Archive for February, 2010

Dear beloved,
I read a beautiful devotional and it contains a powerful message on the Blood of Jesus and i just wanted to share it with you. Be Blessed!

Leviticus 17:11 (NIV) 11For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.

Blood brings life giving oxygen and nutrients to every cell in our bodies. It carries away the waste from every cell. Without this wonderful process of both bringing nutrition and carrying away waste, we quickly die. Our brains cease to function after only a short time without sufficient blood flow. Truly, blood is our physical life.

God told Moses that the reason He designed us this way was so that the blood could make atonement for us on the altar. It makes atonement or covering for our sins. As the priest would slay the once- a- year atonement sacrifice, he would gather the blood to sprinkle before the Ark of the Covenant where God dwelt. The blood brings life, and the blood takes away impurity.
Man’s rebellion against God is so serious that only death is a sufficient penalty. Since life is in the blood, blood must be spilled as justice.

From the foundation of the earth, God determined that it would be the blood of His own Son. That was the only blood that could take away the impurity of the world. All other blood was insufficient to remove sin. They had their own sin that needed to be removed. The blood of animals could cover for a time (atonement) until the sufficient blood was shed, the blood acceptable to God for the sins of the world.

Thank God today that He made a way to do what you could never do. Without the blood of Jesus there would be no hope for the removal of the impurities of your life. Like a person with liver failure, you would have died on your own poisons. But the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sins.

Pray: Thank Him for the wonder that took place upon the cross.
any questions?? just leave a comment..

One time in the Old Testament, King David was walking down the street and a young man started making fun of him, calling him names and even throwing rocks at him. He followed him everywhere that he went, just pestering him, wanting to pick a fight and trying to aggravate him. Finally, a man who was with David basically said, “Do you want us to put a stop to him? Do you want us to shut him up? He is a real pain.” I love the way David answered him. He said, “No, let him keep talking. Maybe God will hear him and bless me for it.” (See 2 Samuel 16:5-14)

When somebody is talking about us, instead of getting upset and trying to defend ourselves, we need to have the same attitude as David and believe God will hear what they’re saying and bless us for it.

Jesus said in Luke 6:35, “Love your enemies, and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great.”

Every day I say, “God, bless my enemies, those people that criticize, talk about me, and try to make me look bad. God, give them a great day today.” When you do that, the more they talk, the higher you’re going to go. Sometimes I feel like I even need to thank my enemies! If it had not been for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. They meant their talk and criticism to bring me down, but God used it to push me up higher.

If somebody is trying to make you look bad by spreading rumors and telling lies, really, they have done you a favor. What they mean for your harm, God is going to use to promote you. I know this to be true because we have never tried to answer our critics. The more they talk, the more God promotes us. The more they talk, the higher we go.

Maybe at the office somebody is trying to make you look bad, talking behind your back, taking things out of context. It’s very tempting to be critical back and think, “Two can play this game. They said this about me. Well, let me tell you what I know about them.” No, don’t sink down to their level. Don’t let their poison cloud your heart. Learn to bless your enemies.

When we know that God is our vindicator and rewards us when we don’t take matters into our own hands, that takes all the pressure off. We don’t have to try to pay people back and get involved in battles that don’t really matter and set the record straight. Let God fight your battles for you. If you will stay on the high road, God will take what others mean for harm, and He will use it to your advantage.

When we learn to bless our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, we keep our heart free from strife and give God more room to bless us, promote us, and speak to us more.

Remember, don’t become weary in doing good. At the proper time, you’ll reap a harvest if you don’t give up. That means, keep doing good to others whenever you’re persecuted. Keep doing the right thing, even when the wrong thing is happening. Keep a good attitude. Keep praying for those who keep talking about you. Before long, you’ll see God’s blessings in greater ways, and what might have seemed like a stumbling block to you, God will use as stepping stone to thrust you higher.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:17-21

By Joel Osteen

Remain in His Blessings:]

Here, before Your altar,
I am letting go of all I’ve held
Of every motive, every burden,
Everything that’s of myself.
And I just wanna wait on You my God
I just wanna dwell on who You are.

Beautiful, beautiful oh I am lost for more to say
Beautiful, beautiful oh Lord, You’re beautiful to me

Here in Your presence,
I am not afraid of brokenness
To wash Your feet with humble tears
Oh I would be poured out till nothing’s left.
And I just wanna wait on You my God
I just wanna dwell on who You are, who You are

Beautiful, beautiful oh I am lost for more to say
Beautiful, beautiful oh Lord, You’re beautiful to me

Holy holy holy You are You are….

By Kari Jobe

From the I.N.S.I.D.E Out...

A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
my heart and my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord, my soul cries out

- - - - - - - > From the I.N.S.I.D.E Out....

Remain Bless, 
L.O.V.E

Whatever do you mean, “I love you”?

What does “I love you” mean? Is love a feeling?

God doesn’t ask us if we feel like loving. He tells us it’s our responsibility to love-a husband is to love his wife (Eph. 5:28). When we obey, the feeling will follow. But if it doesn’t, God’s agape love gives even when it gets nothing in return.

Rekindle God’s agape love in your heart through prayer and reading His Word. Love is an art. Learn it. Help it grow and flourish. “Pursue love” energetically and consistently without waiting for it to happen to you (1 Cor. 14, 13).

Selfless Love
Selfishness is the root problem of most marriage, family, parent/teen, and business troubles. Ego-driven people who haven’t learned to be selfless can’t develop love. The “do your own thing” philosophy leads to a culture of individual rights and demands. But love does not seek its own way. It cares about others and is excited to see loved one’s needs met.

Agapé love meets others needs with no expectation of anything in return. Friendship love (Phileo) says, “We work in a marriage on a 50/50 basis. I give 50, my spouse gives 50; that makes 100.” But in hard times, 50/50 isn’t enough. Agapé love says, “I’ll give 100% even if I get nothing in return.” Christ died on the cross for the world’s sin when He could expect nothing from the world.

Our Responsibility to Love
What if you don’t feel anything anymore? If romance is to survive, each partner, by an act of will, is to practice agape love in response to God’s command. More than 1 out of 2 couples get divorced, saying, “We don’t love each other anymore.” When they’re Christians, that’s saying, “We will not do as God commands.”

Agapé love is the one solid basis for marriage. The husband, according to God’s command, is to seek his wife’s well being-whether she deserves it or not. The Bible says to love because it’s God’s command. If you don’t get anything in return, that’s not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to love.

If two people become estranged, it only takes one agapé lover to revive the relationship. No one can withstand selfless love over a long period without responding. God’s sacrificial love does not ask, “What does she do for me?” but, “What am I doing to give myself to her?” Our world needs Christians who will share God’s love.

If you obey God, He will honor that. The message to the Ephesian church that lost its first love was: “To recover your love, here’s what you do. ‘Go back and do the first works.’” To recover the lost love in your marriage, go back and do the first works.

What was it like when there was love? How did you treat her then? What’s different now? Did you ever bring her flowers, or show your love in a tangible, out of the ordinary, way? Go back and do it again.

Love is an action, a response. When you respond, the feeling may not be there at first, but it will come. Feelings follow actions; actions don’t follow feelings. I don’t wait for my feelings to get right before I study or do the things that take discipline. Do first and the feelings follow.

Husband, if you aren’t loving your wife and responding to her, don’t wait for the feeling to come back. It may not come back, yet you are disobedient. God says to love her. In an active, open, tangible way, demonstrate your love to her.

Encouragement to Love
So, how am I supposed to love? Ask God to fill and control you with His Holy Spirit, to give you a Spirit-controlled life, because only then can you love the way 1Corinthians 13 tells you to love.

Love outlasts anything. It stands when all else falls. When the flower is off the physical relationship, the loved one is sick and can’t take care of himself, I’ve watched the partner love that person with a selfless, sacrificial love. What an encouraging witness!

Human love fails, but God’s agape love never fails.

by David Jeremiah

Being Faithful with What God has Given You

When I was in the fifth grade, I wanted the lead role in our school play, but the teachers didn’t choose me. Nevertheless, I imagined that the girl who got the lead wasn’t going to be able to play the part, and the teachers would have to pick me after all. I dreamed about it and I enjoyed playing that part in my mind. But it didn’t happen that way.

I was dreaming about playing the role, but I wasn’t preparing; I wasn’t learning the lines or memorizing the steps. If the teachers had called on me, I wouldn’t have been able to play the part.

God doesn’t want us to merely sit around dreaming about things we can do and be. That’s a good place to start, but a poor place to stop. God wants us to turn our dreams into action. We all have untapped gifts and talents inside us, and the way to develop our potential is by stepping out in faith and making the most of every opportunity.

It’s not how much you have, but it’s how you use what you have that matters. Are you making the most of the gifts and talents God has given to you?

God is not moved by excuses.

He’s not inclined to help us when we feel sorry for ourselves. No, God is moved by faith. When we step out in faith and use the talents He’s given us, we show that we trust God, that we believe He will bless our actions and cause us to succeed.

Sometimes God presents opportunities that look insignificant, or rather ordinary. Perhaps you don’t see how they fit into the big picture for your life. But if God is asking you to do something, He has a purpose for it. You just need to be faithful, and when you’re diligent in handling the little things, God can increase and promote you to larger responsibilities.

Years ago, Joel was working in the television department at Lakewood Church, and his father, John Osteen, was the senior pastor. One day, the woman who did “Daddy’s” hair and makeup for the television broadcast decided to leave. The stylist’s departure was on such short notice, we couldn’t find anyone to replace her. So guess who got the job?

Joel’s dad said, “Victoria, would you fill in until we can get a replacement?”

I was in a quandary. I wanted to help, but I had no professional training in doing hair and makeup. Nevertheless I said, “Okay, I’ll do it. If you trust me with your head, that’s good enough for me.” Pastor Osteen was brave. That’s all I’m going to say.

He liked the way I did his hair, and I didn’t mind doing it. I loved Joel’s father as my own. We were so close; he treated me like his daughter.

But it was a huge commitment because I had to be at the church for every televised service. I remember one weekend, my mother’s side of the family was having a reunion in Georgia, and I really wanted to go because I knew it would be so much fun. But I thought, I can’t go. I have this commitment. Daddy’s depending on me to do his hair. So I called my family, and said, “I’ll not be at the reunion.”

A few of my relatives said, “I cannot believe Victoria just does Pastor Osteen’s hair and makeup. I think she should be doing something more important.”

Those comments hurt my feelings and tempted me to look at what I was doing in a negative light. But the truth of Scripture kept reminding me, “If you’ll be faithful with the little, God will make you ruler over much.”

Obviously, we could have brought in a professional hair-stylist and make-up artist to take over my duties, but Pastor Osteen felt comfortable with me. So I did my best to serve God by helping Daddy to look good on television. I now realize God was teaching me so many lessons during that time. He was teaching me about commitment, self-discipline, and sacrifice, sticking with it even if I didn’t want to, even if there was something more exciting going on somewhere else, even if I couldn’t see where my mundane service position was leading me. I prayed, “Father, if this is what You have for me, and this is what You want me to do, I’m going to be the most faithful person You can find.”

How do you show God you’re willing and able to handle more?

By being faithful with what you’ve been given. You may think you’re working at some meaningless job, or you’re just raising your kids, or you’re doing something that seems ordinary, it’s not exciting; you can’t see where it’s leading you. Let me encourage you to be faithful. Stick with it. Give it your all. Keep a good attitude, and God will increase you. If you will be the best that you can be right where you are, God will promote you and give you more.

Understand that those silent times—those times when God is doing something in your life that doesn’t seem to make sense—those are times of growth. God is working on your character. That’s when God is preparing you, and if you’ll be faithful and pass the test, you’ll be ready for promotion.

Many people are not willing to go through the tough times. They’re not willing to stick it out. They’re not willing to use their talents for God when their efforts go unnoticed. Some people don’t use their gifts and talents because they’re in a negative circumstance. Maybe they don’t like the job they’re in. Or they’re constantly around people that they dislike.

So they’re sitting back waiting for God to move them and give them another opportunity, to put them where they can more easily use their gifts and talents. Then they’ll have a good attitude and do what God has told them to do. But the Bible teaches us to make the most of every opportunity, not just when the circumstances are fun and exciting. No, we have to use our gifts and talents no matter what situation we’re in.

I think about Joseph. He was sold into slavery. If anybody had a right to have a bad attitude and feel sorry for himself, Joseph did. But Joseph realized that God had placed leadership qualities and administrative skills in him, so he continued to develop his potential in spite of his negative circumstances. He was falsely accused and thrown into prison, but he kept using the gifts God had given him, even there. Joseph did the right things although wrong things were happening to him. Before long, Joseph was promoted to be in charge of the entire prison, and because of his persistence and his discipline, he continued to rise to the top, eventually becoming the second highest official in the country of Egypt.

The Bible says that your gifts and talents will make room for you. That means if you’ll stick with it, be persistent, and continue to use what God has given you, those gifts will cause you to move forward and help you to make progress in your life. You will rise to the top.

You have a deep well of talent on the inside of you, but the only way to get that talent up and out of you is through persistence. You must be determined. You’ve got to learn not to embrace the obstacles but embrace the opportunities. When we stay with it and do our best, listening to God and learning the lessons that He wants us to know, He’ll draw those deep talents out of us.

One of my husband’s greatest gifts is persistence. He is not afraid to embrace the opportunities that are in front of him. When Joel worked in the television ministry at Lakewood Church, he was faithful. He worked with excellence. Joel did the right thing and he did it the right way, even when no one was looking. During those 17 years of serving behind the scenes, God was testing him and proving him. And because of Joel’s faithfulness, persistence, and dedication, God promoted him. Now, God is bringing out Joel’s deeper talents.

God wants to do something similar for every one of us. He wants to bring out the talents we don’t even know we have, and He wants to give us a greater opportunity to be of service.

But our untapped talent and potential will lie dormant for a lifetime unless we’re willing to get busy where we are right now, doing what God is showing us to do. We can’t just sit around waiting for the big opportunity, dreaming about all the wonderful things that God wants to do in our lives. No, we need to invest our talents wisely right now.

If you have a desire to sing, join the choir. Don’t sit around and wait for a major recording company to sign you up to some big deal. If you have a desire to teach or to minister, join the Children’s Ministry. What better impact could you have than to teach children the goodness and faithfulness of God?

Our nine-year-old son, Jonathan, loves to go to Children’s Church because of Mr. Ed. No, Mr. Ed is not a talking horse. He draws. He uses the gift that God has given him to draw Bible stories. No telling what doors God is going to open for Mr. Ed.

Use what God has given you; make the most of every opportunity. And remember, if God is placing an opportunity in your path, He’s given you the ability to do it. No matter how big or how small your talent, if you’ll be faithful and invest it for Him, God will bless and increase you.

VICTORIA OSTEEN

Every person has things they’re believing for, situations they want to see changed, and dreams God has placed in their hearts. But sometimes, we try to figure out how it’s all going to happen. If we’re not careful, we’ll put God in a box and try to tell Him how to do it, when to do it, and where to do it. Today’s scripture tells us that God’s ways are not our ways. They are higher and better than our ways.

If you don’t get your way, if things don’t happen on your timetable, instead of getting discouraged, why don’t you believe that God has something better in store? Just because it doesn’t happen your way doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. Remember, God has a plan. He’s got it all figured out. Don’t limit Him by trying to get it done your way. Instead, simply say, “God, I’m trusting You. I know You have my best interest at heart. And even if I don’t get my way, I’m going to stay open and believe that You’re still directing my steps into the abundant life You have for me.”

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, I choose to trust You. I cast my cares on You. I give You my plans, dreams, and desires for the future. Thank You for working behind the scenes on my behalf. Give me Your peace as I wait patiently to see Your plan unfold. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.