignoring them as though we didn't know they were there) and we are certainly to stop "under looking" people or looking at them as something less than they are.
Exodus 2:11 - "And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and LOOKED on their burdens..."
Yes, Moses was willing to look and willing to get involved...but only with his own view and his own feelings. His well-intentioned efforts ended up in murder and him running for his life. God then had to hide him away for 40 years in order to show him the bigger picture - how GOD saw things, how GOD felt about them and what GOD intended to do. God saw more than just one Hebrew being abused. He saw a nation that needed to answer their calling, as well as other nations (Egypt and the nations of Canaan) that needed to answer for their idolatry. Moses' passion was not deep enough or wide enough to cover these other parts of the whole. With God, it is always bigger than just the immediate need in the particular individual in front of us! As Moses took on God's will in his fresh "look" at the situation (Exodus 3), then and only then was Moses ready to have divine power!
So where's the power? Its all in the look!
Comment by Keith Edwards
I want to encourage you today to "look" at what is around you. Ministry is all around us, but so many times we turn the other way. This devotion from Joel Hawkins really compels me to pay attention to ministry that is around me. It may be baking a cake for someone who is sick, reaching out to the downcast, whatever it may be, there are hurting people all around us that need that compassion of Jesus stretched there way.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will forgive us for not looking at ministry in our day to day routine. We want to be used by you Lord, but we don't want to get our hands dirty at times. We don't' want to reach out the that homeless man that needs a touch, that mother that is trying to support her child, or that orphan that needs a hug. Help us to see ministry around us, Amen.
by Joel Hawkins and Keith Edwards
Saturday, October 9, 2010
New Testament Paradigm October 9th Devotional
Read:
Philippians 2:5
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Also Read:
1 Corinthians 11:1
1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ
We are living in a generation that has lost the importance and revelation of how God builds and the model of the cross that we should follow. The church has taken in paradigms that are not godly but rather humanistic and gnostic. We have lost the paradigm of the cross of Jesus Christ, and how we should follow Christ as He laid down His life. Like the Gnostic's, we have a revelation of Christ living within us, but it is more of a concept and teaching rather than knowing Him and the power of His resurrection. Within us is often a collection of teachings and our dedication to them, rather than to our risen Lord Who lives in us. The New Testament paradigm of the Cross and the risen Lord should be the focus of our devotion everyday. I find myself loving the idea of God at times, rather than keeping that pure devotion with Him, and then I have to repent and return to that first love with Him. The teachings that many minister's hold to and "defend" can be totally orthodox, but they lose the paradigm of love that Jesus portrayed, the sacrifice that He gave, and the ministry that He poured out to many. It seems to me that many minister's try and add to the gospel, and the paradigm for us to follow is so clear, yet we make it difficult. We can't build a paradigm upon a paradigm, and we can't change the gospel to make it fit our own agenda and what we think is right. Many churches have lowered the standard of what there church is to follow, and they make it an easy gospel. A paradigm is an example and model to follow, and the very foundation that was laid for us by the apostles, prophets, and Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone is the very foundation that we need to follow today. I have minister friends over seas that are powerful minister's of God, and I see a vast difference between some minister's here in the United States and those from overseas. I think that the biggest reason for this is that they haven't been tainted by other paradigms, but understood right off the bat that ministry is just following what Christ Jesus did. I think that one of the major errors we have gotten into, including me, is defending the gospel with the wrong approach. Sometimes we get so caught up with what we think is right, and we lose sight to what needs to be done to transform our nation, change our community, and make disciples. It is very important to defend the gospel and to flow in our gifts and callings. I'm just saying that we need to get our priorities in order as the church and understand that the new testament model for the church is to minister to our community and have outward ministry. It is extending our hands outside the four walls of the building and winning souls, feeding the poor, and making disciples, but yet done with love. It is following the paradigm of the cross. We've done all but make disciples. We have our programs, agenda's, and other things, but our focus needs to be on the Kingdom of God. I want us today to have a fresh insight as to what God has for us, and to ask God today to place us where we need to be as we play our part in following the cross.
Prayer:
Lord, we repent for any other paradigms that we have allowed in our lives, if any. Show us Lord if there is any way in us besides your way, and give us a fresh revelation of the only paradigm and foundation that we need to follow today, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Philippians 2:5
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Also Read:
1 Corinthians 11:1
1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ
We are living in a generation that has lost the importance and revelation of how God builds and the model of the cross that we should follow. The church has taken in paradigms that are not godly but rather humanistic and gnostic. We have lost the paradigm of the cross of Jesus Christ, and how we should follow Christ as He laid down His life. Like the Gnostic's, we have a revelation of Christ living within us, but it is more of a concept and teaching rather than knowing Him and the power of His resurrection. Within us is often a collection of teachings and our dedication to them, rather than to our risen Lord Who lives in us. The New Testament paradigm of the Cross and the risen Lord should be the focus of our devotion everyday. I find myself loving the idea of God at times, rather than keeping that pure devotion with Him, and then I have to repent and return to that first love with Him. The teachings that many minister's hold to and "defend" can be totally orthodox, but they lose the paradigm of love that Jesus portrayed, the sacrifice that He gave, and the ministry that He poured out to many. It seems to me that many minister's try and add to the gospel, and the paradigm for us to follow is so clear, yet we make it difficult. We can't build a paradigm upon a paradigm, and we can't change the gospel to make it fit our own agenda and what we think is right. Many churches have lowered the standard of what there church is to follow, and they make it an easy gospel. A paradigm is an example and model to follow, and the very foundation that was laid for us by the apostles, prophets, and Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone is the very foundation that we need to follow today. I have minister friends over seas that are powerful minister's of God, and I see a vast difference between some minister's here in the United States and those from overseas. I think that the biggest reason for this is that they haven't been tainted by other paradigms, but understood right off the bat that ministry is just following what Christ Jesus did. I think that one of the major errors we have gotten into, including me, is defending the gospel with the wrong approach. Sometimes we get so caught up with what we think is right, and we lose sight to what needs to be done to transform our nation, change our community, and make disciples. It is very important to defend the gospel and to flow in our gifts and callings. I'm just saying that we need to get our priorities in order as the church and understand that the new testament model for the church is to minister to our community and have outward ministry. It is extending our hands outside the four walls of the building and winning souls, feeding the poor, and making disciples, but yet done with love. It is following the paradigm of the cross. We've done all but make disciples. We have our programs, agenda's, and other things, but our focus needs to be on the Kingdom of God. I want us today to have a fresh insight as to what God has for us, and to ask God today to place us where we need to be as we play our part in following the cross.
Prayer:
Lord, we repent for any other paradigms that we have allowed in our lives, if any. Show us Lord if there is any way in us besides your way, and give us a fresh revelation of the only paradigm and foundation that we need to follow today, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Friday, October 8, 2010
Example Of A Leader October 8th Devotional
Read:
15 But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
Setting an example as a leader is very important, especially for the world today. We need to set an example for those who watch and follow us. The definition for behavior here is anastrophe, and it means conduct or manner of life. We need to set an example by doing the right thing as a leader. I was a manager for about eight years in the grocery retail, and was training a young man that I lead to the Lord. I told him that I would clean up the meat cutting room so he could cut meat. After I got through he looked down at my shoes and said, "You don't mind getting wet do you?" I told him, son, a leader will do things that no one else wants to do. I'm doing this to set an example to you by not only making you a disciple in the spiritual things, but also training you in the work place so you can be ready, and advancing God's kingdom is at our workplace as well. It is so important to lay aside our pride and lead, but sometimes leading is humbling ourselves and doing things that is inconvenient to the worlds standards. We are not of this world and leading by the example of Christ will rub against the mainstream of the typical "get to the top" motivation. This young man has learned alot so far, and I am willing to invest in this young man. I want to encourage you today to lead by example. I need to do this more myself, and sometimes it is laying down our own pride and allowing others to do what we teach them. Show them and they will know, but allow them and they will do and be ready to teach others the same way we taught them. They will understand the importance of our conduct for others, and they will also understand the example that they need to set for the new converts that they will make. Lets see this scripture in a whole new light today, whether it is setting an example as a spiritual leader, or teaching them in the workplace through on the job training.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will make us better leaders by setting a better example to others by our conduct and behavior. Help us to shine your light to others around us, especially those that we are leading.
by Keith Edwards
15 But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
Setting an example as a leader is very important, especially for the world today. We need to set an example for those who watch and follow us. The definition for behavior here is anastrophe, and it means conduct or manner of life. We need to set an example by doing the right thing as a leader. I was a manager for about eight years in the grocery retail, and was training a young man that I lead to the Lord. I told him that I would clean up the meat cutting room so he could cut meat. After I got through he looked down at my shoes and said, "You don't mind getting wet do you?" I told him, son, a leader will do things that no one else wants to do. I'm doing this to set an example to you by not only making you a disciple in the spiritual things, but also training you in the work place so you can be ready, and advancing God's kingdom is at our workplace as well. It is so important to lay aside our pride and lead, but sometimes leading is humbling ourselves and doing things that is inconvenient to the worlds standards. We are not of this world and leading by the example of Christ will rub against the mainstream of the typical "get to the top" motivation. This young man has learned alot so far, and I am willing to invest in this young man. I want to encourage you today to lead by example. I need to do this more myself, and sometimes it is laying down our own pride and allowing others to do what we teach them. Show them and they will know, but allow them and they will do and be ready to teach others the same way we taught them. They will understand the importance of our conduct for others, and they will also understand the example that they need to set for the new converts that they will make. Lets see this scripture in a whole new light today, whether it is setting an example as a spiritual leader, or teaching them in the workplace through on the job training.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will make us better leaders by setting a better example to others by our conduct and behavior. Help us to shine your light to others around us, especially those that we are leading.
by Keith Edwards
Thursday, October 7, 2010
River Of Ahava October 7th Devotional
Read:
Ezra 8:21
21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.
Life can get so stressful at times. Things can change in an instant, and we need to know how to get strength from God in those rough times. We can learn a great deal about our daily walk with the Lord by looking at Ezra. Ezra is going to Jerusalem concerning the reconstruction of Jerusalem. Fifty-Thousand Jews come before Ezra to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem Eighty years before Ezra actually takes the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. When Ezra starts his journey to Jerusalem, he stops at the river of Ahava with the three-thousand he has with him. The hebrew definition for Ahava is "I Shall Subsist" and subsist means to gain nourishment needed to carry on. It was just as much a spiritual nourishment as it was concerning food and raiment. Ezra proclaims a fast, and he gathers leading men to lead with him. Ezra not only knew the importance of humbling himself before God to help them make it to Jerusalem, but he knew the importance of plotting leaders all around him to bind together as one as they carried on the journey. I want us to stop today and gain the nourishment needed to walk this Christian walk. Let's open our hearts today for His spirit to strengthen us and make us strong in Him. We need to stop at that place like the River of Ahava, and we need to draw strength from the Father. He is so willing and able to help us in trying times, and He can help us through restoration to build the little Jerusalem that we may have in our heart. We can also learn a great deal about Ezra here as we build the church of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the rock of revelation. Ezra plotted men around him. It is so important as pastor's to understand how God builds. If we don't have the revelation of how God builds, and how the church needs strong Godly leaders around them, then the church isn't being built upon that rock. There is a great deal of revelation from Ezra today that we need to understand, and we can gain that nourishment needed to carry on the great journey of spiritual growth with one another as the bride of Christ. Maybe you have a dream and you have given up on that dream. Maybe you are going through a very hard time right now and don't know what to do. Just reach out to God today, and gain the nourishment needed to go forward in the things of God.
Prayer:
Lord we ask for strength as we face another day. We stop to gain the nourishment needed to carry on Lord. Give us the power to walk out this walk in your grace, and help us to hear your voice and learn of your ways in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Ezra 8:21
21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.
Life can get so stressful at times. Things can change in an instant, and we need to know how to get strength from God in those rough times. We can learn a great deal about our daily walk with the Lord by looking at Ezra. Ezra is going to Jerusalem concerning the reconstruction of Jerusalem. Fifty-Thousand Jews come before Ezra to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem Eighty years before Ezra actually takes the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. When Ezra starts his journey to Jerusalem, he stops at the river of Ahava with the three-thousand he has with him. The hebrew definition for Ahava is "I Shall Subsist" and subsist means to gain nourishment needed to carry on. It was just as much a spiritual nourishment as it was concerning food and raiment. Ezra proclaims a fast, and he gathers leading men to lead with him. Ezra not only knew the importance of humbling himself before God to help them make it to Jerusalem, but he knew the importance of plotting leaders all around him to bind together as one as they carried on the journey. I want us to stop today and gain the nourishment needed to walk this Christian walk. Let's open our hearts today for His spirit to strengthen us and make us strong in Him. We need to stop at that place like the River of Ahava, and we need to draw strength from the Father. He is so willing and able to help us in trying times, and He can help us through restoration to build the little Jerusalem that we may have in our heart. We can also learn a great deal about Ezra here as we build the church of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the rock of revelation. Ezra plotted men around him. It is so important as pastor's to understand how God builds. If we don't have the revelation of how God builds, and how the church needs strong Godly leaders around them, then the church isn't being built upon that rock. There is a great deal of revelation from Ezra today that we need to understand, and we can gain that nourishment needed to carry on the great journey of spiritual growth with one another as the bride of Christ. Maybe you have a dream and you have given up on that dream. Maybe you are going through a very hard time right now and don't know what to do. Just reach out to God today, and gain the nourishment needed to go forward in the things of God.
Prayer:
Lord we ask for strength as we face another day. We stop to gain the nourishment needed to carry on Lord. Give us the power to walk out this walk in your grace, and help us to hear your voice and learn of your ways in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Spiritual Water Brook October 6th Devotional
Read:
Psalms 42:1
1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God
Also Read:
14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Life can be so hard at times. Things can change in an instant, and if we don't have the foundation of Christ placed firmly in our soul, we will surely give up and possibly take our last breath here on earth. In psalms 42, David is running for his life. He has made some wrong choices while he was King in his palace, yet he found God's grace even under the law. David many times fell on his face before the Lord and pleaded for mercy, especially when Prophet Nathan came to him and spoke a hard word from the Lord to Him. David fell on his face before the Lord. Nathan told him that God is going to spare your life but that he will go through some things because of his sin. Here David is tired, weary, and he is thirsty for nothing but God. He says he is like a deer panting by a water brook. The story of a deer is interesting. The deer will run from the hounds, submerge itself under a river, and go as long as it can until it reaches a certain destination point. Then, by the time it reaches a water brook, it will pant from unbelievable thirst while it drinks of the brook. Then we read in John chapter four that God is our living water that we can drink from. There have been times when I can remember being by a spiritual water brook in my life from some wrong choices that I had made, and wanting nothing but a drink of the presence of God, wanting nothing but God's mercy and forgiveness by His blood. It may not necessarily be because of sin in our past that we find ourselves in a state of unbelievable thirst. When are heart is pure before the Lord, God will prune us and make us more like Him. When we seek His face we will find ourselves crying out to him as He sharpens us and clips things from His spiritual branches to be one with the vine. I feel like God is bringing the body of Christ to a place of oneness with Him like never before. God is breathing His holiness and alignment upon His body to get the mixture out, and things that are in need of filtering will bring forth that feeling of needing God more than anything. Are you facing that thirst in a certain area, and need a drink of His living waters today? Just reach out to Him and He will be there for you.
Prayer:
Lord we come to that living water today for a drink of that everlasting water that gives us that assurance of eternity. We put all of our mistakes and failures under your blood and give you all today. Lord you are the only one who can feel that void that we feel, and you are the only one who can give us that drink that we need in our life. Help us Lord to stop and evaluate our life as we drink of your presence. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Psalms 42:1
1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God
Also Read:
14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Life can be so hard at times. Things can change in an instant, and if we don't have the foundation of Christ placed firmly in our soul, we will surely give up and possibly take our last breath here on earth. In psalms 42, David is running for his life. He has made some wrong choices while he was King in his palace, yet he found God's grace even under the law. David many times fell on his face before the Lord and pleaded for mercy, especially when Prophet Nathan came to him and spoke a hard word from the Lord to Him. David fell on his face before the Lord. Nathan told him that God is going to spare your life but that he will go through some things because of his sin. Here David is tired, weary, and he is thirsty for nothing but God. He says he is like a deer panting by a water brook. The story of a deer is interesting. The deer will run from the hounds, submerge itself under a river, and go as long as it can until it reaches a certain destination point. Then, by the time it reaches a water brook, it will pant from unbelievable thirst while it drinks of the brook. Then we read in John chapter four that God is our living water that we can drink from. There have been times when I can remember being by a spiritual water brook in my life from some wrong choices that I had made, and wanting nothing but a drink of the presence of God, wanting nothing but God's mercy and forgiveness by His blood. It may not necessarily be because of sin in our past that we find ourselves in a state of unbelievable thirst. When are heart is pure before the Lord, God will prune us and make us more like Him. When we seek His face we will find ourselves crying out to him as He sharpens us and clips things from His spiritual branches to be one with the vine. I feel like God is bringing the body of Christ to a place of oneness with Him like never before. God is breathing His holiness and alignment upon His body to get the mixture out, and things that are in need of filtering will bring forth that feeling of needing God more than anything. Are you facing that thirst in a certain area, and need a drink of His living waters today? Just reach out to Him and He will be there for you.
Prayer:
Lord we come to that living water today for a drink of that everlasting water that gives us that assurance of eternity. We put all of our mistakes and failures under your blood and give you all today. Lord you are the only one who can feel that void that we feel, and you are the only one who can give us that drink that we need in our life. Help us Lord to stop and evaluate our life as we drink of your presence. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Living Epistle October 5th devotional
2Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
One of the greatest ways to win someone to the Lord is by being a living epistle. To be that light to someone who is in darkness is powerful when done the right way. You can talk about great revelations and how much you know, but people don't care how much we know until they know how much we care. I can remember my mom telling me the time when Dad worked at a factory. He was a pastor of his first church, and was on fire for the things of God. My father was a great man and he lived what he preached. The Lord spoke to him and he felt like the Lord wanted him to witness to one of his co-workers. He witnessed day after day for several months. One day my father said, "Lord this is getting old. I just don't feel like I'm getting through to him. He felt like the Lord told him that he was done with talking to this one particular employee. He went to work that next day. As he started out his daily routine, a man on a fork lift came riding up to him. He said, "pastor, I've been watching you witness to that employee day after day. I've also watched how you deal with your co-workers. I've seen you live out what you believe. I want this Jesus you have been talking about." My father led this man to the Lord and to this day I believe he is still living a christian life. I was only five years old when this man and his family would come to our church on Sunday's. I remember becoming friends with his family, and I can remember years after this me and my brother going to this man's house and staying a whole week there with his family during the summer. My Father has gone to be with the Lord but he has made an imprint in my life as his son. I'll never forget the great things he did to live out the gospel. I want to encourage you this morning to never underestimate the power of seed planting, but never underestimate the power of reflecting Christ by being a living epistle.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you help us be that living epistle to those around us. Let your light shine from within us, and we pray God that you would help us to not only talk to those around us, but live a holy life right before the most worst sinners around us. it could be the least one we would expect Lord that comes crawling to you, or it could be someone peeking around the corner watching very closely. We pray Lord that our devotional life would be so strong with you to show forth character to an unbelieving generation. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
One of the greatest ways to win someone to the Lord is by being a living epistle. To be that light to someone who is in darkness is powerful when done the right way. You can talk about great revelations and how much you know, but people don't care how much we know until they know how much we care. I can remember my mom telling me the time when Dad worked at a factory. He was a pastor of his first church, and was on fire for the things of God. My father was a great man and he lived what he preached. The Lord spoke to him and he felt like the Lord wanted him to witness to one of his co-workers. He witnessed day after day for several months. One day my father said, "Lord this is getting old. I just don't feel like I'm getting through to him. He felt like the Lord told him that he was done with talking to this one particular employee. He went to work that next day. As he started out his daily routine, a man on a fork lift came riding up to him. He said, "pastor, I've been watching you witness to that employee day after day. I've also watched how you deal with your co-workers. I've seen you live out what you believe. I want this Jesus you have been talking about." My father led this man to the Lord and to this day I believe he is still living a christian life. I was only five years old when this man and his family would come to our church on Sunday's. I remember becoming friends with his family, and I can remember years after this me and my brother going to this man's house and staying a whole week there with his family during the summer. My Father has gone to be with the Lord but he has made an imprint in my life as his son. I'll never forget the great things he did to live out the gospel. I want to encourage you this morning to never underestimate the power of seed planting, but never underestimate the power of reflecting Christ by being a living epistle.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you help us be that living epistle to those around us. Let your light shine from within us, and we pray God that you would help us to not only talk to those around us, but live a holy life right before the most worst sinners around us. it could be the least one we would expect Lord that comes crawling to you, or it could be someone peeking around the corner watching very closely. We pray Lord that our devotional life would be so strong with you to show forth character to an unbelieving generation. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Being Content October 3rd Devotional
Read:
Philippians 4:11
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Also Read:
Psalms 138:8
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
Have you ever felt like giving up on your dreams and goals in this life. God has put dreams and gifts' within each and every Christian, but we need to let God move us to that place we need to be to fulfill that which is within us. It can get so frustrating at times, but God sometimes has to deal with us about different things in our life so that those things won't become a hindrance down the road. I know from experience of great financial stress how discouraging it can get. Can I get a witness? You go through the Dave Ramsey course and drive an old "cash for clunker" type car, with the ceiling falling in your coffee on your way to work. Every time you push in the clutch it squeaks lol. You look up to God in your devotion and say, "Lord I just can't take it anymore!" I want to encourage us in our daily walk with the Lord to be content with what we have. Maybe you got to a certain place in your life and it has caused unnecessary pain. It brought your dreams and visions to a screeching halt. Don't give up. God promised in His word that He will perfect that which concerns us. He will open that door that once was open, and He will get you back to that place that will lead you to the fulfilling place that God has for us. The Lord didn't bring you all of the way here to just let you go. It's not too late for you and I. However, we need to stay totally focused on the Lord as we go through that door again. Sometimes that door of our dreams and visions may only be cracked open. We see a little bit of hope on the other side of that door, but we sometimes doubt if God is in the middle of the door opening up for us. God is for us and not against us. Have you gotten to this place friend where it just seems like you are at a dead end job. You failed somewhere and you find yourself settling for where you are at. Pray to God today to help you be content where you are at, but also pray to God that He will give us wisdom on how to pray for restoration in our life. The last thing I want us to see today is have a good attitude where you are at. Attitude is very important. Attitude and being content go hand in hand, and our good attitude along with that content heart will allow God to open that door just a little further each day, until one day you look and see you are in a place that God wanted you to be in. A teacher at the bible college talked to us about when he graduated from bible school and went to his pastor and told him, "Man! I know what God wants me to do now. He's called me into full time ministry." The pastor looked at him with that serious grin and said, "Good! now go get a job! God needs to shape and mold you before you step into the ministry." He did that, and worked at arby's scrubbing toilets and cooking arby sandwiches. We'll not in that order..lol. About three months after he got a job at arby's, God moved him out of there and put him into full time ministry. I feel something right now for you and I as I'm writing this devotional. God didn't move him out of arby's because of necessarily his calling. God moved him out of there into the place he had for him in ministry because of his attitude. Here is what I feel for us as we go through another day wondering why God hasn't totally moved us to that certain place here on this earth as Christians. It's all about attitude, and I said this in one of my devotionals but I want to bring it to the table again. Our attitude will affect our character, our character will affect our calling, and our calling will ultimately affect our destiny here on earth. We just have to remember that even when we are in that particular place that God has for us, we still have to be content in whatever state we are in. Sometimes we can get to a place where we feel like we don't need God. We have everything. This is a very dangerous place to be in. We need God in the good, bad, and the ugly.
Prayer:
Lord help us to be content with where we are at. Help us to be content even when we are feeling good. But we need you so much Lord in every situation. Lord help us to cry out to you in not only in the hard times, but good times as well. Help us to realize in whatever state we are in that we need you the same in any situation. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Philippians 4:11
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Also Read:
Psalms 138:8
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
Have you ever felt like giving up on your dreams and goals in this life. God has put dreams and gifts' within each and every Christian, but we need to let God move us to that place we need to be to fulfill that which is within us. It can get so frustrating at times, but God sometimes has to deal with us about different things in our life so that those things won't become a hindrance down the road. I know from experience of great financial stress how discouraging it can get. Can I get a witness? You go through the Dave Ramsey course and drive an old "cash for clunker" type car, with the ceiling falling in your coffee on your way to work. Every time you push in the clutch it squeaks lol. You look up to God in your devotion and say, "Lord I just can't take it anymore!" I want to encourage us in our daily walk with the Lord to be content with what we have. Maybe you got to a certain place in your life and it has caused unnecessary pain. It brought your dreams and visions to a screeching halt. Don't give up. God promised in His word that He will perfect that which concerns us. He will open that door that once was open, and He will get you back to that place that will lead you to the fulfilling place that God has for us. The Lord didn't bring you all of the way here to just let you go. It's not too late for you and I. However, we need to stay totally focused on the Lord as we go through that door again. Sometimes that door of our dreams and visions may only be cracked open. We see a little bit of hope on the other side of that door, but we sometimes doubt if God is in the middle of the door opening up for us. God is for us and not against us. Have you gotten to this place friend where it just seems like you are at a dead end job. You failed somewhere and you find yourself settling for where you are at. Pray to God today to help you be content where you are at, but also pray to God that He will give us wisdom on how to pray for restoration in our life. The last thing I want us to see today is have a good attitude where you are at. Attitude is very important. Attitude and being content go hand in hand, and our good attitude along with that content heart will allow God to open that door just a little further each day, until one day you look and see you are in a place that God wanted you to be in. A teacher at the bible college talked to us about when he graduated from bible school and went to his pastor and told him, "Man! I know what God wants me to do now. He's called me into full time ministry." The pastor looked at him with that serious grin and said, "Good! now go get a job! God needs to shape and mold you before you step into the ministry." He did that, and worked at arby's scrubbing toilets and cooking arby sandwiches. We'll not in that order..lol. About three months after he got a job at arby's, God moved him out of there and put him into full time ministry. I feel something right now for you and I as I'm writing this devotional. God didn't move him out of arby's because of necessarily his calling. God moved him out of there into the place he had for him in ministry because of his attitude. Here is what I feel for us as we go through another day wondering why God hasn't totally moved us to that certain place here on this earth as Christians. It's all about attitude, and I said this in one of my devotionals but I want to bring it to the table again. Our attitude will affect our character, our character will affect our calling, and our calling will ultimately affect our destiny here on earth. We just have to remember that even when we are in that particular place that God has for us, we still have to be content in whatever state we are in. Sometimes we can get to a place where we feel like we don't need God. We have everything. This is a very dangerous place to be in. We need God in the good, bad, and the ugly.
Prayer:
Lord help us to be content with where we are at. Help us to be content even when we are feeling good. But we need you so much Lord in every situation. Lord help us to cry out to you in not only in the hard times, but good times as well. Help us to realize in whatever state we are in that we need you the same in any situation. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Looking Unto Jesus October 2nd Devotional
Read:
Hebrews 12:2
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
There are seasons in our walk with God that He will begin to purify us and heal us of different things in our soul. It could be some trauma that we have been through, or maybe some hurts that linger deep within us. During those times we have to look "unto" Jesus in these seasons. One day I was driving down the road and meditating on this scripture. I felt like the Lord said, "Son, you have to be broken before there can be a healing. Son, when I start to heal you of hurts and other things within you, you stand up strong in the wrong way and try to be tough when you need to be broken and totally dependent upon me as you look unto me." The preposition unto in this scripture means total dependency. We need to look with total dependency upon Jesus. Sometimes we try and be so strong when we need to be so broken before Him. He is continually sanctifying us to conform to the image of Himself. Do you have hurts down deep inside of you that you can't seem to let go of? I want to encourage you today to give it to Him. Give it all to Jesus. Don't worry about where He is going to take you, but rather trust Him to get you through the rough places in the road that He takes you down. You may not be able to trace His hand, but you can trust His heart. His heart for you as a born again believer is that He loves you like a son or daughter. As we walk in the Kingdom of Christ, we can remain in that walk with Him by looking unto Jesus.
Prayer:
Lord, we come to you with a contrite and broken spirit. We need you Lord to help us trust you as you conform us in the image of your Son Christ Jesus. Let us know that you are guiding us in some way, but help us to still trust you when you don't give us that clear answer that we hope for. It's all about you Lord, and we look unto you Lord with total dependence upon you to get us to the next place you have for us.
by Keith Edwards
Hebrews 12:2
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
There are seasons in our walk with God that He will begin to purify us and heal us of different things in our soul. It could be some trauma that we have been through, or maybe some hurts that linger deep within us. During those times we have to look "unto" Jesus in these seasons. One day I was driving down the road and meditating on this scripture. I felt like the Lord said, "Son, you have to be broken before there can be a healing. Son, when I start to heal you of hurts and other things within you, you stand up strong in the wrong way and try to be tough when you need to be broken and totally dependent upon me as you look unto me." The preposition unto in this scripture means total dependency. We need to look with total dependency upon Jesus. Sometimes we try and be so strong when we need to be so broken before Him. He is continually sanctifying us to conform to the image of Himself. Do you have hurts down deep inside of you that you can't seem to let go of? I want to encourage you today to give it to Him. Give it all to Jesus. Don't worry about where He is going to take you, but rather trust Him to get you through the rough places in the road that He takes you down. You may not be able to trace His hand, but you can trust His heart. His heart for you as a born again believer is that He loves you like a son or daughter. As we walk in the Kingdom of Christ, we can remain in that walk with Him by looking unto Jesus.
Prayer:
Lord, we come to you with a contrite and broken spirit. We need you Lord to help us trust you as you conform us in the image of your Son Christ Jesus. Let us know that you are guiding us in some way, but help us to still trust you when you don't give us that clear answer that we hope for. It's all about you Lord, and we look unto you Lord with total dependence upon you to get us to the next place you have for us.
by Keith Edwards
Friday, October 1, 2010
God Strengthen My Hands october 1st Devotional
>Read:
Nehemiah 6:9
9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed." But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands."
In our Christian walk there is going to come persecution rise up against us. If we are doing anything for God, the enemy will come with everything he has got to stop us dead in our tracks in the race that God wants us to run. I have seen in my life persecution come against me from every angle. I remember getting harrassed at this one particular place, and I know it was because of my walk with the Lord. God came through however, and it worked out perfectly. It just took some patience and lots of prayer. Here in Nehemiah we see the walls getting built. Nehemiah had opposition come his way by Sanballat, Geshem, and Tobiah. They were coming at Nehemiah as strong as they could to stop the completion of the temple. Nehemiah kept on going though, and in fifty-two days the walls of the temple was completed. God does this with us. We start building some walls of our destiny as living stones, and opposition comes our way. The enemy will use people to try and stop you from reaching that place. It could be a deeper walk with the Lord, or it could be ministry, whatever it is rest assure that the enemy is right there waiting to find a soft place to paralyze us spiritually from reaching that goal. The enemy will place thoughts of fear in our thinking, and he will tell you that you are no good and you won't never make anything of yourself. I want to encourage you today to keep building. Ask God to strenghthen your hands like Nehemiah did, and shake off that Tobiah and Sanballat spirit. Shake it off today and walk in that new season that God wants for you.
Prayer:
Lord, we come to you and ask that you will strengthen our hands to walk in your Spirit, fulfill our destiny here on earth, to advance your Kingdom by making disciples, walking in love with our bretheren, and staying committed to our home church. Help us to carry on with the work you have for us as soldiers of the most high, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Nehemiah 6:9
9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed." But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands."
In our Christian walk there is going to come persecution rise up against us. If we are doing anything for God, the enemy will come with everything he has got to stop us dead in our tracks in the race that God wants us to run. I have seen in my life persecution come against me from every angle. I remember getting harrassed at this one particular place, and I know it was because of my walk with the Lord. God came through however, and it worked out perfectly. It just took some patience and lots of prayer. Here in Nehemiah we see the walls getting built. Nehemiah had opposition come his way by Sanballat, Geshem, and Tobiah. They were coming at Nehemiah as strong as they could to stop the completion of the temple. Nehemiah kept on going though, and in fifty-two days the walls of the temple was completed. God does this with us. We start building some walls of our destiny as living stones, and opposition comes our way. The enemy will use people to try and stop you from reaching that place. It could be a deeper walk with the Lord, or it could be ministry, whatever it is rest assure that the enemy is right there waiting to find a soft place to paralyze us spiritually from reaching that goal. The enemy will place thoughts of fear in our thinking, and he will tell you that you are no good and you won't never make anything of yourself. I want to encourage you today to keep building. Ask God to strenghthen your hands like Nehemiah did, and shake off that Tobiah and Sanballat spirit. Shake it off today and walk in that new season that God wants for you.
Prayer:
Lord, we come to you and ask that you will strengthen our hands to walk in your Spirit, fulfill our destiny here on earth, to advance your Kingdom by making disciples, walking in love with our bretheren, and staying committed to our home church. Help us to carry on with the work you have for us as soldiers of the most high, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Below The Plane September 30th Devotional
Read:
John 14:12
12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Also Read:
Colossians 1:18
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
One of our favorite pictures of the church comes from the chaplain of the U.S. Senate, but before that he was pastor of Washington D.C.'s large Fourth Presbyterian Church. He had been leading that church for years when suddenly, one night, he saw his church clearly for the very first time. He was flying into Washington one day at dusk. At that time the approach path to Washington's Reagan National Airport happened to pass directly over Fourth Presbyterian Church. He pressed his face against the window to catch a glimpse of the building from the air. But everything on the ground was shrouded in the shadows falling over the city as the sun set. Dick could not find his church. He leaned back in his seat, gazing at the Washington skyline, always an inspiring sight. As his eyes followed the Potomac River, he could see the skyscrapers of Rosslyn, just across Key Bridge from Georgetown. Then, in the distance to the left, the White House, the lights of the Labor Department, the distant glow of the Capitol dome. As he stared out the window, he began mentally ticking off the names of members of his congregation who worked in those office buildings and government bureaus. Disciples he had equipped to live their faith. And suddenly it hit him. "Of course!" he exclaimed to the startled passenger in the next seat. "There it is! Fourth Presbyterian Church!" You see a church isn't marked by a sanctuary or steeple. Many get so caught up in the building, that they lose sight of what the body of Christ is about. They begin to maintain the building instead of operating as the true chuch of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing wrong with a building when it is connected to proper growth and how God builds. The church was poured out into homes, Washington, and neighborhoods. I want you to see yourself looking below the plane today. How many lives have you impacted in some way or another. You look down and you can't seem to find your church, but you see your school where you might have impacted someone. Then you see a large building where you led someone to Christ. As you are flying a little further, you see a neighborhood where you might have led a cell group, or touched someone. Maybe you haven't made an impact like you needed to as a Christian, and you want to. Just look below the plane today. You can make a difference.
Prayer:
Lord, we want to be the church in the way you want us to be the church. Give us a revelation of how Your church is not marked by a steeple or religion alone. It is marked by the church making an impact upon our community and world. Help us to see ourselves as the new testament church, and we repent today Lord for seeing Your church in any other way but how you want us to see Your body, Amen
by Keith Edwards
John 14:12
12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Also Read:
Colossians 1:18
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
One of our favorite pictures of the church comes from the chaplain of the U.S. Senate, but before that he was pastor of Washington D.C.'s large Fourth Presbyterian Church. He had been leading that church for years when suddenly, one night, he saw his church clearly for the very first time. He was flying into Washington one day at dusk. At that time the approach path to Washington's Reagan National Airport happened to pass directly over Fourth Presbyterian Church. He pressed his face against the window to catch a glimpse of the building from the air. But everything on the ground was shrouded in the shadows falling over the city as the sun set. Dick could not find his church. He leaned back in his seat, gazing at the Washington skyline, always an inspiring sight. As his eyes followed the Potomac River, he could see the skyscrapers of Rosslyn, just across Key Bridge from Georgetown. Then, in the distance to the left, the White House, the lights of the Labor Department, the distant glow of the Capitol dome. As he stared out the window, he began mentally ticking off the names of members of his congregation who worked in those office buildings and government bureaus. Disciples he had equipped to live their faith. And suddenly it hit him. "Of course!" he exclaimed to the startled passenger in the next seat. "There it is! Fourth Presbyterian Church!" You see a church isn't marked by a sanctuary or steeple. Many get so caught up in the building, that they lose sight of what the body of Christ is about. They begin to maintain the building instead of operating as the true chuch of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing wrong with a building when it is connected to proper growth and how God builds. The church was poured out into homes, Washington, and neighborhoods. I want you to see yourself looking below the plane today. How many lives have you impacted in some way or another. You look down and you can't seem to find your church, but you see your school where you might have impacted someone. Then you see a large building where you led someone to Christ. As you are flying a little further, you see a neighborhood where you might have led a cell group, or touched someone. Maybe you haven't made an impact like you needed to as a Christian, and you want to. Just look below the plane today. You can make a difference.
Prayer:
Lord, we want to be the church in the way you want us to be the church. Give us a revelation of how Your church is not marked by a steeple or religion alone. It is marked by the church making an impact upon our community and world. Help us to see ourselves as the new testament church, and we repent today Lord for seeing Your church in any other way but how you want us to see Your body, Amen
by Keith Edwards
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Let Go And Let God September 29th Devotional
Read:
Galatians 5:1-6
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
How many times do we hold on to prison bars in our christian walk with the Lord. Imagine us holding on to some prison bars, yet no bars in the back of us or on either side of us, and then all of the sudden we hear God speak very sternly, "Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery!" So many times we feel so condemned and feel like we can't live up to the expectations that maybe a preacher, friend, or the enemy himself puts before us. The question is, "do we live out our christian walk to stay out of hell?" or do we live out our born again experience because we "LOVE" God? I can remember getting born again and again and again and..we'll you get my point. I'm not going to debate on this devotional about whether I believe in eternal security or whether I don't. This belief that you can lose your salvation at a drop of a bucket can make a christian literally lose there mind. I can remember getting baptised so much I knew the fish by name lol. I think that both sides of theology can get crazy. They are so right in what they believe, and both sides can get nutty. I'm not saying that we are to live a lose lifestyle. Scripture tells us that we are to live a holy life so that the world can see the fruit, but you can't grow in the Lord if you are feeling condemned all of the time, or if you are holding on to some prison bars that God never attended for you to hold on to. There is a time for preaching hell to those that don't know God, but if we are preaching hell hell hell to the church that has truly repented then I promise that they are going to be feeling pretty bad by the time the next Sunday service comes there way.Can you imagine Jesus asking Peter, "Peter! do you love me. Then beat my sheep! No, Jesus never attended for preachers to flog the goats but to feed the sheep. Now there is a time for correction and exhortation from pastor's and those spankings can hurt, but it is done out of love. I've got alot of spankings from minister friends and from God Himself and man does it hurt, but God will do it in love. If we can submit to God with some rich devotion and prayer everyday, then we will begin to act out good works. We have to submit and let God work through us. God does deal with us as we walk with him, and that will cause us to feel some pain within our soul at times. We have to let God do a work in us so that we can grow with Him. For we are in Him and He is in us to work through us mighty things. Let's let go and let God.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you reveal your love to us in a deep way. We want to walk in the spirit and we want to walk in holiness, but sometimes Lord we feel so condemned and we feel like we can't measure up to the things that only you can do through us. We love you Lord and we need you so much in our life. We submit to you now with all of our heart, mind, and soul in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Galatians 5:1-6
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
How many times do we hold on to prison bars in our christian walk with the Lord. Imagine us holding on to some prison bars, yet no bars in the back of us or on either side of us, and then all of the sudden we hear God speak very sternly, "Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery!" So many times we feel so condemned and feel like we can't live up to the expectations that maybe a preacher, friend, or the enemy himself puts before us. The question is, "do we live out our christian walk to stay out of hell?" or do we live out our born again experience because we "LOVE" God? I can remember getting born again and again and again and..we'll you get my point. I'm not going to debate on this devotional about whether I believe in eternal security or whether I don't. This belief that you can lose your salvation at a drop of a bucket can make a christian literally lose there mind. I can remember getting baptised so much I knew the fish by name lol. I think that both sides of theology can get crazy. They are so right in what they believe, and both sides can get nutty. I'm not saying that we are to live a lose lifestyle. Scripture tells us that we are to live a holy life so that the world can see the fruit, but you can't grow in the Lord if you are feeling condemned all of the time, or if you are holding on to some prison bars that God never attended for you to hold on to. There is a time for preaching hell to those that don't know God, but if we are preaching hell hell hell to the church that has truly repented then I promise that they are going to be feeling pretty bad by the time the next Sunday service comes there way.Can you imagine Jesus asking Peter, "Peter! do you love me. Then beat my sheep! No, Jesus never attended for preachers to flog the goats but to feed the sheep. Now there is a time for correction and exhortation from pastor's and those spankings can hurt, but it is done out of love. I've got alot of spankings from minister friends and from God Himself and man does it hurt, but God will do it in love. If we can submit to God with some rich devotion and prayer everyday, then we will begin to act out good works. We have to submit and let God work through us. God does deal with us as we walk with him, and that will cause us to feel some pain within our soul at times. We have to let God do a work in us so that we can grow with Him. For we are in Him and He is in us to work through us mighty things. Let's let go and let God.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you reveal your love to us in a deep way. We want to walk in the spirit and we want to walk in holiness, but sometimes Lord we feel so condemned and we feel like we can't measure up to the things that only you can do through us. We love you Lord and we need you so much in our life. We submit to you now with all of our heart, mind, and soul in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
My Great Experiment September 28th Devotional
Read:
1 Timothy 3:5
5 If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?
One night I did an experiment with both my children and my son's friend from down the street. Earlier that day, I told my little boy to come down stairs and spend some time with me. He and His friend wanted to wrestle, so we spent a little time throwing each other around a little, and then just spending that quality time together. Before I got dinner together, I told my daughter, who was on facebook to come down stairs and walk the dog with me. My little boys friend wanted to take a walk with us as well, so we got everything together and took off down the street. It was a nice walk around the block. Then me and my daughter played a card game. After I got dinner prepared I did a little experiment with them. I looked at my little girl and asked, "So, what is the best thing you did all day?" My daughter said, "It was playing cards and taking a walk with you Daddy!" I was shocked! She said, "Yes daddy, I love spending time with you." Then, I asked my little boy's friend what was the best thing He did all day long? He said, "Taking a walk with you and Avery." Then I got to my little boy who absolutely loves playing games. I asked, "What was the best thing you did all day?" He said, "Wrestling and spending time with you daddy." Through all of these three experiments I come to the conclusion that spending time and paying attention to your family is crucial, especially in these current dark ages we are facing with family values. It's time that we turn that television and computer off and get back to family values. I'm not saying that we can't watch some good programs or get on the internet. I'm talking about balance. It is so easy to get unbalanced in the day to day life, and God is wanting us to get back to that place of priority. The greek word for rule in 1 timothy 3:5 is proistemi, and the definition is to give attention to. It also means to care for and manage. We as parents need to spend more time with our children. The television and internet is taking over our kids and it is causing them to become calloused to what is really important. This will shock you! they did a survey with a bunch of five year old kids. They asked each one of them what they would rather give up, their daddy or the television? 1/3 of the kids said, "I'd rather give up my daddy." This was shocking. I don't know if these kids were getting abused or not, but it just goes to show that we are losing are precious little kids to technology. I believe that God wants us to get a balance in our home like never before. One more thing. The night before, I was praying that God would show me what I needed to give up in my house, and praying that He would make me a better Father and husband to my family. Huh???
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you would help us as parents to manage and pay attention to our children. We ask that you would make us a better spouse. Give us the wisdom and balance in our home Lord, and help us to put the first things first. We need priority in our homes and lives in Jesus name, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
1 Timothy 3:5
5 If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?
One night I did an experiment with both my children and my son's friend from down the street. Earlier that day, I told my little boy to come down stairs and spend some time with me. He and His friend wanted to wrestle, so we spent a little time throwing each other around a little, and then just spending that quality time together. Before I got dinner together, I told my daughter, who was on facebook to come down stairs and walk the dog with me. My little boys friend wanted to take a walk with us as well, so we got everything together and took off down the street. It was a nice walk around the block. Then me and my daughter played a card game. After I got dinner prepared I did a little experiment with them. I looked at my little girl and asked, "So, what is the best thing you did all day?" My daughter said, "It was playing cards and taking a walk with you Daddy!" I was shocked! She said, "Yes daddy, I love spending time with you." Then, I asked my little boy's friend what was the best thing He did all day long? He said, "Taking a walk with you and Avery." Then I got to my little boy who absolutely loves playing games. I asked, "What was the best thing you did all day?" He said, "Wrestling and spending time with you daddy." Through all of these three experiments I come to the conclusion that spending time and paying attention to your family is crucial, especially in these current dark ages we are facing with family values. It's time that we turn that television and computer off and get back to family values. I'm not saying that we can't watch some good programs or get on the internet. I'm talking about balance. It is so easy to get unbalanced in the day to day life, and God is wanting us to get back to that place of priority. The greek word for rule in 1 timothy 3:5 is proistemi, and the definition is to give attention to. It also means to care for and manage. We as parents need to spend more time with our children. The television and internet is taking over our kids and it is causing them to become calloused to what is really important. This will shock you! they did a survey with a bunch of five year old kids. They asked each one of them what they would rather give up, their daddy or the television? 1/3 of the kids said, "I'd rather give up my daddy." This was shocking. I don't know if these kids were getting abused or not, but it just goes to show that we are losing are precious little kids to technology. I believe that God wants us to get a balance in our home like never before. One more thing. The night before, I was praying that God would show me what I needed to give up in my house, and praying that He would make me a better Father and husband to my family. Huh???
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you would help us as parents to manage and pay attention to our children. We ask that you would make us a better spouse. Give us the wisdom and balance in our home Lord, and help us to put the first things first. We need priority in our homes and lives in Jesus name, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Monday, September 27, 2010
The Pit Experience September 27th Devotional
Read:
Psalms 40:2
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
There was a Baptist preacher who had a large church. He was a very devout Christian, and people were drawn to his love for the word and for people, until his life totally changed. He found himself in a pit and didn't know why all of this happened. He also made records, and would record songs and loved to worship the Lord. He developed a flu that attacked his vocal chords. For three years he couldn't talk, sing, and the pastor said that it felt like two big hands were pressing against his vocal chords. The doctor told him that he would never talk again. It was getting worse and worse, and the church prayed for healing but it never came, at least not when he expected it to. He never gave up hope. He had to resign from being pastor, and it made it hard financially for the whole family. He had a lovely family that was behind him, but they didn't know how to deal with all this pit stuff. One day, after a long three years of chaos, the baptist preacher went to church to teach. They set up a vocal microphone that was very sensitive, and he would have to literally scream just to get a small scratchy sound out of his vocals. It was about all over for this pastor. He went to church that morning as usual, and he began to read a scripture in psalms about God delivering us from the pit. Immediately when he said the word pit his voice began to come back. Tears filled the church as he began to preach his first message without a scratch in his voice at all. They began to worship the Lord that morning for his healing power. The pastor went to the doctor and the doctor couldn't explain what had happened. The doctor told him, "I can explain away the nerves that could possibly rebuild itself, but the scar damage is a mystery. I have no answer why you are talking today." It is an impossiblity that you are standing here talking to me. It was doctor Jesus that got a hold of him. I want to encourage you today to hang in there when you find yourself in a pit. I don't have all of the answers why God doesn't just snap his finger in a pit experience, but the Lord will deliver us as we stay focused on Him. There was a miracle that early Sunday morning, and many were touched and faith was built in that pastor. If you find yourself in pit experience land just keep your eyes upon Jesus. Be patient in His presence, and don't let your pit experience define who you are for God is there with you the whole way.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you help us through those pit experiences. Sometimes Lord you snap your finger, and sometimes you build character in those trials we seem to face. We ask that you give us the grace in times of trouble, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Psalms 40:2
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
There was a Baptist preacher who had a large church. He was a very devout Christian, and people were drawn to his love for the word and for people, until his life totally changed. He found himself in a pit and didn't know why all of this happened. He also made records, and would record songs and loved to worship the Lord. He developed a flu that attacked his vocal chords. For three years he couldn't talk, sing, and the pastor said that it felt like two big hands were pressing against his vocal chords. The doctor told him that he would never talk again. It was getting worse and worse, and the church prayed for healing but it never came, at least not when he expected it to. He never gave up hope. He had to resign from being pastor, and it made it hard financially for the whole family. He had a lovely family that was behind him, but they didn't know how to deal with all this pit stuff. One day, after a long three years of chaos, the baptist preacher went to church to teach. They set up a vocal microphone that was very sensitive, and he would have to literally scream just to get a small scratchy sound out of his vocals. It was about all over for this pastor. He went to church that morning as usual, and he began to read a scripture in psalms about God delivering us from the pit. Immediately when he said the word pit his voice began to come back. Tears filled the church as he began to preach his first message without a scratch in his voice at all. They began to worship the Lord that morning for his healing power. The pastor went to the doctor and the doctor couldn't explain what had happened. The doctor told him, "I can explain away the nerves that could possibly rebuild itself, but the scar damage is a mystery. I have no answer why you are talking today." It is an impossiblity that you are standing here talking to me. It was doctor Jesus that got a hold of him. I want to encourage you today to hang in there when you find yourself in a pit. I don't have all of the answers why God doesn't just snap his finger in a pit experience, but the Lord will deliver us as we stay focused on Him. There was a miracle that early Sunday morning, and many were touched and faith was built in that pastor. If you find yourself in pit experience land just keep your eyes upon Jesus. Be patient in His presence, and don't let your pit experience define who you are for God is there with you the whole way.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you help us through those pit experiences. Sometimes Lord you snap your finger, and sometimes you build character in those trials we seem to face. We ask that you give us the grace in times of trouble, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Refine Me Oh Lord September 26th Devotional
Read:
6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
A lady asked a silversmith one time, "Do you just let the silver become refined on it's own?" The silversmith said absolutely not. I have to keep a fixed eye upon it at all times to make sure that it comes out alright. Before the lady could walk out the door, the silversmith said, "Oh! and one more thing I forgot to tell you." You know when it is ready because you can see a clear reflection of yourself in it. God is at work in us sometimes when we may not even know it. We may think it is something else or just your own imagination, but friend it could be God. I want to share just a little testimony of this gold and silver stuff. As a worship leader, I pray to God that I may seek His face. A wise man of god told me one time, "Son be careful when you pray that prayer, and get ready." I didn't know exactly what he meant until things started happening that I can't even explain. All along I was trying to find out what it was. Why was I feeling certain pains within my soul? One night I was at my job listening to some worship music. My wife and I owns our own business, so I was all alone in the middle of the morning working. The Holy Spirit came to where I was at and I began to break down crying from the presence of the Lord. I got down on my knees and began to pray. I said Lord what is this. I feel something on the inside of me breaking into pieces. He said, "Son I'm healing you of things. I've tried your faith in some areas and you have been going through my fire and been tried. Now the dross from the gold is beginning to come out." Just let me do a work in you. You see my friend, growth is part of that refining. I felt like the Lord was saying to me, "Don't drown in the dross, but let my perfect work heal you, mend you, mold you, and make you into the christian that I called you to. this is the sanctifying work of grace in our lives that flows through us. I've known many powerful minister's in full-time ministries that had something that God needed to pull out of them. No christian is exempt from God's refining. But the joy in being able to reflect Christ Jesus to others is such a great joy. You see, when God is done with us in a certain area through that refining, He can see a reflection of Himself from us. Oh that we might decrease so He can increase. We need to be living epistles to those around us. Are you going through something that you can't explain right now? It very well could be God taking out and putting in. Just let Him touch you today by His spirit. Open yourself to His healing hands. The faster we let God do what He needs to do in us in certain areas, the faster we can move on to whatever else He wants to do in our lives, and just remember that God used Peter even in the middle of much refining. The things God may need to restore may be something that we brought upon ourselves, but God can forgive us and turn any situation around in our lives.
prayer:
Lord we come to you with our arms open wide. We don't know why we face certain things in our life Lord, but we know that it's all for your glory. We seek your face today and not just your hand. We want to be more like you, and we want to have a heart of true worship to you everyday. Amen
by Keith Edwards
6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
A lady asked a silversmith one time, "Do you just let the silver become refined on it's own?" The silversmith said absolutely not. I have to keep a fixed eye upon it at all times to make sure that it comes out alright. Before the lady could walk out the door, the silversmith said, "Oh! and one more thing I forgot to tell you." You know when it is ready because you can see a clear reflection of yourself in it. God is at work in us sometimes when we may not even know it. We may think it is something else or just your own imagination, but friend it could be God. I want to share just a little testimony of this gold and silver stuff. As a worship leader, I pray to God that I may seek His face. A wise man of god told me one time, "Son be careful when you pray that prayer, and get ready." I didn't know exactly what he meant until things started happening that I can't even explain. All along I was trying to find out what it was. Why was I feeling certain pains within my soul? One night I was at my job listening to some worship music. My wife and I owns our own business, so I was all alone in the middle of the morning working. The Holy Spirit came to where I was at and I began to break down crying from the presence of the Lord. I got down on my knees and began to pray. I said Lord what is this. I feel something on the inside of me breaking into pieces. He said, "Son I'm healing you of things. I've tried your faith in some areas and you have been going through my fire and been tried. Now the dross from the gold is beginning to come out." Just let me do a work in you. You see my friend, growth is part of that refining. I felt like the Lord was saying to me, "Don't drown in the dross, but let my perfect work heal you, mend you, mold you, and make you into the christian that I called you to. this is the sanctifying work of grace in our lives that flows through us. I've known many powerful minister's in full-time ministries that had something that God needed to pull out of them. No christian is exempt from God's refining. But the joy in being able to reflect Christ Jesus to others is such a great joy. You see, when God is done with us in a certain area through that refining, He can see a reflection of Himself from us. Oh that we might decrease so He can increase. We need to be living epistles to those around us. Are you going through something that you can't explain right now? It very well could be God taking out and putting in. Just let Him touch you today by His spirit. Open yourself to His healing hands. The faster we let God do what He needs to do in us in certain areas, the faster we can move on to whatever else He wants to do in our lives, and just remember that God used Peter even in the middle of much refining. The things God may need to restore may be something that we brought upon ourselves, but God can forgive us and turn any situation around in our lives.
prayer:
Lord we come to you with our arms open wide. We don't know why we face certain things in our life Lord, but we know that it's all for your glory. We seek your face today and not just your hand. We want to be more like you, and we want to have a heart of true worship to you everyday. Amen
by Keith Edwards
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Lord Shine Upon Your Temple September 25th Devotional
Read:
17"So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.
Have you ever just felt like giving up on praying for the church and nation? You see the mess out there, and its humiliating to the body of Christ. You pray and pray and feel like God as forsaken you. I know I have and still do at times. Here in Daniel chapter 9 he is praying for Jerusalem. He knows the seventy years of captivity in Babylon is almost up, but prophetically he knows that Jerusalem will be destroyed once again in the future. However, God gives Daniel some encouragement concerning the "spiritual Temple" which is the church of Jesus Christ. He tells him that a messiah will come, which pertains to Christ Jesus. Daniel remained patient through his prayer and God came through immediately in Chapter 9. However, in chapter 10 it took twenty-one days for God to come through because of the evil spirit that was hindering. Daniel remained faithful through fasting, prayer, and devotion to the Lord. God came through and He can come through for you today. God is much concerned with the new Jerusalem temple today as He was with physical Jerusalem during the seventy-year captivity in Babylon. There will be a physical temple built in Jerusalem during the tribulation, but we need not to be concerned too much with that. We do need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem according to scripture, but our main focus is the spiritual temple of the church, and the Jerusalem in our own home as the temple, for we are a temple individually and corporately as a body.It's good to know prophetically what is going on in Jerusalem though as a believer. A journalist went to Jerusalem to see how far along they were to getting the utensils, priestly garments etc. for rebuilding the temple in the early 1900's. He went every decade, and in the early part of 2000 he went and asked them how far along they were? They said, "We have everything we need to start it!" They say it takes three and a half years to build it. This should not make us fear, but to motivate us to pray for God to shine His light upon His spiritual temple. The bible says, "that no man knows the day nor hour when Christ will come and there will be a "catching away" but we would know the season. We will soon reign with Jesus forever and ever. Want that be a great time! However, we need to stay focused as the body of Christ, and allow Him to work through us in these last days that we are living in. I believe we are living in the last season of this earth age, and it's time that we do the works of Christ like never before. Right now there are Daniel's in our midst who are praying for the temple of the body of Christ today, and they are weeping like Daniel for the mixture, greed, and other things that have leaked into the body of Christ. There are also Zechariah's, Joshua's, Ezra's, and Nehemiah's who are helping with the building of the spiritual temple. We have seen many minister's rise in the power of the Holy Spirit, who brought forth a motivation and revelation to build as living stones, and we will see this increase in the days ahead. Will you be a Daniel today and pray with fervent prayer? Let's start out our day with a desire for God to shine upon His temple. Let's ask God to forgive us as the body of Christ for things we let in our marriage as the bride of Christ, and let's focus on divorcing those things in the name of Jesus.
Prayer:
Lord we come to you in repentance and ask that you will forgive all of us for letting your body get to the place it is in. We have let money ruin your name, and we have loved the gifts and the things that you give more than you Lord. We ask that you would filter out the mixture, and that you would bring us to a pure place with you in patience as we pray for your light to shine down upon us. Amen
by Keith Edwards
17"So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.
Have you ever just felt like giving up on praying for the church and nation? You see the mess out there, and its humiliating to the body of Christ. You pray and pray and feel like God as forsaken you. I know I have and still do at times. Here in Daniel chapter 9 he is praying for Jerusalem. He knows the seventy years of captivity in Babylon is almost up, but prophetically he knows that Jerusalem will be destroyed once again in the future. However, God gives Daniel some encouragement concerning the "spiritual Temple" which is the church of Jesus Christ. He tells him that a messiah will come, which pertains to Christ Jesus. Daniel remained patient through his prayer and God came through immediately in Chapter 9. However, in chapter 10 it took twenty-one days for God to come through because of the evil spirit that was hindering. Daniel remained faithful through fasting, prayer, and devotion to the Lord. God came through and He can come through for you today. God is much concerned with the new Jerusalem temple today as He was with physical Jerusalem during the seventy-year captivity in Babylon. There will be a physical temple built in Jerusalem during the tribulation, but we need not to be concerned too much with that. We do need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem according to scripture, but our main focus is the spiritual temple of the church, and the Jerusalem in our own home as the temple, for we are a temple individually and corporately as a body.It's good to know prophetically what is going on in Jerusalem though as a believer. A journalist went to Jerusalem to see how far along they were to getting the utensils, priestly garments etc. for rebuilding the temple in the early 1900's. He went every decade, and in the early part of 2000 he went and asked them how far along they were? They said, "We have everything we need to start it!" They say it takes three and a half years to build it. This should not make us fear, but to motivate us to pray for God to shine His light upon His spiritual temple. The bible says, "that no man knows the day nor hour when Christ will come and there will be a "catching away" but we would know the season. We will soon reign with Jesus forever and ever. Want that be a great time! However, we need to stay focused as the body of Christ, and allow Him to work through us in these last days that we are living in. I believe we are living in the last season of this earth age, and it's time that we do the works of Christ like never before. Right now there are Daniel's in our midst who are praying for the temple of the body of Christ today, and they are weeping like Daniel for the mixture, greed, and other things that have leaked into the body of Christ. There are also Zechariah's, Joshua's, Ezra's, and Nehemiah's who are helping with the building of the spiritual temple. We have seen many minister's rise in the power of the Holy Spirit, who brought forth a motivation and revelation to build as living stones, and we will see this increase in the days ahead. Will you be a Daniel today and pray with fervent prayer? Let's start out our day with a desire for God to shine upon His temple. Let's ask God to forgive us as the body of Christ for things we let in our marriage as the bride of Christ, and let's focus on divorcing those things in the name of Jesus.
Prayer:
Lord we come to you in repentance and ask that you will forgive all of us for letting your body get to the place it is in. We have let money ruin your name, and we have loved the gifts and the things that you give more than you Lord. We ask that you would filter out the mixture, and that you would bring us to a pure place with you in patience as we pray for your light to shine down upon us. Amen
by Keith Edwards
Friday, September 24, 2010
All We Have Is An Altar? September 24th Devotional
Read:
Ezra 3:3
3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices.
Also:
1 Corinthians 3:11
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Have you ever faced situations in your life where you just said, "man! I don't know if I can go on?" We'll I have and still do at times. One thing that I learned through tough times is that it's not the foundation of myself that is going to get me through those hard times. It's the foundation of Christ Jesus that's going to carry me through. In Ezra 3:3 the first 50,000 Jews came back to Jerusalem after a 70year bondage in captivity. It was under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua. Zerubbabel was a great righteous governor, and Joshua was a High Priest. Then 80 years later Ezra came with another 3,000 Jews to Jerusalem in the rebuilding of the temple. Then we have Nehemiah some years later to rebuild the wall. One thing I want us to see is that when the first 50,000 Jews got to Jerusalem in Ezra 3:3, they didn't have anything built as of yet, but they had hope. All they had was an altar. They placed the altar upon the foundation when they got there, and they offered burnt offerings to the Lord. You may be at a place today where you are just tired and worn out by life, but you can say with me, "All I have is an altar!" It's more than just having an altar. We need to praise God with the realization that we have a foundation that is unshakable. It is the foundation of Christ Jesus, and Christ is the sure foundation that absolutely cannot be shaken. There are times in my life as a christian that I have to place my faith and trust upon that foundation, and when I find myself at a place of no hope, I turn my focus upon that sure foundation which is Jesus Christ. My friend, don't lose focus. If you do, you can praise and worship God now upon that beautiful foundation that is a powerful and unshakable foundation. Many of you fight the feeling of not having things in your life complete. You may be at a place where you missed it and feel like you had to take a dead end road to nowhere. Think about this with me for a moment. The Jews felt that way. When they got there everything was in ruins, and the temple of Jerusalem was totally destroyed. All you may have is a little altar. This is enough my friend, and the altar is your heart before the Lord almighty. Look up to Him today, and trust in His foundation that absolutely cannot be shaken. Notice that the Jews didn't even have Jerusalem built as of yet, but they understood the need for restoration of worship. We need revelation upon the foundation for the situation that we are facing. In the middle of restoration in our life, whether it is financial, physical, or emotional, we can stay focused on the one and only, Christ Jesus.
prayer:
Lord we come in your precious name, the name that is above every name. We place our praise and worship today upon that powerful foundation. We know Lord that the foundation consists of your name and your blood. We appropriate you blood upon the situation we are facing today, and we look to
you in a deeper way for restoration in our lives. Holy Spirit teach us today about that great foundation. Lord we acknowledge you as we stand in all of you. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Ezra 3:3
3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices.
Also:
1 Corinthians 3:11
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Have you ever faced situations in your life where you just said, "man! I don't know if I can go on?" We'll I have and still do at times. One thing that I learned through tough times is that it's not the foundation of myself that is going to get me through those hard times. It's the foundation of Christ Jesus that's going to carry me through. In Ezra 3:3 the first 50,000 Jews came back to Jerusalem after a 70year bondage in captivity. It was under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua. Zerubbabel was a great righteous governor, and Joshua was a High Priest. Then 80 years later Ezra came with another 3,000 Jews to Jerusalem in the rebuilding of the temple. Then we have Nehemiah some years later to rebuild the wall. One thing I want us to see is that when the first 50,000 Jews got to Jerusalem in Ezra 3:3, they didn't have anything built as of yet, but they had hope. All they had was an altar. They placed the altar upon the foundation when they got there, and they offered burnt offerings to the Lord. You may be at a place today where you are just tired and worn out by life, but you can say with me, "All I have is an altar!" It's more than just having an altar. We need to praise God with the realization that we have a foundation that is unshakable. It is the foundation of Christ Jesus, and Christ is the sure foundation that absolutely cannot be shaken. There are times in my life as a christian that I have to place my faith and trust upon that foundation, and when I find myself at a place of no hope, I turn my focus upon that sure foundation which is Jesus Christ. My friend, don't lose focus. If you do, you can praise and worship God now upon that beautiful foundation that is a powerful and unshakable foundation. Many of you fight the feeling of not having things in your life complete. You may be at a place where you missed it and feel like you had to take a dead end road to nowhere. Think about this with me for a moment. The Jews felt that way. When they got there everything was in ruins, and the temple of Jerusalem was totally destroyed. All you may have is a little altar. This is enough my friend, and the altar is your heart before the Lord almighty. Look up to Him today, and trust in His foundation that absolutely cannot be shaken. Notice that the Jews didn't even have Jerusalem built as of yet, but they understood the need for restoration of worship. We need revelation upon the foundation for the situation that we are facing. In the middle of restoration in our life, whether it is financial, physical, or emotional, we can stay focused on the one and only, Christ Jesus.
prayer:
Lord we come in your precious name, the name that is above every name. We place our praise and worship today upon that powerful foundation. We know Lord that the foundation consists of your name and your blood. We appropriate you blood upon the situation we are facing today, and we look to
you in a deeper way for restoration in our lives. Holy Spirit teach us today about that great foundation. Lord we acknowledge you as we stand in all of you. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Thursday, September 23, 2010
How Much Does It Cost? September 23rd Devotional
Read:
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money
19 and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
One day one of my employees who never went to church asked me, " how much do you have to pay in the offering plate to become a member?" I chuckled a little because I thought he was joking. To my surprise he was serious. He honestly thought that the church was like a membership to a health club. I'm not putting him down at all, because most non believers believe this. They see all of the seed screaming and finger prying from some television channels and other places, and they get a false perspective of the real gospel. I told him that you don't have to pay a dime to come to church. I did tell him that my wife and I do believe in tithing and offerings to the church, and if the church is doing what they supposed to be doing, the poor, widows, missions, and a reasonable payroll to the staff will be pure and real. It's a shame that many really believe that you have to pay to be a member as if it was some kind of membership package. We do need to teach about giving, but it needs to be taught the correct way. Our giving should come out of love for God instead of the feeling of it being like an electric bill. Church, this is absolutely absurd to think that many preachers impart this teaching. God is really grieved by some minister's in the church that has gotten way out of order concerning money. Preachers scream for seeds on television, and this only makes a lot of false conversions. People think that they can buy salvation or any other thing from God. They tell the people that they will give them a word from the Lord if they would just send in one-hundred dollars to so and so ministry. How much does it cost? How much do we need to tell the lost man or woman on their way to hell that it's going to cost them money instead of their life through repentance to Jesus Christ of Nazareth. When you sell all to Jesus through that repentance it will compel you to give unto the Kingdom of God. It will compel you to have a hunger for the word of God. Yes, you have to give all to the Lord, but you don't buy salvation friend. If you are a minister and are mixed with this nonsense I exhort you in the name of the Lord Jesus to repent and get out of this mess. The world sees no difference between the church and the world. We were never called "to get to the top" as a church. We were never called to build big buildings apart from the first priority of spreading the gospel and winning souls for the Lord. Politics and greed has leaked into the church, and it is flooding out the purity and holiness of God. There's nothing wrong with big buildings, but we have built big buildings and erased the reason for the church meeting in that big building. We have small churches as well who are maintaining and just barely getting by, and they to are in need of refining. It's not the building but the body of believers that makes up the church. We look for revival but can't find it. The floods of corruption has drowned any hope for a lost and dying world. I know I'm sounding a little angry about what I am talking about here, but it's time that we be the church to those living in darkness looking for light. How much does it cost? Our life to Christ!
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you will get the mixture of greed and politics out of our hearts. We repent Lord for the mess that we have gotten ourselves into. We pray that your will pour upon our hearts such a pure anointing of your spirit, and give us direction like never before. Help us to make your name attractive to that lost and dying world in the name of Jesus. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money
19 and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
One day one of my employees who never went to church asked me, " how much do you have to pay in the offering plate to become a member?" I chuckled a little because I thought he was joking. To my surprise he was serious. He honestly thought that the church was like a membership to a health club. I'm not putting him down at all, because most non believers believe this. They see all of the seed screaming and finger prying from some television channels and other places, and they get a false perspective of the real gospel. I told him that you don't have to pay a dime to come to church. I did tell him that my wife and I do believe in tithing and offerings to the church, and if the church is doing what they supposed to be doing, the poor, widows, missions, and a reasonable payroll to the staff will be pure and real. It's a shame that many really believe that you have to pay to be a member as if it was some kind of membership package. We do need to teach about giving, but it needs to be taught the correct way. Our giving should come out of love for God instead of the feeling of it being like an electric bill. Church, this is absolutely absurd to think that many preachers impart this teaching. God is really grieved by some minister's in the church that has gotten way out of order concerning money. Preachers scream for seeds on television, and this only makes a lot of false conversions. People think that they can buy salvation or any other thing from God. They tell the people that they will give them a word from the Lord if they would just send in one-hundred dollars to so and so ministry. How much does it cost? How much do we need to tell the lost man or woman on their way to hell that it's going to cost them money instead of their life through repentance to Jesus Christ of Nazareth. When you sell all to Jesus through that repentance it will compel you to give unto the Kingdom of God. It will compel you to have a hunger for the word of God. Yes, you have to give all to the Lord, but you don't buy salvation friend. If you are a minister and are mixed with this nonsense I exhort you in the name of the Lord Jesus to repent and get out of this mess. The world sees no difference between the church and the world. We were never called "to get to the top" as a church. We were never called to build big buildings apart from the first priority of spreading the gospel and winning souls for the Lord. Politics and greed has leaked into the church, and it is flooding out the purity and holiness of God. There's nothing wrong with big buildings, but we have built big buildings and erased the reason for the church meeting in that big building. We have small churches as well who are maintaining and just barely getting by, and they to are in need of refining. It's not the building but the body of believers that makes up the church. We look for revival but can't find it. The floods of corruption has drowned any hope for a lost and dying world. I know I'm sounding a little angry about what I am talking about here, but it's time that we be the church to those living in darkness looking for light. How much does it cost? Our life to Christ!
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you will get the mixture of greed and politics out of our hearts. We repent Lord for the mess that we have gotten ourselves into. We pray that your will pour upon our hearts such a pure anointing of your spirit, and give us direction like never before. Help us to make your name attractive to that lost and dying world in the name of Jesus. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
My High Tower September22nd Devotional
Read:
Proverbs 18:10
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run in to it and they are saved.
Imagine yourself right now standing upon a huge tower. It’s dark and you can’t see a thing. You have truly repented and turned your life over to the Lord, but now you feel like He has abandoned you. Then you feel like there is no hope when all of the sudden, God says to you, “child you are mine. I have placed you child upon this tower of my name, of my character, and who I am within you. Stand in me and let your hope so trust in the fact that my name needs to be a revelation of who you are in me and who you are standing upon.” Then as the darkness subsides, you look and see that the tower that you are standing upon starts to lean. You hear God speak to you again that He is your balance. He is your rock and your foundation. The foundation and the tower is strong and mighty. Nothing can separate us from that place in God. Then you see the tower stand in an upright position. How many times do we start losing sight of what God did for us on the cross. How many times do we feel unbalance as a Christian and we feel like God has abandoned us. It’s all about revelation. The greek definition here for name in proverbs is shem and it means the character and reputation of God. The greek word for tower here is milgda and it means to be elevated to a high place. We are elevated and lifted in His name, his character, His might. For he is Jehovah, Elohim our Creator, El Elyon most High God, Adonai our Master, Elroi God Who Sees, El Shaddai God Almighty, Jehovah Ezer the Lord our Helper, Jehovah Jireh the Lord Will Provide, Jehovah Rapha the Lord our Healer, Jehovah Roi the Lord our Shepherd. He is our banner, our peace, and His name can be trusted as we stand upon his foundation, upon His tower, and in His name has been given to us by the Spirit of His trust. His name is the very revelation that we need to have when we enter into worship, prayer, and that devotion with Him everyday, and when that revelation is mixed with the spirit of Christ in that moment of revelation is a power of the choice of our will that starts instilling foundation in our soul. It will renew our mind, heal our emotions, and set our will on course to the things of God, and when we see ourselves lean upon our own name at times, we should look to Him to straighten us in the right position of revelation of who we are in Him and who He is in us. Oh! Friend it’s a much powerful place to stand upon His name. It will tear down faulty little foundations that we might have placed in our soul, and God will take out things and put good sound doctrine within us. Then as you are standing upon that tower you hear the Lord ask you, “Is that tears in your eyes?” and you feel the Holy Spirit wrap His arms around you and comfort you. You feel healing taking place. It’s a place like no other place. As you go through each day remember to stand in His name in your Christian walk. Remember to let God hold you when you need to be held. Let’s be elevated and lifted up in His name.
Prayer:
Lord we come to you in your name. Help us to see us how you see us. Righteous by the blood of Your Son, delivered by the power of the cross, and set free by trusting in you. Help us Lord to submit to you upon that tower so that we can walk in holiness, purity, and be the salt of this earth to those that don’t know you. Give us revelation of the very rock and foundation that we have within us. Amen
Proverbs 18:10
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run in to it and they are saved.
Imagine yourself right now standing upon a huge tower. It’s dark and you can’t see a thing. You have truly repented and turned your life over to the Lord, but now you feel like He has abandoned you. Then you feel like there is no hope when all of the sudden, God says to you, “child you are mine. I have placed you child upon this tower of my name, of my character, and who I am within you. Stand in me and let your hope so trust in the fact that my name needs to be a revelation of who you are in me and who you are standing upon.” Then as the darkness subsides, you look and see that the tower that you are standing upon starts to lean. You hear God speak to you again that He is your balance. He is your rock and your foundation. The foundation and the tower is strong and mighty. Nothing can separate us from that place in God. Then you see the tower stand in an upright position. How many times do we start losing sight of what God did for us on the cross. How many times do we feel unbalance as a Christian and we feel like God has abandoned us. It’s all about revelation. The greek definition here for name in proverbs is shem and it means the character and reputation of God. The greek word for tower here is milgda and it means to be elevated to a high place. We are elevated and lifted in His name, his character, His might. For he is Jehovah, Elohim our Creator, El Elyon most High God, Adonai our Master, Elroi God Who Sees, El Shaddai God Almighty, Jehovah Ezer the Lord our Helper, Jehovah Jireh the Lord Will Provide, Jehovah Rapha the Lord our Healer, Jehovah Roi the Lord our Shepherd. He is our banner, our peace, and His name can be trusted as we stand upon his foundation, upon His tower, and in His name has been given to us by the Spirit of His trust. His name is the very revelation that we need to have when we enter into worship, prayer, and that devotion with Him everyday, and when that revelation is mixed with the spirit of Christ in that moment of revelation is a power of the choice of our will that starts instilling foundation in our soul. It will renew our mind, heal our emotions, and set our will on course to the things of God, and when we see ourselves lean upon our own name at times, we should look to Him to straighten us in the right position of revelation of who we are in Him and who He is in us. Oh! Friend it’s a much powerful place to stand upon His name. It will tear down faulty little foundations that we might have placed in our soul, and God will take out things and put good sound doctrine within us. Then as you are standing upon that tower you hear the Lord ask you, “Is that tears in your eyes?” and you feel the Holy Spirit wrap His arms around you and comfort you. You feel healing taking place. It’s a place like no other place. As you go through each day remember to stand in His name in your Christian walk. Remember to let God hold you when you need to be held. Let’s be elevated and lifted up in His name.
Prayer:
Lord we come to you in your name. Help us to see us how you see us. Righteous by the blood of Your Son, delivered by the power of the cross, and set free by trusting in you. Help us Lord to submit to you upon that tower so that we can walk in holiness, purity, and be the salt of this earth to those that don’t know you. Give us revelation of the very rock and foundation that we have within us. Amen
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Balance In Spiritual Gifts by Mel Montgomery & Keith Edwards September 21st Devotional
Read:
I am grieved beyond words when I see church services in which some so-called prophet is lining people up, laying hands on every one and saying "God wants to use you in the gift of prophecy." And "God is calling you to be an apostle. . ." ". . . prophet. . . " ". . . healing evangelist. . ." whatever. Even if the "prophet" is discerning this correctly--which most of the ones I've seen are not--it does incalculable damage to blurt this out to people. God will reveal these things to them directly Himself when He believes they are ready to know it. He doesn't need your help or mine. The Goodwins exercised great wisdom in this area. I had known Sister Goodwin for several years before she ever talked to me about what she knew God had called me to do. She eventually told me, "I've known since I first met you that God was going to give you a strong ministry, an anointed ministry. But I couldn't tell you this when I first met you because you would have been lifted up in pride. . . But I can tell you now. . . " Then she went ahead and told me things that have continued to slowly unfold in the 15+ years that have passed since that conversation. Many times the best thing you can do is just shut your mouth and let God do the work in His way and timing. Not long ago, I saw the Spirit of Prophecy beginning to move on a man in a church where I had been invited to minister. I said nothing to him. But later I pointed the man out to his pastor and told him, "Keep your eye on that one. God is beginning to move on him in spiritual gifts. You'll see it develop before much longer. Be sure to encourage him, and to help him to understand how to flow in that within the limitations of scripture and within the boundaries you set." The pastor--which is no surprise to me--said, "I know it. I see that too. I'll keep my eye on him and help him." You don't have to be a prophet to discern these things about others. Pastors see many more things than some people think they do. My friends, the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit come directly from God only and at His choosing. They develop best and to the fullest as individuals observe those same gifts operating through their leadership. If you desire to be used of God in spiritual gifts, then go to God about the matter. Humble yourself. Let Him know you are available for Him to use, and let Him also know that you will give Him all the Glory for any gift He manifests through you. Then trust Him to know what is best. He will make the decision, and let you know what His decision is, over time.
Comment by Keith Edwards:
I want us to ask the Lord to give us balance in the gifts of the spirit like never before. We are living in a time where some mixture has infiltrated the body of Christ concerning the prophetic and apostolic. Line up the gifts and manifestations of the Spirit with the word of God. The Holy Spirit will never violate scripture, and as you get rooted and grounded in the word of God you will know what is right and what is error. There are three ways you can judge what is right and wrong. 1st, watch out for a mixture of strong pride in their ministry. This can cause alot of problems in the church and in an indiviual as the temple of God. 2nd, line up what they teach or preach with the word of God. If you listen very carefully to some so called apostles and prophets, you will see error being spoken over the congregation. 3rd thing is greed. Make sure that there is not any greed in a minister. This can be very dangerous.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask for a powerful spiritual covering of Your Blood upon the ministry you have for each and every one of us, as we minister Your word. Bring a balance Lord to us so that we can discern what is truth and what is error. Let your word so fill our hearts so that we can operate in the right way concerning order in the spiritual gifts.
by Mel Montgomery and Keith Edwards
I am grieved beyond words when I see church services in which some so-called prophet is lining people up, laying hands on every one and saying "God wants to use you in the gift of prophecy." And "God is calling you to be an apostle. . ." ". . . prophet. . . " ". . . healing evangelist. . ." whatever. Even if the "prophet" is discerning this correctly--which most of the ones I've seen are not--it does incalculable damage to blurt this out to people. God will reveal these things to them directly Himself when He believes they are ready to know it. He doesn't need your help or mine. The Goodwins exercised great wisdom in this area. I had known Sister Goodwin for several years before she ever talked to me about what she knew God had called me to do. She eventually told me, "I've known since I first met you that God was going to give you a strong ministry, an anointed ministry. But I couldn't tell you this when I first met you because you would have been lifted up in pride. . . But I can tell you now. . . " Then she went ahead and told me things that have continued to slowly unfold in the 15+ years that have passed since that conversation. Many times the best thing you can do is just shut your mouth and let God do the work in His way and timing. Not long ago, I saw the Spirit of Prophecy beginning to move on a man in a church where I had been invited to minister. I said nothing to him. But later I pointed the man out to his pastor and told him, "Keep your eye on that one. God is beginning to move on him in spiritual gifts. You'll see it develop before much longer. Be sure to encourage him, and to help him to understand how to flow in that within the limitations of scripture and within the boundaries you set." The pastor--which is no surprise to me--said, "I know it. I see that too. I'll keep my eye on him and help him." You don't have to be a prophet to discern these things about others. Pastors see many more things than some people think they do. My friends, the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit come directly from God only and at His choosing. They develop best and to the fullest as individuals observe those same gifts operating through their leadership. If you desire to be used of God in spiritual gifts, then go to God about the matter. Humble yourself. Let Him know you are available for Him to use, and let Him also know that you will give Him all the Glory for any gift He manifests through you. Then trust Him to know what is best. He will make the decision, and let you know what His decision is, over time.
Comment by Keith Edwards:
I want us to ask the Lord to give us balance in the gifts of the spirit like never before. We are living in a time where some mixture has infiltrated the body of Christ concerning the prophetic and apostolic. Line up the gifts and manifestations of the Spirit with the word of God. The Holy Spirit will never violate scripture, and as you get rooted and grounded in the word of God you will know what is right and what is error. There are three ways you can judge what is right and wrong. 1st, watch out for a mixture of strong pride in their ministry. This can cause alot of problems in the church and in an indiviual as the temple of God. 2nd, line up what they teach or preach with the word of God. If you listen very carefully to some so called apostles and prophets, you will see error being spoken over the congregation. 3rd thing is greed. Make sure that there is not any greed in a minister. This can be very dangerous.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask for a powerful spiritual covering of Your Blood upon the ministry you have for each and every one of us, as we minister Your word. Bring a balance Lord to us so that we can discern what is truth and what is error. Let your word so fill our hearts so that we can operate in the right way concerning order in the spiritual gifts.
by Mel Montgomery and Keith Edwards
Monday, September 20, 2010
Equip The Body September 20th Devotional
Read:
1 Corinthians 12:27
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Also Read:
Ephesians 4:11,12
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
We are living in a time where the church as a whole has forgotten what ministry is all about. We go to church and pay money to our home church so that the pastor's and minster's in the church can be there for a particular body , and this is needful and necessary, but not the end all. It's biblical to give unto the work of the Church, but the body of Christ as a whole is one body involved in the Great commission of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. The minister's in the church is to equip or prepare the body of Christ for the work of ministry. The bible says here in verse 28 of 1 Corinthians that there are minister gifts in the body of Christ and this is very important. The minister gifts in verse 28 is to prepare and equip the whole body of Christ to advance God's Kingdom. We advance God's Kingdom by ministry. We are all called as one in the body of Christ. Many in the protestant church doesn't really understand this concept, and the pastor is doing everything in the church. We have to get out of our little shell and be a light to those in our workplace, our neighbors, or wherever we are at. You may have an administrative gift. You may have a gift to fix things. Whatever gift you have you are very special to the body of Christ. We are all called to advance God's Kingdom. My wife and I own a cleaning business, and we have a friend that got diagnosed with cancer. My wife told her and her husband that we want to use our business and clean there house for free. I'm also going to make a bunch of sandwiches and cook a big pot of spaghetti for them. We are going to keep them lifted up in prayer and believe for a good report from the doctor. This is ministry, and you can reach out to people in a unique way by just doing things like this to reach out to them. My wife and I were helping with a church years ago with a pastor from our apartment complex. I was doing some teaching and worship, and the pastor would have all of us find ministry right there in our apartment complex. Somebody from our small group baked a cake for a police officer that just had surgery on his back, and you should have seen his face when we took that cake to him. He was ministered to. There are so many things we can do as the body of Christ. Its great to come to church and get lifted up, but that's not where it ends. We are to take the message of Christ to the hurting, lost, and those in need. I want to encourage us today to be the body of Christ, whether it is baking a cake, sending someone a card, or whatever your can do to be a part of the body. What do you have to give today that maybe you never gave? You might not of understood what ministry is all about and that we are "all" called in ministry as the body.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will shed light on what our place and position is in the body of Christ. Let us know Lord that there is something we can do to be a part of your Kingdom. Help us Lord to use the gifts that we have and not only use them inside the four walls of the church, but use them also out in the world that many would come to repentance and be touched by your Spirit, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
1 Corinthians 12:27
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Also Read:
Ephesians 4:11,12
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
We are living in a time where the church as a whole has forgotten what ministry is all about. We go to church and pay money to our home church so that the pastor's and minster's in the church can be there for a particular body , and this is needful and necessary, but not the end all. It's biblical to give unto the work of the Church, but the body of Christ as a whole is one body involved in the Great commission of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. The minister's in the church is to equip or prepare the body of Christ for the work of ministry. The bible says here in verse 28 of 1 Corinthians that there are minister gifts in the body of Christ and this is very important. The minister gifts in verse 28 is to prepare and equip the whole body of Christ to advance God's Kingdom. We advance God's Kingdom by ministry. We are all called as one in the body of Christ. Many in the protestant church doesn't really understand this concept, and the pastor is doing everything in the church. We have to get out of our little shell and be a light to those in our workplace, our neighbors, or wherever we are at. You may have an administrative gift. You may have a gift to fix things. Whatever gift you have you are very special to the body of Christ. We are all called to advance God's Kingdom. My wife and I own a cleaning business, and we have a friend that got diagnosed with cancer. My wife told her and her husband that we want to use our business and clean there house for free. I'm also going to make a bunch of sandwiches and cook a big pot of spaghetti for them. We are going to keep them lifted up in prayer and believe for a good report from the doctor. This is ministry, and you can reach out to people in a unique way by just doing things like this to reach out to them. My wife and I were helping with a church years ago with a pastor from our apartment complex. I was doing some teaching and worship, and the pastor would have all of us find ministry right there in our apartment complex. Somebody from our small group baked a cake for a police officer that just had surgery on his back, and you should have seen his face when we took that cake to him. He was ministered to. There are so many things we can do as the body of Christ. Its great to come to church and get lifted up, but that's not where it ends. We are to take the message of Christ to the hurting, lost, and those in need. I want to encourage us today to be the body of Christ, whether it is baking a cake, sending someone a card, or whatever your can do to be a part of the body. What do you have to give today that maybe you never gave? You might not of understood what ministry is all about and that we are "all" called in ministry as the body.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will shed light on what our place and position is in the body of Christ. Let us know Lord that there is something we can do to be a part of your Kingdom. Help us Lord to use the gifts that we have and not only use them inside the four walls of the church, but use them also out in the world that many would come to repentance and be touched by your Spirit, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Jesus Knows Our Struggles by Sandy Groom & Keith Edwards
Read:
Isaiah 53:5
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
Jesus knows our struggles. “He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering.” He knows exactly what we are going through today, what we experienced in the past, and everything we will experience in the future. He walks with us through the dark and miserable times as well as the beautiful times. Jesus holds us in his hands with love and empathy; but he does not stop there. He died an agonizing death to set us free from the horrible consequences of sin, to cleanse us, heal us, and make us whole. He bore all of our pain, distress and sin on the cross.
Why is it so important that we be clean and holy? Because we cannot have fellowship with him without being completely righteous. He is pure and holy, and we must be holy and pure to enjoy friendship with him. Our wrongdoings separate us from the Lord. Isaiah 59:2 explains that our sins have separated us from God. Yet Jesus is our righteousness if we believe and ask him into our lives. 2Corinthians 5:21 tells us, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
It is amazing! Our Lord longed to have fellowship with us. He desired to pour his love and life into us and be with us forever. He wanted to have an intimate relationship with us so much, that he was tortured on the cross to set us free from sin. Isaiah 53 describes Jesus as being pierced, crushed, wounded, oppressed, afflicted, stricken, and a guilt offering for all mankind. He did all this so we can be in his presence. He took upon himself all of our infirmities and sorrows, so we can experience his amazing love and healing.
We can feel unworthy and undeserving during times of anxiety, depression, physical limitations and chronic pain. Traumatic experiences, such as child abuse and domestic violence, often cause us to feel dirty and ashamed. Yet God thought us worthwhile enough to give his life for us, and to live in us with all his righteousness and healing power.
Are you hurting today? Do you feel unworthy of love, or ashamed of who you are or have become? Let Jesus come inside, wash you white as snow, and heal you. Let him fill you with his love. Sometimes he heals us quickly, sometimes healing comes as a journey, and occasionally it comes through endurance and long perseverance. Yet no matter how the healing comes, Jesus walks with us and fills us with his strength and comfort each step of the way. He draws close to us, smiling upon us in love, yet always feeling our suffering.
Comment by Keith Edwards:
I want to encourage you today to take the words from Sandy seriously and remember, God loves you so much. I also want to encourage you today to let the Holy Spirit touch you and heal you completely. There is no problem to big God can not solve it. There is no mountain too tall God cannot move it. There is no storm cloud to rough God cannot calm it. There is no "heartache" too deep God cannot heal it. Friend, if He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulder, I know that He can carry you today.
prayer:
Lord, we lay our problems and concerns at the altar today. Heal us Lord of anything that is causing us to go backwards instead of forwards with you. We accept your agape love today, and we accept our pardon in Jesus name we pray, amen.
by Sandy Groom and Keith Edwards
Isaiah 53:5
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
Jesus knows our struggles. “He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering.” He knows exactly what we are going through today, what we experienced in the past, and everything we will experience in the future. He walks with us through the dark and miserable times as well as the beautiful times. Jesus holds us in his hands with love and empathy; but he does not stop there. He died an agonizing death to set us free from the horrible consequences of sin, to cleanse us, heal us, and make us whole. He bore all of our pain, distress and sin on the cross.
Why is it so important that we be clean and holy? Because we cannot have fellowship with him without being completely righteous. He is pure and holy, and we must be holy and pure to enjoy friendship with him. Our wrongdoings separate us from the Lord. Isaiah 59:2 explains that our sins have separated us from God. Yet Jesus is our righteousness if we believe and ask him into our lives. 2Corinthians 5:21 tells us, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
It is amazing! Our Lord longed to have fellowship with us. He desired to pour his love and life into us and be with us forever. He wanted to have an intimate relationship with us so much, that he was tortured on the cross to set us free from sin. Isaiah 53 describes Jesus as being pierced, crushed, wounded, oppressed, afflicted, stricken, and a guilt offering for all mankind. He did all this so we can be in his presence. He took upon himself all of our infirmities and sorrows, so we can experience his amazing love and healing.
We can feel unworthy and undeserving during times of anxiety, depression, physical limitations and chronic pain. Traumatic experiences, such as child abuse and domestic violence, often cause us to feel dirty and ashamed. Yet God thought us worthwhile enough to give his life for us, and to live in us with all his righteousness and healing power.
Are you hurting today? Do you feel unworthy of love, or ashamed of who you are or have become? Let Jesus come inside, wash you white as snow, and heal you. Let him fill you with his love. Sometimes he heals us quickly, sometimes healing comes as a journey, and occasionally it comes through endurance and long perseverance. Yet no matter how the healing comes, Jesus walks with us and fills us with his strength and comfort each step of the way. He draws close to us, smiling upon us in love, yet always feeling our suffering.
Comment by Keith Edwards:
I want to encourage you today to take the words from Sandy seriously and remember, God loves you so much. I also want to encourage you today to let the Holy Spirit touch you and heal you completely. There is no problem to big God can not solve it. There is no mountain too tall God cannot move it. There is no storm cloud to rough God cannot calm it. There is no "heartache" too deep God cannot heal it. Friend, if He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulder, I know that He can carry you today.
prayer:
Lord, we lay our problems and concerns at the altar today. Heal us Lord of anything that is causing us to go backwards instead of forwards with you. We accept your agape love today, and we accept our pardon in Jesus name we pray, amen.
by Sandy Groom and Keith Edwards
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