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by Keith Edwards
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
No Reputation July 16th Devotional
Read:
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Have you ever wondered how Jesus was always there from the beginning? Some believe that Christ Jesus was a created angel, Some believe that he was just a prophet, and some believe that he was just a good teacher. According to the bible He was always there from the beginning because He is God the Son. Theologically, the word reputation means that He emptied himself. It is called the Kenotic Theory, which means he emptied himself. He became what He was not without ceasing to be what He was. He never stopped being the second person of the trinity. He emptied Himself not literally, but metaphorically. By taking-not subtraction. Even as a child in the manger He was still"...holding all things together by the power of His Word." Hebrews 1:3. If Christ in not God, then the work of Jesus in not eternally valid, but temporal, contingent, and relative. The good news is that our salvation is anchored in eternity. Thank God for Jesus coming to earth and dying on the cross, and this gives us the ability to repent and allow Christ to save us. I want us to reflect on what Christ really did when He came to earth. This was such a love for Christ to reach come down and make Himself of no reputation. This love is speaking to you today. Jesus is calling out to you in love and extending an invitation to cast all of your care upon Him today as Christians understanding what He really did, and He is extending His love for those who need salvation.
Prayer:
Lord we thank you for what you did upon the cross. We thank you Lord for coming down from heaven, and dying for us. You were the perfect Lamb Lord who fulfilled the many prophecies of the bible concerning your death, burial, and resurrection.
by Keith Edwards
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Have you ever wondered how Jesus was always there from the beginning? Some believe that Christ Jesus was a created angel, Some believe that he was just a prophet, and some believe that he was just a good teacher. According to the bible He was always there from the beginning because He is God the Son. Theologically, the word reputation means that He emptied himself. It is called the Kenotic Theory, which means he emptied himself. He became what He was not without ceasing to be what He was. He never stopped being the second person of the trinity. He emptied Himself not literally, but metaphorically. By taking-not subtraction. Even as a child in the manger He was still"...holding all things together by the power of His Word." Hebrews 1:3. If Christ in not God, then the work of Jesus in not eternally valid, but temporal, contingent, and relative. The good news is that our salvation is anchored in eternity. Thank God for Jesus coming to earth and dying on the cross, and this gives us the ability to repent and allow Christ to save us. I want us to reflect on what Christ really did when He came to earth. This was such a love for Christ to reach come down and make Himself of no reputation. This love is speaking to you today. Jesus is calling out to you in love and extending an invitation to cast all of your care upon Him today as Christians understanding what He really did, and He is extending His love for those who need salvation.
Prayer:
Lord we thank you for what you did upon the cross. We thank you Lord for coming down from heaven, and dying for us. You were the perfect Lamb Lord who fulfilled the many prophecies of the bible concerning your death, burial, and resurrection.
by Keith Edwards
Thursday, July 15, 2010
July 15th 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 devotional's 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 devotional's 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
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Do You Still Believe In Miracles? July 14th Devotional
Read:
Psalms 77:11
11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
Can you remember when God came through for you? Probably more than you can count. He will come through for us, and he is still in the miracle working business. I can remember when my wife was going through a physical thing that tested my faith in a great way. She was almost in a paralyzed state, and couldn't even get out of bed. My kids were very young at the time, and I can remember taking her to the hospital with my kids a few times to find out what was going on. I felt so helpless. They ran test after test but couldn't figure out what was wrong. I began to fast and pray, and I called some prayer intercessor's that I knew of at the time to pray for her. God brought us through with the help of friends, family, and prayer warriors. We never figured out exactly what it was, but I really believe that it was a miracle. Another memory that comes to mind is with my brother and his wife. They were at an office max, and this little boy ran away from his mother at a very fast pace. My Sister-in-law saw the little boy run to the automatic doors and immediately said the word, "Jesus!" The doors would not open at all. When the mother got to her little boy, the doors opened and a car was driving very fast in front of those doors at the same time the little boy would have ran in front of that car. Coincidence? I don't think so. It's the miracle working power of God almighty stepping in and honoring our prayers. I believe there were angels at that automatic door. Today I want us to reflect on the memories that kept us alive. I believe that God does intervene many times in our life, and there are times that we will never know that He was right there. God wants us to realize that He holds us in the palm of His hand to never ever let us go. He does love us.
Prayer:
Lord help us today to trust you like never before. Lord we know that we need to trust you in the good times and the not so good times. You never change Lord, and you hold us in the palm of your hands. Help us to never forget the times you allowed us to cross the red sea, and help us to reflect on you in a great way today, Amen.
Psalms 77:11
11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
Can you remember when God came through for you? Probably more than you can count. He will come through for us, and he is still in the miracle working business. I can remember when my wife was going through a physical thing that tested my faith in a great way. She was almost in a paralyzed state, and couldn't even get out of bed. My kids were very young at the time, and I can remember taking her to the hospital with my kids a few times to find out what was going on. I felt so helpless. They ran test after test but couldn't figure out what was wrong. I began to fast and pray, and I called some prayer intercessor's that I knew of at the time to pray for her. God brought us through with the help of friends, family, and prayer warriors. We never figured out exactly what it was, but I really believe that it was a miracle. Another memory that comes to mind is with my brother and his wife. They were at an office max, and this little boy ran away from his mother at a very fast pace. My Sister-in-law saw the little boy run to the automatic doors and immediately said the word, "Jesus!" The doors would not open at all. When the mother got to her little boy, the doors opened and a car was driving very fast in front of those doors at the same time the little boy would have ran in front of that car. Coincidence? I don't think so. It's the miracle working power of God almighty stepping in and honoring our prayers. I believe there were angels at that automatic door. Today I want us to reflect on the memories that kept us alive. I believe that God does intervene many times in our life, and there are times that we will never know that He was right there. God wants us to realize that He holds us in the palm of His hand to never ever let us go. He does love us.
Prayer:
Lord help us today to trust you like never before. Lord we know that we need to trust you in the good times and the not so good times. You never change Lord, and you hold us in the palm of your hands. Help us to never forget the times you allowed us to cross the red sea, and help us to reflect on you in a great way today, Amen.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Forever Settled by Rev. Drew Kaylor and Keith Edwards July 13th Devotional
Read:
Psalms 119:39
39 Forever O Lord, thy word is settled in Heaven
Forever Settled
The Word of God is from everlasting to everlasting. The Saviour is calling, and you can be made whole? There is a river flowing from Calvary today, and it is the River of Life and Healing, for the Bible is God's Healing Stream for all. Everything is there. How lovely is His Word, for Life, Peace, Joy and Strength are flowing from the Father, and we can Learn the secret of touching the hand of God. His Word alone holds the Key. The psalmist David wrote, "Forever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in Heaven." Psalm 119:39. Redemption is Complete in Jesus. Healing belongs to you now! Rejoice in God Today. Jesus Lives!
Posted by Drew Kaylor
comment by Keith Edwards:
It's good to know that we have a God that will never ever change. His word is settled, His character will always be the same, and His love will remain forever and ever. Drew and I want you to have hope today. Have hope in the fact that God has breathed His life into every believer, and that is forever settled as well.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you will give us hope today. We need hope in a lost and dying world, and we need to see that we have been bought by a price and that price came from your very love. Amen.
by Rev. Drew Kaylor and Keith Edwards
Psalms 119:39
39 Forever O Lord, thy word is settled in Heaven
Forever Settled
The Word of God is from everlasting to everlasting. The Saviour is calling, and you can be made whole? There is a river flowing from Calvary today, and it is the River of Life and Healing, for the Bible is God's Healing Stream for all. Everything is there. How lovely is His Word, for Life, Peace, Joy and Strength are flowing from the Father, and we can Learn the secret of touching the hand of God. His Word alone holds the Key. The psalmist David wrote, "Forever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in Heaven." Psalm 119:39. Redemption is Complete in Jesus. Healing belongs to you now! Rejoice in God Today. Jesus Lives!
Posted by Drew Kaylor
comment by Keith Edwards:
It's good to know that we have a God that will never ever change. His word is settled, His character will always be the same, and His love will remain forever and ever. Drew and I want you to have hope today. Have hope in the fact that God has breathed His life into every believer, and that is forever settled as well.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you will give us hope today. We need hope in a lost and dying world, and we need to see that we have been bought by a price and that price came from your very love. Amen.
by Rev. Drew Kaylor and Keith Edwards
Monday, July 12, 2010
Say The Name July 12th Devotional
Read:
Matthew 4:1-4
1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
There is such power in the name of Jesus. Notice that Jesus didn't scream a spiritual type warfare for the enemy to leave. He didn't take over territorial spirits like some believe. He just simply, "spoke the word" and was able to overcome the temptation that the tempter came with. So many believe that you have to say a bunch of spiritual type warfare prayers, but Jesus nor the disciples ever did this type of warfare. They simply spoke the word. They never started a great spiritual warfare club or poked holes in the clouds of darkness. Now there were times in the bible that the apostles cast out demons, but they were so in tune with Christ. They never exercised their faith outside the realm of God. They heard his voice. I can remember in my younger days of ministry going through a season of this spiritual type warfare. It seemed appealing, but I found that it basically was works apart from walking in the spirit. I found myself thinking that I had to put on the whole armor of God literally every morning when I woke up, and it seemed that I was magnifying these things instead of just being obedient to Christ Jesus. It was like walking in the law. I would pray and put on the girdle of truth, etc. and couldn't remember if I put on the helmet of salvation. I would focus on that instead of focusing on Jesus. There's nothing wrong with speaking forth the armor of God if this increases your faith, but the best warfare is sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning of His ways, and as we do this we will know His voice. I've seen minister's in full time ministry do so much binding and loosing that Christ seemed to be lost in the middle of it. Great men of God in the past always received direction from the Lord, whether it was healing or spiritual things. Many times we just jump into things without waiting and getting direction from the Lord. As I was praying last week about this devotional, I wanted God to speak to me about how we speak His name. It seemed like God spoke to my heart about this devotional. God wants us to realize that we are more than conquerors in His blood, and when the enemy tries to draw us into warfare we need to be like King David and put the praise and worship in the front and the warfare in the back. We need to realize that the battle has already been won, and we can rest and walk in what has already been done for us on the cross and through His resurrection. We are more than conquerors. conquerors fight! More than conquerors walk in what has already be defeated. As a worship leader, I found the greatest strength over negative thoughts or darts of the enemy was just entering into the presence of God and speaking that precious name of Jesus. I found strength by just opening my heart out to God. He will strengthen us as we lift Him up. Obedience is the key for great spiritual warfare in our life. Habits and strongholds automatically get broken when our heart is towards God, when we feed upon the word, and through our pure devotion. There will be times when God will have us speak directly in a relevant way towards a certain situation, but we shouldn't go around thinking there is a demon around every corner. Being submissive and sitting at the feet of Jesus is a weapon that will destroy every negative thought and dart the enemy throws our way. The battle is between our ears. It is our mind. We can't control the birds flying over our heads, but we can keep them from building a nest there. This is so true. Our flesh is the greatest hindrance that comes against us. Paul said that he puts his flesh under subjection everyday. It says in 2 corinthians 10 to cast down all imaginations or speculations. We have all of the tools and weapons within us as believers, and we learn how and when to use those tools as we are so close to Father God. Let's walk in that which we have received. The Greek word for put on in Ephesians chapter 6 is enduo, and it means to be endued and to walk in. We have truth, peace, we are righteous by His blood, we have the mind of Christ as we walk with Christ, we have faith, and we have that precious name to speak over our life.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you help us to not meditate all of the time on what the enemy speaks to us, but what you speak to us. We pray that we will hear your voice like never before, and that we would be obedient to you. Lord give us such a revelation today that we are right with you by our faith in you, and because of that righteousness by your blood we can stand today with your word upon our lips and the sword in our hand. Help us Lord to walk in that which we have received. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Matthew 4:1-4
1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
There is such power in the name of Jesus. Notice that Jesus didn't scream a spiritual type warfare for the enemy to leave. He didn't take over territorial spirits like some believe. He just simply, "spoke the word" and was able to overcome the temptation that the tempter came with. So many believe that you have to say a bunch of spiritual type warfare prayers, but Jesus nor the disciples ever did this type of warfare. They simply spoke the word. They never started a great spiritual warfare club or poked holes in the clouds of darkness. Now there were times in the bible that the apostles cast out demons, but they were so in tune with Christ. They never exercised their faith outside the realm of God. They heard his voice. I can remember in my younger days of ministry going through a season of this spiritual type warfare. It seemed appealing, but I found that it basically was works apart from walking in the spirit. I found myself thinking that I had to put on the whole armor of God literally every morning when I woke up, and it seemed that I was magnifying these things instead of just being obedient to Christ Jesus. It was like walking in the law. I would pray and put on the girdle of truth, etc. and couldn't remember if I put on the helmet of salvation. I would focus on that instead of focusing on Jesus. There's nothing wrong with speaking forth the armor of God if this increases your faith, but the best warfare is sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning of His ways, and as we do this we will know His voice. I've seen minister's in full time ministry do so much binding and loosing that Christ seemed to be lost in the middle of it. Great men of God in the past always received direction from the Lord, whether it was healing or spiritual things. Many times we just jump into things without waiting and getting direction from the Lord. As I was praying last week about this devotional, I wanted God to speak to me about how we speak His name. It seemed like God spoke to my heart about this devotional. God wants us to realize that we are more than conquerors in His blood, and when the enemy tries to draw us into warfare we need to be like King David and put the praise and worship in the front and the warfare in the back. We need to realize that the battle has already been won, and we can rest and walk in what has already been done for us on the cross and through His resurrection. We are more than conquerors. conquerors fight! More than conquerors walk in what has already be defeated. As a worship leader, I found the greatest strength over negative thoughts or darts of the enemy was just entering into the presence of God and speaking that precious name of Jesus. I found strength by just opening my heart out to God. He will strengthen us as we lift Him up. Obedience is the key for great spiritual warfare in our life. Habits and strongholds automatically get broken when our heart is towards God, when we feed upon the word, and through our pure devotion. There will be times when God will have us speak directly in a relevant way towards a certain situation, but we shouldn't go around thinking there is a demon around every corner. Being submissive and sitting at the feet of Jesus is a weapon that will destroy every negative thought and dart the enemy throws our way. The battle is between our ears. It is our mind. We can't control the birds flying over our heads, but we can keep them from building a nest there. This is so true. Our flesh is the greatest hindrance that comes against us. Paul said that he puts his flesh under subjection everyday. It says in 2 corinthians 10 to cast down all imaginations or speculations. We have all of the tools and weapons within us as believers, and we learn how and when to use those tools as we are so close to Father God. Let's walk in that which we have received. The Greek word for put on in Ephesians chapter 6 is enduo, and it means to be endued and to walk in. We have truth, peace, we are righteous by His blood, we have the mind of Christ as we walk with Christ, we have faith, and we have that precious name to speak over our life.
Prayer:
Lord we ask that you help us to not meditate all of the time on what the enemy speaks to us, but what you speak to us. We pray that we will hear your voice like never before, and that we would be obedient to you. Lord give us such a revelation today that we are right with you by our faith in you, and because of that righteousness by your blood we can stand today with your word upon our lips and the sword in our hand. Help us Lord to walk in that which we have received. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Are You Living In Rubble City? July 11th Devotional
Read:
Nehemiah 4:10
10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.
There is a large percentage of the body of Christ today that is needing restoration in there personal life. I'm talking about true born again Christians that have repented of there sins and have been washed in the blood of Christ. We have been living in rubble city for far too long. If we don't know what to do in the middle of restoration, then we will be overtaken by discouragement, a lack of hunger for God's word, and loss of hope to let God help us rebuild whatever is wrong in our life. It could be things that have come into our life by the Lord to produce more fruit, or it could be some unnecessary pain that we caused ourselves by wrong choices. We see this in the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is a great leader and minister to follow today in the reconstruction of the walls that need to be built in our life. I can remember going through some very tough times financially. I lost all of the overtime at my job, and other things hit us from every angle, but I focused on God through my worship to Him. I'm not saying that I didn't get discouraged and throw in the towel at times. I did, but I found that entering God's presence will change our situation. It's not fixing all of our problems and then we say, "Lord! I can enter you presence now." I've done this, and that, and now I can enter on in. We don't wait until something in the natural is completed before we have devotion and prayer with the Lord. It's the devotion and the prayer that is going bring forth a completion in the natural. I'm not saying that we don't stay in true repentance during restoration. Our lifestyle should be a lifestyle of true healthy repentance, but there are some things that may take some time. We don't have to live in rubble city any longer. If you look at the whole chapter in chapter four of Nehemiah, you will see three things that can help us as we build. First, Nehemiah had every vulnerable space covered with family and there weapons. This can be true unity in the body of Christ. Second, there was a trumpet player next to them as they built. This can be the worship we have for God corporately and individually. Third, Nehemiah kept the moral up by praying to God that He would protect them as they built. We need to protect our mind from the enemy. He will shoot darts of discouragement our way, and when those darts come, we need to pray to God as we worship Him, and as we worship Him God will give us hope to carry on the great journey of building. I want to encourage you today to pick up a stone of worship and start building. I know it doesn't make sense to worship the Lord first before all of the things in our life here on earth is completed, but it's the first priority that all Christians should understand. We see the Jews coming to Jerusalem to rebuild. The bible says that everything was in ruins, but they started out with a heart of worship as they built their first altar. They kept on building as they worshiped the Lord. Lets have the heart of Nehemiah today and get out of rubble city, and move on in to the new city that God has called us to as the body of Christ.
Prayer:
Lord we come to you and ask that you help us focus through the restoration in our lives. Lord if we have any sin in our lives, we ask that you will forgive us and wash us anew in your blood. We ask that you will be that wall of fire around us as we build the wall as the body of Christ. We ask that you will be that wall of fire around us as we worship you and seek you first as you begin to bring forth a shift in the natural, and help us to remain steady in the things of you as you move us into a new season, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Nehemiah 4:10
10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.
There is a large percentage of the body of Christ today that is needing restoration in there personal life. I'm talking about true born again Christians that have repented of there sins and have been washed in the blood of Christ. We have been living in rubble city for far too long. If we don't know what to do in the middle of restoration, then we will be overtaken by discouragement, a lack of hunger for God's word, and loss of hope to let God help us rebuild whatever is wrong in our life. It could be things that have come into our life by the Lord to produce more fruit, or it could be some unnecessary pain that we caused ourselves by wrong choices. We see this in the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is a great leader and minister to follow today in the reconstruction of the walls that need to be built in our life. I can remember going through some very tough times financially. I lost all of the overtime at my job, and other things hit us from every angle, but I focused on God through my worship to Him. I'm not saying that I didn't get discouraged and throw in the towel at times. I did, but I found that entering God's presence will change our situation. It's not fixing all of our problems and then we say, "Lord! I can enter you presence now." I've done this, and that, and now I can enter on in. We don't wait until something in the natural is completed before we have devotion and prayer with the Lord. It's the devotion and the prayer that is going bring forth a completion in the natural. I'm not saying that we don't stay in true repentance during restoration. Our lifestyle should be a lifestyle of true healthy repentance, but there are some things that may take some time. We don't have to live in rubble city any longer. If you look at the whole chapter in chapter four of Nehemiah, you will see three things that can help us as we build. First, Nehemiah had every vulnerable space covered with family and there weapons. This can be true unity in the body of Christ. Second, there was a trumpet player next to them as they built. This can be the worship we have for God corporately and individually. Third, Nehemiah kept the moral up by praying to God that He would protect them as they built. We need to protect our mind from the enemy. He will shoot darts of discouragement our way, and when those darts come, we need to pray to God as we worship Him, and as we worship Him God will give us hope to carry on the great journey of building. I want to encourage you today to pick up a stone of worship and start building. I know it doesn't make sense to worship the Lord first before all of the things in our life here on earth is completed, but it's the first priority that all Christians should understand. We see the Jews coming to Jerusalem to rebuild. The bible says that everything was in ruins, but they started out with a heart of worship as they built their first altar. They kept on building as they worshiped the Lord. Lets have the heart of Nehemiah today and get out of rubble city, and move on in to the new city that God has called us to as the body of Christ.
Prayer:
Lord we come to you and ask that you help us focus through the restoration in our lives. Lord if we have any sin in our lives, we ask that you will forgive us and wash us anew in your blood. We ask that you will be that wall of fire around us as we build the wall as the body of Christ. We ask that you will be that wall of fire around us as we worship you and seek you first as you begin to bring forth a shift in the natural, and help us to remain steady in the things of you as you move us into a new season, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
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