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Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Priority In The Home January 15th Devotional by Keith Edwards
Read:
Ephesians 5:25
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
Also 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?)
It was late that one night, and my son looks up at me with those exciting eyes and says, "Daddy, will you play little cars with me?" I was thinking that I could do the usual and spend about five minutes with him just to get it over with. For some reason or another I spent about twenty minutes with him playing cars. Then I felt compelled to play chase around the house, and then I spent some quality time with my little nine year old girl. Then I felt like I needed to read the bible kids book to my kids, so I reached over to get the book and read to them for about twenty minutes. My little boy looked up at me with those huge colorful brown eyes, and he said with the most gentle voice, "I love it when you read the bible book to me Daddy." WoW! what a night. You know, I felt good though when I spent that quality time with my family. I had forgotten what I prayed for earlier that day. You know, "Lord I want to know your will?" Give me direction Lord! As I was on my way to work that night, the Lord began to discipline me. I don't ever cry, so for me to shed some tears was quite unusual. I shed alot of tears that night. The Lord began to show me where I was missing it in my time management. Although I was living a moral life and wasn't sinning in my personal life with lust or anything else like that, the Lord told me that my sin was not having a balance with my family. Many times we can even do good things, and our family is suffering right before us. Yet we are oblivious to it for some reason or another. We can be doing ministry and good things, but we need balance in our family. Ministry is in our home, and we need to set an example as Husbands and Fathers to our wife and children. I found myself working on my new Christian album, working on my ministry, and other things that was not a good balance in my own home. My wife was very excited and she called me later that night while I was at work and told me that God was dealing with her about some things because of the example I was showing to her. You may be at that place minister of God where you are too busy to spend quality time with your family. You may not necessarily be in full time ministry, but as a Father and Husband you are a Priest to your own home. Ministry is definitely in the home, and God can touch your life and set you on that course that you try and fulfill yourself apart from managing your family. Last thing in this devotion that I want to bring forth to you as we depart is the definition for manage here in 1 Timothy 3:5. It means to pay close attention to. I want you to reflect on this scripture today, and I encourage you to pray about time management in your own home.
prayer:
Lord we come to you in repentance for not watching over our family like we need to. We've done all but this one thing, and this is very important to you Lord. Help us to spend quality time with our family, and give us wisdom on how to make the changes in our lives. Amen.
Ephesians 5:25
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
Also 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?)
It was late that one night, and my son looks up at me with those exciting eyes and says, "Daddy, will you play little cars with me?" I was thinking that I could do the usual and spend about five minutes with him just to get it over with. For some reason or another I spent about twenty minutes with him playing cars. Then I felt compelled to play chase around the house, and then I spent some quality time with my little nine year old girl. Then I felt like I needed to read the bible kids book to my kids, so I reached over to get the book and read to them for about twenty minutes. My little boy looked up at me with those huge colorful brown eyes, and he said with the most gentle voice, "I love it when you read the bible book to me Daddy." WoW! what a night. You know, I felt good though when I spent that quality time with my family. I had forgotten what I prayed for earlier that day. You know, "Lord I want to know your will?" Give me direction Lord! As I was on my way to work that night, the Lord began to discipline me. I don't ever cry, so for me to shed some tears was quite unusual. I shed alot of tears that night. The Lord began to show me where I was missing it in my time management. Although I was living a moral life and wasn't sinning in my personal life with lust or anything else like that, the Lord told me that my sin was not having a balance with my family. Many times we can even do good things, and our family is suffering right before us. Yet we are oblivious to it for some reason or another. We can be doing ministry and good things, but we need balance in our family. Ministry is in our home, and we need to set an example as Husbands and Fathers to our wife and children. I found myself working on my new Christian album, working on my ministry, and other things that was not a good balance in my own home. My wife was very excited and she called me later that night while I was at work and told me that God was dealing with her about some things because of the example I was showing to her. You may be at that place minister of God where you are too busy to spend quality time with your family. You may not necessarily be in full time ministry, but as a Father and Husband you are a Priest to your own home. Ministry is definitely in the home, and God can touch your life and set you on that course that you try and fulfill yourself apart from managing your family. Last thing in this devotion that I want to bring forth to you as we depart is the definition for manage here in 1 Timothy 3:5. It means to pay close attention to. I want you to reflect on this scripture today, and I encourage you to pray about time management in your own home.
prayer:
Lord we come to you in repentance for not watching over our family like we need to. We've done all but this one thing, and this is very important to you Lord. Help us to spend quality time with our family, and give us wisdom on how to make the changes in our lives. Amen.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Being Able To Discern January 14th Devotional by Keith Edwards
Read:
12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
According to George Barna, 45 percent of all born-again Christians believe if people are good enough they can earn a place in heaven. This is a denial of the central issue of the Reformation, of which the born-again movement today is heir. Barna's research also shows that one-third of born-again Christians do not believe that Jesus was sinless or that He was bodily resurrected from the dead. That means that one-third of those who call themselves evangelicals deny the central belief of Christianity. Similarly, George Gallup reported in 1999 that 20 percent of self described born-again evangelicals believe in reincarnation, 26 percent in astrology, and 16 percent have visited fortuneteller. The Spiritual Marketplace, says that one-quarter of born-again baby boomers claim to communicate with the dead. I say we are living in some current dark ages, and God has been raising up some Martin Luther's in the church to bring forth a balance and repentance to the body of Christ. Another incident happened when a certain actor was on a christian television show, and this particular actor played in a Christian oriented show. But the fact noted on the Christian show that this particular actor is a new thought minister who believes, according to the Christian Research Institute (CRI), that every person is part of God(pantheism) and who rejects Christ's unique divinity and atoning sacrifice on the cross. According to the CRI report, She explained her spiritual beliefs while the host nodded approvingly and offered no objection or biblical perspective. The audience applauded and cheered as the false religion began to rise up more powerfully right in the middle of the church. Discernment? Where have we gone to church? It's time that we seek God's truth like never before, and it's time that we get back to the principals and elementary gospel so that we can righteously discern the mixture that has infiltrated the gospel.
Prayer:
Lord, forgive us. Forgive us for not being able to discern between good and evil. Let your spirit rise up within us, and let your word so fill our hearts that we will allow the Spirit of your Resurrection to reveal that which needs to be revealed and discerned, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
According to George Barna, 45 percent of all born-again Christians believe if people are good enough they can earn a place in heaven. This is a denial of the central issue of the Reformation, of which the born-again movement today is heir. Barna's research also shows that one-third of born-again Christians do not believe that Jesus was sinless or that He was bodily resurrected from the dead. That means that one-third of those who call themselves evangelicals deny the central belief of Christianity. Similarly, George Gallup reported in 1999 that 20 percent of self described born-again evangelicals believe in reincarnation, 26 percent in astrology, and 16 percent have visited fortuneteller. The Spiritual Marketplace, says that one-quarter of born-again baby boomers claim to communicate with the dead. I say we are living in some current dark ages, and God has been raising up some Martin Luther's in the church to bring forth a balance and repentance to the body of Christ. Another incident happened when a certain actor was on a christian television show, and this particular actor played in a Christian oriented show. But the fact noted on the Christian show that this particular actor is a new thought minister who believes, according to the Christian Research Institute (CRI), that every person is part of God(pantheism) and who rejects Christ's unique divinity and atoning sacrifice on the cross. According to the CRI report, She explained her spiritual beliefs while the host nodded approvingly and offered no objection or biblical perspective. The audience applauded and cheered as the false religion began to rise up more powerfully right in the middle of the church. Discernment? Where have we gone to church? It's time that we seek God's truth like never before, and it's time that we get back to the principals and elementary gospel so that we can righteously discern the mixture that has infiltrated the gospel.
Prayer:
Lord, forgive us. Forgive us for not being able to discern between good and evil. Let your spirit rise up within us, and let your word so fill our hearts that we will allow the Spirit of your Resurrection to reveal that which needs to be revealed and discerned, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Monday, January 13, 2014
From A Mess To A Message March 13th Weekly Devotional by Keith Edwards
Read:
John 15:1-4
1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
One day my son and I were at the park we would go to quite frequently. He was only four at the time, and at the back part of this park were some tractors and old trucks that were fenced in at an old truck parts junkyard. Me and my son would walk up this big hill and you could see his eyes get big as saucers as he would stare in amazement. One day there was this one truck that actually had some grass growing out of the bed of the truck. My son said, "Daddy, how can something grow in something so dirty?" Immediately, I thought about us. God took a sinner like us who had a dirty old truck bed, and God came and made something out of us. Our mess became a message. He takes us and makes us brand new in Him in the born again experience. That ole' truck bed becomes a new Christ bed and God plants new seeds in us rooted in His word. It's not all about us anymore, but it's all about him. You see, we were so self-centered before we met the Lord, and now that we have been saved we need to allow our lives and our mind, will, and emotions to tap deep into that place with Christ. We need to remain in Christ as one with Him. But Oh! there are times as Christians when we start allowing some things to come in our lives. We begin to stop growing as a christian and lose focus. We plant different things in our soul that is not good. It's like that ole' truck bed. When we get to this place in our lives, We can let God heal us and bring us back to a deeper relationship with Him. We can find that place in Him again that is birthed from our spirit instead of the soulish things that we created ourselves. Friend if you have gotten to this place just remember that your mess can become a message, and your tests can become a testimony. God can bring forth restoration for you today. Oh! but how it hurts when he disciplines us to bear fruit again, when He prunes us to bear more fruit in our lives. We have run away with our own agenda and tried to get impatient as we walk this Christian walk in our own way at times as children of God. This brings us to our next but last thing. As I turn around I can see my Son running ahead of me. He knows better than to leave me like that, so I say, "Son! get back over here this instant!" Let's get real. How many times do we run ahead of Him exploring our gifts and talents our self. How many times do we find that without God holding our hand and guiding us we would get frustrated at times because we have lost our Daddy God. Let's let God hold our hand today as we walk out our Christian walk. We can walk with our Daddy God and experience the great things that we long to see with Him. Do you have a mess in your life from maybe a tragedy or trauma in your life, and you don't know what in the world your going to do. Look to your Father God today and let Him heal you and pull any weeds or grass out of your ole' soul and find that root again that is deep within your spirit.
prayer:
Lord we come to you in your mighty name and ask that you pull any rocks and weeds out of our soul that shouldn't be there. We need your touch today Lord in a mighty way. We know that it's going to hurt when you start to pull the weeds and grass that we planted our self, but we know that we can't bear fruit in the right way without you being our everything. We are sorry Daddy God for running without you at times, and we long to hold your hand today as you take us down the path of your ways. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
John 15:1-4
1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
One day my son and I were at the park we would go to quite frequently. He was only four at the time, and at the back part of this park were some tractors and old trucks that were fenced in at an old truck parts junkyard. Me and my son would walk up this big hill and you could see his eyes get big as saucers as he would stare in amazement. One day there was this one truck that actually had some grass growing out of the bed of the truck. My son said, "Daddy, how can something grow in something so dirty?" Immediately, I thought about us. God took a sinner like us who had a dirty old truck bed, and God came and made something out of us. Our mess became a message. He takes us and makes us brand new in Him in the born again experience. That ole' truck bed becomes a new Christ bed and God plants new seeds in us rooted in His word. It's not all about us anymore, but it's all about him. You see, we were so self-centered before we met the Lord, and now that we have been saved we need to allow our lives and our mind, will, and emotions to tap deep into that place with Christ. We need to remain in Christ as one with Him. But Oh! there are times as Christians when we start allowing some things to come in our lives. We begin to stop growing as a christian and lose focus. We plant different things in our soul that is not good. It's like that ole' truck bed. When we get to this place in our lives, We can let God heal us and bring us back to a deeper relationship with Him. We can find that place in Him again that is birthed from our spirit instead of the soulish things that we created ourselves. Friend if you have gotten to this place just remember that your mess can become a message, and your tests can become a testimony. God can bring forth restoration for you today. Oh! but how it hurts when he disciplines us to bear fruit again, when He prunes us to bear more fruit in our lives. We have run away with our own agenda and tried to get impatient as we walk this Christian walk in our own way at times as children of God. This brings us to our next but last thing. As I turn around I can see my Son running ahead of me. He knows better than to leave me like that, so I say, "Son! get back over here this instant!" Let's get real. How many times do we run ahead of Him exploring our gifts and talents our self. How many times do we find that without God holding our hand and guiding us we would get frustrated at times because we have lost our Daddy God. Let's let God hold our hand today as we walk out our Christian walk. We can walk with our Daddy God and experience the great things that we long to see with Him. Do you have a mess in your life from maybe a tragedy or trauma in your life, and you don't know what in the world your going to do. Look to your Father God today and let Him heal you and pull any weeds or grass out of your ole' soul and find that root again that is deep within your spirit.
prayer:
Lord we come to you in your mighty name and ask that you pull any rocks and weeds out of our soul that shouldn't be there. We need your touch today Lord in a mighty way. We know that it's going to hurt when you start to pull the weeds and grass that we planted our self, but we know that we can't bear fruit in the right way without you being our everything. We are sorry Daddy God for running without you at times, and we long to hold your hand today as you take us down the path of your ways. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Sunday, January 12, 2014
To Hear Your Hearbeat March 20th Weekly Devotional
Read:
John 21:17
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. 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? Do we love Him more than the ministry that even God has called us to? This answers the question of why those in some of the prophetic or other type minisries get off balance. We have seen this happen over the years with the new prophetic move. They love the prophetic and their own ministry more than Christ Himself. They may not admit it and deny it, but its true. There are those that truly have a deliverance ministry, and they get caught up in the middle of uneccessary warfare that has nothing to do with true warfare. It is a distraction and God wants us to do a checkup from the neckup. We need to judge ourselves. 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
John 21:17
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. 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? Do we love Him more than the ministry that even God has called us to? This answers the question of why those in some of the prophetic or other type minisries get off balance. We have seen this happen over the years with the new prophetic move. They love the prophetic and their own ministry more than Christ Himself. They may not admit it and deny it, but its true. There are those that truly have a deliverance ministry, and they get caught up in the middle of uneccessary warfare that has nothing to do with true warfare. It is a distraction and God wants us to do a checkup from the neckup. We need to judge ourselves. 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
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Guarding That Deposit March 27th Weekly Devotional by Keith Edwards
Read:
2 timothy 1:13,14
13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us
Whenever you have a treasure, there is always a thief. The enemy wants to destroy the word from our mind and soul that we lay down as foundation. Our mind, will, and emotions need to line up with the very Christ within us, and Satan wants nothing more than to totally stop us in our tracks as a believer. These current dark ages we are living in is bringing us to a place where we need to shine the light of Jesus to others like never before, and I feel like God wants us to beware of the enemy today in these dark ages we face. One night at work I was meditating on this scripture, and it seemed like the Lord spoke to my heart about this. He said, " Son, be very careful. Many are watching your every move, and the enemy wants to steal that treasure from you so that you won't be effective to those around you. Guard that word son with extreme caution, and don't let the enemy steal it even for one second. Keep watch!" This is what the Lord wants for you today. I don't know how much of the word you have been storing up in your mind, will, and emotions, but be very careful to guard it with all diligence. The bible also says for us to guard our heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life. Entrusted in the Greek is paratheke, and the definition is a deposit, and used of correct knowledge and pure doctrine of the gospel. Treasure in the Greek is Kalos, and the definition for treasure is beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life. As a living epistle, we need to be the reflection of Christ Jesus and make His name attractive to those who don't have that name. We need to shine forth His truth to those who need truth, and we need to shine forth the love of Christ for those who don't understand or don't know His love. We are carriers of the very attributes of God, and He has made a deposit of all of the attributes in our inner spirit where we have been born again. We are sanctified through spiritual growth, and spiritual foundation is established in our soul. I want to encourage you today to hold on to the word of God with all diligence, and be that light to a dark and deceptive world. Many need to see some of that treasure that has been entrusted to you.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will help us by the help of the Holy Spirit to guard that good treasure that has been deposited in us. Help us to renew our mind to the word, and help us to be that living epistle to those around us, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
2 timothy 1:13,14
13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us
Whenever you have a treasure, there is always a thief. The enemy wants to destroy the word from our mind and soul that we lay down as foundation. Our mind, will, and emotions need to line up with the very Christ within us, and Satan wants nothing more than to totally stop us in our tracks as a believer. These current dark ages we are living in is bringing us to a place where we need to shine the light of Jesus to others like never before, and I feel like God wants us to beware of the enemy today in these dark ages we face. One night at work I was meditating on this scripture, and it seemed like the Lord spoke to my heart about this. He said, " Son, be very careful. Many are watching your every move, and the enemy wants to steal that treasure from you so that you won't be effective to those around you. Guard that word son with extreme caution, and don't let the enemy steal it even for one second. Keep watch!" This is what the Lord wants for you today. I don't know how much of the word you have been storing up in your mind, will, and emotions, but be very careful to guard it with all diligence. The bible also says for us to guard our heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life. Entrusted in the Greek is paratheke, and the definition is a deposit, and used of correct knowledge and pure doctrine of the gospel. Treasure in the Greek is Kalos, and the definition for treasure is beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life. As a living epistle, we need to be the reflection of Christ Jesus and make His name attractive to those who don't have that name. We need to shine forth His truth to those who need truth, and we need to shine forth the love of Christ for those who don't understand or don't know His love. We are carriers of the very attributes of God, and He has made a deposit of all of the attributes in our inner spirit where we have been born again. We are sanctified through spiritual growth, and spiritual foundation is established in our soul. I want to encourage you today to hold on to the word of God with all diligence, and be that light to a dark and deceptive world. Many need to see some of that treasure that has been entrusted to you.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you will help us by the help of the Holy Spirit to guard that good treasure that has been deposited in us. Help us to renew our mind to the word, and help us to be that living epistle to those around us, Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Friday, January 10, 2014
Time To Bind Together April 3rd Weekly Devotional
em>Read:
Acts 2:42-47
42And they continued steadfast in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
44And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
A Pastor said one day that the church would be alright if it were not for people. This sounds kind of humorous, but the way we act sometimes, including some ministers, we would think that the church is all about me and not we. Someone said one time, "To live above with those we love will be full of glory, but to live below with those we know we'll, that's another story." God never attended for us to be that Lone Ranger type christian who sits in there 8X8 closet and that is the only fellowship that they have. For so many years I spent more time by myself just in my own little world studying. There is definitely nothing wrong with this when done in balance. We need that quality time in our prayer closet. The secret to a successful life of a believer is the success of there secret life in the prayer closet. This will build character and cause the anointing of God to increase in our lives. But we need the fellowship of other believers in the church. This is how God builds. God builds in three ways. He builds by revelation, relationally, and by generation. All throughout the bible God was looking after His holy seed for the coming messiah. After Christ came He was a seed for all of humanity through all ages, and that seed was by generation. God also builds by revelation. Jesus asked His disciples one day, "Who do men say that I am?" Some said this and some said that, but Peter spoke and said with power and revelation, "You are the Christ the Son of the living God!" This was by revelation of who Jesus was as God the Son. The third way God builds is very important for us as believers. He builds relationally. There is such a power in cell groups, prayer meetings, and bible studies branched from the home church itself. I can remember back two years ago when we had a prayer meeting, worship music, and bible study in the basement of a minister friend of mine. God move miraculously. There were some healed, delivered, and set free by the power of God. The minister's wife prayed for a young girl who had breast cancer. The young girl's mom come running in to her office crying. She said I know you believe in miracles, and I'm pleading with you to pray with us. Will you? She said yes let's pray. She laid her hands on her and the mom took her young daughter to the doctor and they couldn't find a trace of that cancer. Many other things happened there. I can remember just leading worship and lifting Jesus up. You see, when you lift Jesus up together in unity, things will happen. So many Christians get caught up in lifting miracles and other things up instead of lifting Christ Jesus up. We need each other. I want to encourage you today to get connected and plugged in to your home church like never before. Yes it's going to make your flesh go crazy. One revelation that helps when I feel the pressure of connecting to believers in a more powerful way is realizing that it's the enemy that don't want you to get connected. He knows the power in it. Don't try and fight the body of Christ when this happens. This is how the enemy works. The devil hates relationships and always will. Will you say with me today, "I am a part of the body of Christ, and I will get connected like never before with bible studies, corporate worship, and other ways in the church." I want to encourage this day to re-focus on how God builds.
prayer:
Lord we come to you in your mighty name. We know that the enemy hates anything to do with you Lord and the fellowship of believers. We know that we need to bind together as a body of believers like never before. Help us Lord to plug in greater than ever with the body of Christ and help us pick up a stone as living stones and carry it back with the other stones of other believers if we have strayed away with our own little stone. We long to be a part of the building of the temple. Lord we also pray for our youth. We understand Lord that if you tarry the youth will be the next generation. God we lift up our youth pastor's today, and we pray protection upon this generation in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Acts 2:42-47
42And they continued steadfast in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
44And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
A Pastor said one day that the church would be alright if it were not for people. This sounds kind of humorous, but the way we act sometimes, including some ministers, we would think that the church is all about me and not we. Someone said one time, "To live above with those we love will be full of glory, but to live below with those we know we'll, that's another story." God never attended for us to be that Lone Ranger type christian who sits in there 8X8 closet and that is the only fellowship that they have. For so many years I spent more time by myself just in my own little world studying. There is definitely nothing wrong with this when done in balance. We need that quality time in our prayer closet. The secret to a successful life of a believer is the success of there secret life in the prayer closet. This will build character and cause the anointing of God to increase in our lives. But we need the fellowship of other believers in the church. This is how God builds. God builds in three ways. He builds by revelation, relationally, and by generation. All throughout the bible God was looking after His holy seed for the coming messiah. After Christ came He was a seed for all of humanity through all ages, and that seed was by generation. God also builds by revelation. Jesus asked His disciples one day, "Who do men say that I am?" Some said this and some said that, but Peter spoke and said with power and revelation, "You are the Christ the Son of the living God!" This was by revelation of who Jesus was as God the Son. The third way God builds is very important for us as believers. He builds relationally. There is such a power in cell groups, prayer meetings, and bible studies branched from the home church itself. I can remember back two years ago when we had a prayer meeting, worship music, and bible study in the basement of a minister friend of mine. God move miraculously. There were some healed, delivered, and set free by the power of God. The minister's wife prayed for a young girl who had breast cancer. The young girl's mom come running in to her office crying. She said I know you believe in miracles, and I'm pleading with you to pray with us. Will you? She said yes let's pray. She laid her hands on her and the mom took her young daughter to the doctor and they couldn't find a trace of that cancer. Many other things happened there. I can remember just leading worship and lifting Jesus up. You see, when you lift Jesus up together in unity, things will happen. So many Christians get caught up in lifting miracles and other things up instead of lifting Christ Jesus up. We need each other. I want to encourage you today to get connected and plugged in to your home church like never before. Yes it's going to make your flesh go crazy. One revelation that helps when I feel the pressure of connecting to believers in a more powerful way is realizing that it's the enemy that don't want you to get connected. He knows the power in it. Don't try and fight the body of Christ when this happens. This is how the enemy works. The devil hates relationships and always will. Will you say with me today, "I am a part of the body of Christ, and I will get connected like never before with bible studies, corporate worship, and other ways in the church." I want to encourage this day to re-focus on how God builds.
prayer:
Lord we come to you in your mighty name. We know that the enemy hates anything to do with you Lord and the fellowship of believers. We know that we need to bind together as a body of believers like never before. Help us Lord to plug in greater than ever with the body of Christ and help us pick up a stone as living stones and carry it back with the other stones of other believers if we have strayed away with our own little stone. We long to be a part of the building of the temple. Lord we also pray for our youth. We understand Lord that if you tarry the youth will be the next generation. God we lift up our youth pastor's today, and we pray protection upon this generation in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Crippled Love April 10th Weekly Devotional by Keith Edwards
Read:
Ephesians 5:2
2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Also Read:
1 Corinthians 3:11
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
One day while I was at work some Jehovah's witnesses came to my home. My wife was unloading her car when they approached her. They asked if they could talk with her for a while about what they believed, but my wife said, "no, I'm a Christian, but my husband would love to talk with you..lol. My wife set me up. She wanted me to convert them. She set a time for Monday, and I thought this would be a good time just to listen to what they had to say and see where they were coming from. I made some coffee and here they came right on time. He was in a wheel chair and was pulling himself up on to my porch and to my front door. I reached down to help him but he insisted that he was alright and he would make it by himself. He had a young convert with him who was probably in his early twenty's. I pulled a couple of chairs out for them, and got them something to drink while I sat there and just listened to him talk. Being in bible college I studied about all of the different types of other religions, cults etc. and was prepared. They came to my house for about a month, and after hearing him talk for that whole month, he asked me if I had any questions? As I took another sip of my coffee, I said, "Yes, I have a few questions. First of all, I want to bring to the table who Charles Taze Russell really was, and how the prophecy of 1914 which claimed that Jesus would personally establish His kingdom then never came to pass as the prophecy claimed it would. While still in his teens and without formal theological education, Russell organized a Bible class whose members eventually made him "pastor." Before 1914, the Watchtower was predicting that God's Kingdom was to be set up on earth (not in heaven) in 1914! He said, " I'll have to look that up. Any other questions? Yes! Also, why did the Jehovah's witnesses take out the word God in John 1:1 and insert "a god" in there? He couldn't answer me, and that young kid was so confused as to what to say. He looked at me with such a hurt and said, "You protestant Christians are not who you claim to be! He began to proceed by telling me how he lost his legs. He told me that when he was in his teens, he got involved in a train accident and lost both of his legs. He told me that not one Christian from his church came to visit him, but one day he heard a knock on the door and there stood the Jehovah's witnesses extending their love to him. I was deeply touched by what he said, and told him that I am so sorry that this happened. I did pray with the two of them in Jesus name, and I told him that I understand your hurt, but there are Christians out there that do extend the love of Christ to the hurting. He got upset and told his convert to pack up and get out of here. I helped him out the door. Crippled love? How many of us as Christians reach out to a hurting generation. I know that I need to do more of this, and it's a shame for us to let the hurting reach out to crippled religions because they are doing more than we are concerning this. I want to exhort us today to reach out to the hurting. They are all around, and we can find ministry in a million places if we just open our eyes.
Prayer:
Lord forgive us. As Christians we've done all but walk in love to a hurting generation. Help us to walk in love and show forth your heart to those around us. We long to be the church that you desire for us to be. Turn our crippled love to a pure love in your name we pray. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Ephesians 5:2
2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Also Read:
1 Corinthians 3:11
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
One day while I was at work some Jehovah's witnesses came to my home. My wife was unloading her car when they approached her. They asked if they could talk with her for a while about what they believed, but my wife said, "no, I'm a Christian, but my husband would love to talk with you..lol. My wife set me up. She wanted me to convert them. She set a time for Monday, and I thought this would be a good time just to listen to what they had to say and see where they were coming from. I made some coffee and here they came right on time. He was in a wheel chair and was pulling himself up on to my porch and to my front door. I reached down to help him but he insisted that he was alright and he would make it by himself. He had a young convert with him who was probably in his early twenty's. I pulled a couple of chairs out for them, and got them something to drink while I sat there and just listened to him talk. Being in bible college I studied about all of the different types of other religions, cults etc. and was prepared. They came to my house for about a month, and after hearing him talk for that whole month, he asked me if I had any questions? As I took another sip of my coffee, I said, "Yes, I have a few questions. First of all, I want to bring to the table who Charles Taze Russell really was, and how the prophecy of 1914 which claimed that Jesus would personally establish His kingdom then never came to pass as the prophecy claimed it would. While still in his teens and without formal theological education, Russell organized a Bible class whose members eventually made him "pastor." Before 1914, the Watchtower was predicting that God's Kingdom was to be set up on earth (not in heaven) in 1914! He said, " I'll have to look that up. Any other questions? Yes! Also, why did the Jehovah's witnesses take out the word God in John 1:1 and insert "a god" in there? He couldn't answer me, and that young kid was so confused as to what to say. He looked at me with such a hurt and said, "You protestant Christians are not who you claim to be! He began to proceed by telling me how he lost his legs. He told me that when he was in his teens, he got involved in a train accident and lost both of his legs. He told me that not one Christian from his church came to visit him, but one day he heard a knock on the door and there stood the Jehovah's witnesses extending their love to him. I was deeply touched by what he said, and told him that I am so sorry that this happened. I did pray with the two of them in Jesus name, and I told him that I understand your hurt, but there are Christians out there that do extend the love of Christ to the hurting. He got upset and told his convert to pack up and get out of here. I helped him out the door. Crippled love? How many of us as Christians reach out to a hurting generation. I know that I need to do more of this, and it's a shame for us to let the hurting reach out to crippled religions because they are doing more than we are concerning this. I want to exhort us today to reach out to the hurting. They are all around, and we can find ministry in a million places if we just open our eyes.
Prayer:
Lord forgive us. As Christians we've done all but walk in love to a hurting generation. Help us to walk in love and show forth your heart to those around us. We long to be the church that you desire for us to be. Turn our crippled love to a pure love in your name we pray. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Be Not Shaken In The shaking April 17th Weekly Devotional by Keith Edwards
Read:
Hebrews 12:26-28
26And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying,YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."
27This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
We are living in a time and season when our economy is collapsing right before our eyes. In 2008 I was praying about our economy and nation. I was very discouraged in what has already been happening and was meditating on the scriptures in psalms to find strength in what is about to take place. I don’t have any direct answers to what is going to come about, but I do have a word that I feel God gave me to strengthen me in the shaking that is going on in our nation. I heard the word “Be Not Shaken In The Shaking” The Lord is doing a shaking in the motives of the hearts of his people, and the Lord is allowing some shaking to take place in the stock market and deceptions of the Kings and leaders that are leading us. God is unveiling some things, and it is a shaking that is very scary but needful. I asked the Lord, “What do we do in this time?” I felt like the Lord told me that He is doing a shaking in not only the world, but his people. If you look at the whole book of Hebrews chapter 12, you will see that God wants us to run the race with endurance, put our total focus on Christ everyday through our devotion, and receive His discipline. The Greek word for discipline is paideia, and the definition is to cultivate the soul by correcting mistakes and curbing passions. God wants our spirit, soul, and our body to be in balance. It also says in Hebrews chapter 12 that without holiness no one will see the Lord. The greek word for see here in this verse is harao, and it means to become acquainted with by experience. This pertains to a sanctifying growth of grace mixed with God's discipline. Ouch! and man that discipline can hurt at times but it will make us trained to follow the Lord each and everyday shining the light of Jesus before the world. So we see that God wants us to endure, focus on Christ, and receive His discipline in the shaking that flows through His body of believers. The greatest revelation that we need in our christian walk with the Lord is realizing that God's Kingdom is a Kingdom that absolutely cannot be shaken. When we place our faith in that foundation, it will set our mind, will, and emotions in alignment to the things of God. It will also put this crazy flesh under subjection. Can I just be transparent with you right now? There are days that I just want to "flesh out" so to speak. But I have found that each and everyday is such a special day with the Lord, and we don't want to miss a day without seeing and experiencing a growth with the Lord. You can make it today by focusing on the one that can lift you up by His grace and set you in that place with Him. You may feel like throwing in the towel today, but don't do it. Focus on the one that loves you and cares for you. Don't grow weary in well doing. It gets exhausting at times, but those times are the times where we need to fall down at the the feet of Jesus and let him share with us that drink of living waters that quenches the very thirst we feel at times in this race we run. As I was praying about the upcoming years, I feel like the Lord is in the process of getting anything out of His body that would harm us in the days ahead, getting our steps firm in His strength and direction, firm in understanding His Kingdom to the fullest degree, and firm in His love. He’s rooting out all of the weeds and rocks out of our soul, and He’s making us strong in His word placing our soul firm upon His foundation. This is what the Lord is doing to those who are of His kingdom. Then I heard the word “THRIVE” I felt like the Lord wants us to thrive no matter what is going on around the world. However, God wants us to be careful with our finances, and concentrate on things that don’t have the value of money, but rather the value of time with the family, home church, and friends. The Lord wants us to spend quality time with our family. The Lord also wants us to remember that America was founded upon Christian principles, and that should never be forgotten. Those principles still live on today. Many will shed tears upon the mighty dollar and that’s as far as those tears will drop, but many will look to God in the shaking and will cry out to Him tears that are needful. I believe that some leaders will soon look to Christian leaders whom have stood the test in moral character, and they will ask for advice in the tragedy that we are facing. The Lord doesn’t want us to let up on doing the things of His Kingdom, but plug in greater than ever in our home church. God can bring forth a great revival in our land, but before great revival can begin, great repentance needs to be born from within His people. He’s judging the intents and the motives of His people greater than He has have ever judged them, and He doesn’t want greed to be in His people. This is 2010, and this year and the upcoming years need to be a year of repentance and order in our Christian walk. As the world gets hit with earthquakes, fires, and other disasters, we need to live like the days of Joseph in the seven year famine, but what we need for the current dark ages that we are facing concerning the sound word of God is the word of God in our hearts as foundation. We also need to pray for Jerusalem like never before, and pray that the United States will stand behind Jerusalem as the state capitol. Many want to destroy and divide Jerusalem, but God is for Jerusalem. If we let up on support and prayer for Israel, then that will make Israel vulnerable from other countries. Are you tired today and feel like there is no hope in sight? There is hope, and that hope is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I also heard the words “GO TO THE ROCK” from the book of psalms.
Psalms 62:6
6He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
Psalms 27:5
5For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
prayer:
Lord we get at your feet right now in prayer. We need you to show us a fresh anointing of your love in this time that we are in. We repent Lord for any weights or sins we shouldn't be carrying upon our back, and we give you our whole life in Jesus name, Amen.
Hebrews 12:26-28
26And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying,YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."
27This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
We are living in a time and season when our economy is collapsing right before our eyes. In 2008 I was praying about our economy and nation. I was very discouraged in what has already been happening and was meditating on the scriptures in psalms to find strength in what is about to take place. I don’t have any direct answers to what is going to come about, but I do have a word that I feel God gave me to strengthen me in the shaking that is going on in our nation. I heard the word “Be Not Shaken In The Shaking” The Lord is doing a shaking in the motives of the hearts of his people, and the Lord is allowing some shaking to take place in the stock market and deceptions of the Kings and leaders that are leading us. God is unveiling some things, and it is a shaking that is very scary but needful. I asked the Lord, “What do we do in this time?” I felt like the Lord told me that He is doing a shaking in not only the world, but his people. If you look at the whole book of Hebrews chapter 12, you will see that God wants us to run the race with endurance, put our total focus on Christ everyday through our devotion, and receive His discipline. The Greek word for discipline is paideia, and the definition is to cultivate the soul by correcting mistakes and curbing passions. God wants our spirit, soul, and our body to be in balance. It also says in Hebrews chapter 12 that without holiness no one will see the Lord. The greek word for see here in this verse is harao, and it means to become acquainted with by experience. This pertains to a sanctifying growth of grace mixed with God's discipline. Ouch! and man that discipline can hurt at times but it will make us trained to follow the Lord each and everyday shining the light of Jesus before the world. So we see that God wants us to endure, focus on Christ, and receive His discipline in the shaking that flows through His body of believers. The greatest revelation that we need in our christian walk with the Lord is realizing that God's Kingdom is a Kingdom that absolutely cannot be shaken. When we place our faith in that foundation, it will set our mind, will, and emotions in alignment to the things of God. It will also put this crazy flesh under subjection. Can I just be transparent with you right now? There are days that I just want to "flesh out" so to speak. But I have found that each and everyday is such a special day with the Lord, and we don't want to miss a day without seeing and experiencing a growth with the Lord. You can make it today by focusing on the one that can lift you up by His grace and set you in that place with Him. You may feel like throwing in the towel today, but don't do it. Focus on the one that loves you and cares for you. Don't grow weary in well doing. It gets exhausting at times, but those times are the times where we need to fall down at the the feet of Jesus and let him share with us that drink of living waters that quenches the very thirst we feel at times in this race we run. As I was praying about the upcoming years, I feel like the Lord is in the process of getting anything out of His body that would harm us in the days ahead, getting our steps firm in His strength and direction, firm in understanding His Kingdom to the fullest degree, and firm in His love. He’s rooting out all of the weeds and rocks out of our soul, and He’s making us strong in His word placing our soul firm upon His foundation. This is what the Lord is doing to those who are of His kingdom. Then I heard the word “THRIVE” I felt like the Lord wants us to thrive no matter what is going on around the world. However, God wants us to be careful with our finances, and concentrate on things that don’t have the value of money, but rather the value of time with the family, home church, and friends. The Lord wants us to spend quality time with our family. The Lord also wants us to remember that America was founded upon Christian principles, and that should never be forgotten. Those principles still live on today. Many will shed tears upon the mighty dollar and that’s as far as those tears will drop, but many will look to God in the shaking and will cry out to Him tears that are needful. I believe that some leaders will soon look to Christian leaders whom have stood the test in moral character, and they will ask for advice in the tragedy that we are facing. The Lord doesn’t want us to let up on doing the things of His Kingdom, but plug in greater than ever in our home church. God can bring forth a great revival in our land, but before great revival can begin, great repentance needs to be born from within His people. He’s judging the intents and the motives of His people greater than He has have ever judged them, and He doesn’t want greed to be in His people. This is 2010, and this year and the upcoming years need to be a year of repentance and order in our Christian walk. As the world gets hit with earthquakes, fires, and other disasters, we need to live like the days of Joseph in the seven year famine, but what we need for the current dark ages that we are facing concerning the sound word of God is the word of God in our hearts as foundation. We also need to pray for Jerusalem like never before, and pray that the United States will stand behind Jerusalem as the state capitol. Many want to destroy and divide Jerusalem, but God is for Jerusalem. If we let up on support and prayer for Israel, then that will make Israel vulnerable from other countries. Are you tired today and feel like there is no hope in sight? There is hope, and that hope is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I also heard the words “GO TO THE ROCK” from the book of psalms.
Psalms 62:6
6He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
Psalms 27:5
5For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
prayer:
Lord we get at your feet right now in prayer. We need you to show us a fresh anointing of your love in this time that we are in. We repent Lord for any weights or sins we shouldn't be carrying upon our back, and we give you our whole life in Jesus name, Amen.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Daddy, You Still Love Me? June 19th Weekly Devotional by Keith Edwards
Daddy! You Still Love Me? June 19th 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.
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.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Refine Me Oh Lord! June 26th Weekly Devotional by Keith Edwards
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
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
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Where's the Proof July 17th Weekly Devotional by Keith Edwards
Read:
Hebrews 11:3
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
I can remember back about six years ago playing racquetball, and played some tournaments getting a chance to meet different people from doctors, lawyers, Police officers etc. One particular day I went to work out and hit some ball a little at the gym and an attorney was there wanting to hit. We call it "hit" as a racquetball term. We played for an hour or so and came out of the court to sit down and shoot the breeze. On his shirt was written in big letters, "EVOLUTION" and thought this would be a good chance to witness. I asked the opening rhetorical question, "So, do you believe in God?" "No! I believe in evolution." I asked him if he thinks that evolution is science. His response was, "Oh yes, without a doubt!" and then asked him to tell me a time that scientists proved by observation and repeatable experimentation that evolution really exists, and I mentioned to him that there is an evolution that does exist and that's to change from one species to another species of the "same" kind. There is micro evolution and then there is macro evolution, but the other type of evolution has not and cannot exist as of today. Scientists have even tried to do it and it became mutated and fizzled out to destroy their conclusion. We talked for probably an hour, and my last statement to him was, "Id rather tell my kids that there are angels and there is a God then to tuck them in at night with no hope whatsoever after this life. I don't know exactly what my message to him did, but I'm sure it made him think just a little. How many times do we just accept something because we think that it is real. One day my little girl asked me the question, "Daddy! if evolution does exist, then why didn't the monkey's stop being monkeys?" That's a good question. In bible college we studied a little theology, and I can remember studying about God. The word for how God was always there and was not created is a word that means, "God Needs Nothing To Exist" and even though we can't necessarily prove that evolution or God exists by science doesn't mean that God doesn't exist. It is by faith that many believe in evolution, and it is by faith that we believe in Christ Jesus as our Lord. All throughout the old testament there are prophecies after prophecies about Jesus. It talks about where Jesus would be born, how Jesus would be crucified, the manner of Jesus' death, and God speaks in Genesis 3:15 about Jesus destroying the power of the devil by the seed. Even historians from the past that didn't necessarily believe in God documents that the words spoke about Jesus did come to past to the letter. Scientists can prove that there were earthquakes and other things that did happen according to the bible. I encourage you today to not just accept something because someone else says it, but accept the word of God that He is the only true and living God of our universe.
prayer:
Lord, even though we can't put you in a glass tube and study you, we know that you exist by faith. Help us Lord to walk this walk with your hand in our hand, and help us to increase in faith of your Son Jesus. We ask that you would give us the words to say to those that don't believe in you, and help us to continue on in what we believe. Amen.
Hebrews 11:3
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
I can remember back about six years ago playing racquetball, and played some tournaments getting a chance to meet different people from doctors, lawyers, Police officers etc. One particular day I went to work out and hit some ball a little at the gym and an attorney was there wanting to hit. We call it "hit" as a racquetball term. We played for an hour or so and came out of the court to sit down and shoot the breeze. On his shirt was written in big letters, "EVOLUTION" and thought this would be a good chance to witness. I asked the opening rhetorical question, "So, do you believe in God?" "No! I believe in evolution." I asked him if he thinks that evolution is science. His response was, "Oh yes, without a doubt!" and then asked him to tell me a time that scientists proved by observation and repeatable experimentation that evolution really exists, and I mentioned to him that there is an evolution that does exist and that's to change from one species to another species of the "same" kind. There is micro evolution and then there is macro evolution, but the other type of evolution has not and cannot exist as of today. Scientists have even tried to do it and it became mutated and fizzled out to destroy their conclusion. We talked for probably an hour, and my last statement to him was, "Id rather tell my kids that there are angels and there is a God then to tuck them in at night with no hope whatsoever after this life. I don't know exactly what my message to him did, but I'm sure it made him think just a little. How many times do we just accept something because we think that it is real. One day my little girl asked me the question, "Daddy! if evolution does exist, then why didn't the monkey's stop being monkeys?" That's a good question. In bible college we studied a little theology, and I can remember studying about God. The word for how God was always there and was not created is a word that means, "God Needs Nothing To Exist" and even though we can't necessarily prove that evolution or God exists by science doesn't mean that God doesn't exist. It is by faith that many believe in evolution, and it is by faith that we believe in Christ Jesus as our Lord. All throughout the old testament there are prophecies after prophecies about Jesus. It talks about where Jesus would be born, how Jesus would be crucified, the manner of Jesus' death, and God speaks in Genesis 3:15 about Jesus destroying the power of the devil by the seed. Even historians from the past that didn't necessarily believe in God documents that the words spoke about Jesus did come to past to the letter. Scientists can prove that there were earthquakes and other things that did happen according to the bible. I encourage you today to not just accept something because someone else says it, but accept the word of God that He is the only true and living God of our universe.
prayer:
Lord, even though we can't put you in a glass tube and study you, we know that you exist by faith. Help us Lord to walk this walk with your hand in our hand, and help us to increase in faith of your Son Jesus. We ask that you would give us the words to say to those that don't believe in you, and help us to continue on in what we believe. Amen.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Being Fruitful In The Land Of Famine July 24th Weekly Devotionaly by Keith Edwards
Read: Genesis 41:33-36 33 "And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. 36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine." Also Read: Psalms 119:11 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. We are living in a time where are nation is crumbling before the eyes of the church. The problem is that most of the church don't even know that the church is in need of the sound word of God. We have a lot of television minister's that minister the word of God, but with a mixture of greed and pride. The only thing this does is bring forth a deception that we are totally alright with no need of repentance as the body of Christ. I believe we are living in a time where a great famine of the word of God is going to come stronger upon our nation, yet the candy coated messages from many preachers will become stronger as well. The messages will be mixed with more humanistic teachings and the sheep of God will become so thirsty for the pure word of God like never before. Joseph had two sons. One was named Manasseh, meaning God has caused me to forget, and the other is Ephraim, meaning God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. I want us today to realize that God wants us to store the word of God in our hearts for the famine that will get stronger in the years to come. The bible says to hide the word of God in our hearts that we may not sin against God, and we see many sinning today by lack of sound doctrine. Joseph told Pharaoh to put a wise man and overseers over the land of Egypt and store up food for the famine that will come upon the land. I believe that God has raised up true teachers in the past few years to speak to the body of Christ as a whole through Internet ministry and other means. I believe that the message from true minister's of God has touched many, and there will be some that will repent during the famine of the word of God in our nation. I want to encourage you today to listen to the greatest wise man who ever lived who is Jesus Christ, and listen to the voices of true teachers who are speaking and storing fresh words from heaven for the days we are living in and the days to come. Prayer: Lord, we need you today like never before in the famine of the word of God that has been with us, and is going to get greater in the years to come. Help us Lord to follow sound doctrine, and help us to discern between what is right and what is wrong. We desire to store the word of God in our hearts today Lord, and we long to be fruitful during the land of affliction, Amen.
Friday, January 3, 2014
The Jonah Generation 8/28th Weeklyl Devotional by Keith Edwards
Read:
Jonah 1:3
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Have you ever wondered about what was going on in Jonah's adventure on his way to Tarshish. God called him as a prophet to the city of Ninevah, and Jonah knew that this wicked city would eventually destroy Jerusalem. Jonah didn't want them to receive God's love and forgiveness in a way. If you look at the book of Nahum, you can see how wicked and evil this city was. They were very warlike and brutal. They were like the Nazis of there day. Ninevah was the city that Isaiah, Hoseah, and Amos prophesied the destruction by the Assyrians ,which is Ninevah, and Jonah knew that this great city of Ninevah would one day destroy Israel. Jonah believed the prophets' that foretold Israel being destroyed and taken captive by the Assyrians, and God knew that his prophet would disobey Him and prepared a big fish to swallow him. God knows when we are going to disobey him as well and he makes a reservation at the fish hotel, and after staying at the fish hotel for about three days we will be ready to go back and serve God with a whole heart. I want us to see something though. God used Jonah to touch the lives of Gentiles on that ship to Tarshish. The men were so afraid of that storm, that they made vows to the God that Jonah believed in. God can still use us if we messed up. You may be at that place today where you may even have to stay a little longer in a place that God didn't want you in to begin with, but God will still use you to touch those around you. We see this in Jonah's life here as a prophet of God. Sometimes the most evil people around you will try and awaken the God inside of you, and you find yourself being tossed back and forth asleep at the bottom of the ship of life. If Ninevah can repent then anyone can repent. I remember doing prison ministry with someone years back who was once in the mopheo. We'll just call him John doe. He turned his life over to Christ, and repented of his sins. He was very powerful in ministry. I would go with him to the prison and do some ministry in music while he preached to all of those prisoners. You wouldn't believe the altar call. Many would run to the altar, murderers, rapists etc. and I would pray with them. If John Doe can come to Christ then anyone can. I would just be touched when I talked with John. He was about four hundred pounds, and solid as a brick wall, but tears would begin to fall down his face when he talked about the Lord. I couldn't believe that someone as evil as John once was could fall on his face and repent of his sins. This is what Ninevah did. you never know who that person will be that you win to the Lord, and you never know who is watching you. Never take it for granted who God will send to you. Do you find yourself today on a trip to Tarshish so to speak? You find yourself in a storm that you might have brought upon yourself maybe through some wrong choices or maybe some disobedience in some areas, or maybe God has called you to witness to someone and you don't think they deserve God's love. You can turn your eyes upon Jesus today and ask Him to help you in whatever you are facing. He may prepare a big fish or whale to swallow us for a while, but it's for preservation and pruning. We may find ourselves wrapped in seaweed of life, but god is merciful and forgiving to bring us to a place of His spirit. Let's obey God today in making disciples, advancing God's Kingdom, and doing the works of Christ Jesus.
Prayer:
Lord we pray today that you would help us to repent in some areas where maybe we haven't been pure. Maybe we fled from a calling or something that you want us to do, and you have been trying to show us the right way to go but we have been dull of hearing your voice. Show us how to persevere the storms and trials that come our way, by even the choices we might have made that brought those particular storms in our life, and help us to open our eyes to the right path down that ocean of life. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Jonah 1:3
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Have you ever wondered about what was going on in Jonah's adventure on his way to Tarshish. God called him as a prophet to the city of Ninevah, and Jonah knew that this wicked city would eventually destroy Jerusalem. Jonah didn't want them to receive God's love and forgiveness in a way. If you look at the book of Nahum, you can see how wicked and evil this city was. They were very warlike and brutal. They were like the Nazis of there day. Ninevah was the city that Isaiah, Hoseah, and Amos prophesied the destruction by the Assyrians ,which is Ninevah, and Jonah knew that this great city of Ninevah would one day destroy Israel. Jonah believed the prophets' that foretold Israel being destroyed and taken captive by the Assyrians, and God knew that his prophet would disobey Him and prepared a big fish to swallow him. God knows when we are going to disobey him as well and he makes a reservation at the fish hotel, and after staying at the fish hotel for about three days we will be ready to go back and serve God with a whole heart. I want us to see something though. God used Jonah to touch the lives of Gentiles on that ship to Tarshish. The men were so afraid of that storm, that they made vows to the God that Jonah believed in. God can still use us if we messed up. You may be at that place today where you may even have to stay a little longer in a place that God didn't want you in to begin with, but God will still use you to touch those around you. We see this in Jonah's life here as a prophet of God. Sometimes the most evil people around you will try and awaken the God inside of you, and you find yourself being tossed back and forth asleep at the bottom of the ship of life. If Ninevah can repent then anyone can repent. I remember doing prison ministry with someone years back who was once in the mopheo. We'll just call him John doe. He turned his life over to Christ, and repented of his sins. He was very powerful in ministry. I would go with him to the prison and do some ministry in music while he preached to all of those prisoners. You wouldn't believe the altar call. Many would run to the altar, murderers, rapists etc. and I would pray with them. If John Doe can come to Christ then anyone can. I would just be touched when I talked with John. He was about four hundred pounds, and solid as a brick wall, but tears would begin to fall down his face when he talked about the Lord. I couldn't believe that someone as evil as John once was could fall on his face and repent of his sins. This is what Ninevah did. you never know who that person will be that you win to the Lord, and you never know who is watching you. Never take it for granted who God will send to you. Do you find yourself today on a trip to Tarshish so to speak? You find yourself in a storm that you might have brought upon yourself maybe through some wrong choices or maybe some disobedience in some areas, or maybe God has called you to witness to someone and you don't think they deserve God's love. You can turn your eyes upon Jesus today and ask Him to help you in whatever you are facing. He may prepare a big fish or whale to swallow us for a while, but it's for preservation and pruning. We may find ourselves wrapped in seaweed of life, but god is merciful and forgiving to bring us to a place of His spirit. Let's obey God today in making disciples, advancing God's Kingdom, and doing the works of Christ Jesus.
Prayer:
Lord we pray today that you would help us to repent in some areas where maybe we haven't been pure. Maybe we fled from a calling or something that you want us to do, and you have been trying to show us the right way to go but we have been dull of hearing your voice. Show us how to persevere the storms and trials that come our way, by even the choices we might have made that brought those particular storms in our life, and help us to open our eyes to the right path down that ocean of life. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Alone With A Stone? September 4th Weekly Devotional
Read:
Joshua 4:1-18
1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight." 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."
8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been [a] in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.
10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. 13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.
14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.
15 Then the LORD said to Joshua, 16 "Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan."
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan."
18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.
Have you ever faced a trial or trouble in your life that you didn't know how in the world you were ever going to come through? We'll I have and still face things in my christian walk that can be challenging. One thing that we need to do when we enter into prayer and worship is to remember how God brought us out of certain situations. we need to look at the story of Joshua and see how God dried up the river of Jordan for them to walk on dry land to the other side. One thing that we need to do though is to remember our first love with the Lord in the new birth with Him. In this story of Joshua, as soon as the ark of the covenant touched the water, the water dried up for them to cross over. I can see this as God making a path for you today as you try and cross over to your promise land. So many times we try and cross over to the other side of our destiny and certain situations alone. We struggle to the other side to find that there was no help with the situation. God never attended for you to fulfill your destiny and dreams alone. You can actually try and fulfill something in your life that God may have actually called you to, but you do it by yourself with the wrong timing. You can't look back at the river and say, "There is a stone of remembrance to prove that Gods' fingerprints were all in this situation. Another thing I see as a life application for us in this story is that there have been ministers' from the past who have stood sound in doctrine and remained true to God in there ministry. We can look back and see that we to can walk in truth and character just as they did. The last thing I want us to look at is when they got to the other side with the ark, the rivers came back to it's original state. Alot of times we look back at where we missed it and not look at where God pulled us through. We can't dwell on the past mistakes and failures of the past when we enter the presence, but we can dwell on a remembrance stone of Jesus shedding His blood for us on the cross. We can look at a remembrance stone of our born again experience with Christ through repentance, and we can look at a remembrance stone of how God brought us to the other side many times in our life. Never look back and dwell on that which is forgotten. The bible tells us that He has thrown our sins as far as the east is to the west. He has thrown them in the sea of forgetfulness. Yesterday is in the tomb but tomorrow is in our womb, and birthed within us are memories of great things God has done for us. Are you alone with a stone today? Have you carried your stone in the wrong place today and found yourself in a world of mess? Let's place our troubles, pains, and sins upon the altar today. We can place our life in the hands of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, just as they placed the stones in a place that was instructed to them, and we can look back at not where we missed it, but where God was with us.
prayer:
Lord we need you today to show us again the times you were there for us upon our own river of Jordan. Help us Lord to not place our stone in places that we shouldn't place them, but help us to obey your instruction and be obedient today in our worship, devotion, and prayer. We place our lives in your hands today and ask that as we praise and worship you the rivers dry up so we can walk to the othe side of our destiny and calling that you have called us to. We ask in your precious name. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Joshua 4:1-18
1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight." 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."
8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been [a] in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.
10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. 13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.
14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.
15 Then the LORD said to Joshua, 16 "Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan."
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan."
18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.
Have you ever faced a trial or trouble in your life that you didn't know how in the world you were ever going to come through? We'll I have and still face things in my christian walk that can be challenging. One thing that we need to do when we enter into prayer and worship is to remember how God brought us out of certain situations. we need to look at the story of Joshua and see how God dried up the river of Jordan for them to walk on dry land to the other side. One thing that we need to do though is to remember our first love with the Lord in the new birth with Him. In this story of Joshua, as soon as the ark of the covenant touched the water, the water dried up for them to cross over. I can see this as God making a path for you today as you try and cross over to your promise land. So many times we try and cross over to the other side of our destiny and certain situations alone. We struggle to the other side to find that there was no help with the situation. God never attended for you to fulfill your destiny and dreams alone. You can actually try and fulfill something in your life that God may have actually called you to, but you do it by yourself with the wrong timing. You can't look back at the river and say, "There is a stone of remembrance to prove that Gods' fingerprints were all in this situation. Another thing I see as a life application for us in this story is that there have been ministers' from the past who have stood sound in doctrine and remained true to God in there ministry. We can look back and see that we to can walk in truth and character just as they did. The last thing I want us to look at is when they got to the other side with the ark, the rivers came back to it's original state. Alot of times we look back at where we missed it and not look at where God pulled us through. We can't dwell on the past mistakes and failures of the past when we enter the presence, but we can dwell on a remembrance stone of Jesus shedding His blood for us on the cross. We can look at a remembrance stone of our born again experience with Christ through repentance, and we can look at a remembrance stone of how God brought us to the other side many times in our life. Never look back and dwell on that which is forgotten. The bible tells us that He has thrown our sins as far as the east is to the west. He has thrown them in the sea of forgetfulness. Yesterday is in the tomb but tomorrow is in our womb, and birthed within us are memories of great things God has done for us. Are you alone with a stone today? Have you carried your stone in the wrong place today and found yourself in a world of mess? Let's place our troubles, pains, and sins upon the altar today. We can place our life in the hands of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, just as they placed the stones in a place that was instructed to them, and we can look back at not where we missed it, but where God was with us.
prayer:
Lord we need you today to show us again the times you were there for us upon our own river of Jordan. Help us Lord to not place our stone in places that we shouldn't place them, but help us to obey your instruction and be obedient today in our worship, devotion, and prayer. We place our lives in your hands today and ask that as we praise and worship you the rivers dry up so we can walk to the othe side of our destiny and calling that you have called us to. We ask in your precious name. Amen.
by Keith Edwards
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
The functioning Temple As The Church
DAY 1
Read:
Ephesians 2:19-21
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
The church As The Temple
a Good picture 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. 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. There is opportunity waiting for you. You can make a difference as being part of the church.
There are 3 things that I want us to reflect on as we go forward with the Functioning Temple series.
1. Connection- We need to connect greater than ever with our home church. The church should be teaching God's truth of course, but it's time as the temple that we connect in a healthy way. There is such a power in connecting a the church.
2. Motivation- We need to be motivated to go out of the church and hit our community. We shouldn't stay within the 4 walls of the building and expect to see a change in our community and nation. We can each make a difference. We need to be motivated by God's spirit and the 5-fold ministry in the church to feed the poor, help the widows, orphanages, and win lost souls for the Lord Jesus.
3. Revelation- We need a fresh revelation of how God builds. God builds generationally, relationally, and by revelation. When we get fresh revelation of how God builds, then we can enter that placement that God has got for us as part of the body of Christ.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you give us a new perspective outlook on where we all fit in as the church. Give us that revelation to plug in to the church in a healthy way, and allow our gifts and talents that you have given us unfold before us as we connect to the body of Christ the right way, amen.
by Keith Edwards
Ephesians 2:19-21
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
The church As The Temple
a Good picture 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. 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. There is opportunity waiting for you. You can make a difference as being part of the church.
There are 3 things that I want us to reflect on as we go forward with the Functioning Temple series.
1. Connection- We need to connect greater than ever with our home church. The church should be teaching God's truth of course, but it's time as the temple that we connect in a healthy way. There is such a power in connecting a the church.
2. Motivation- We need to be motivated to go out of the church and hit our community. We shouldn't stay within the 4 walls of the building and expect to see a change in our community and nation. We can each make a difference. We need to be motivated by God's spirit and the 5-fold ministry in the church to feed the poor, help the widows, orphanages, and win lost souls for the Lord Jesus.
3. Revelation- We need a fresh revelation of how God builds. God builds generationally, relationally, and by revelation. When we get fresh revelation of how God builds, then we can enter that placement that God has got for us as part of the body of Christ.
Prayer:
Lord, we ask that you give us a new perspective outlook on where we all fit in as the church. Give us that revelation to plug in to the church in a healthy way, and allow our gifts and talents that you have given us unfold before us as we connect to the body of Christ the right way, amen.
by Keith Edwards
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