2023 February
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Living Based on Absolutes
“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not,
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Listening to the Father’s Heart
Son, my kingdom operates differently from the world you live in when it comes to provision. The world sweats and toils for their provision. But I tell you that when you seek me and my righteousness, all things will be provided to you (Mt 6:33). In my kingdom, provision comes as a result of your
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Coming Out of Babylon
…”Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.” Revelation 18:4 There is a day when God is going to judge the system of Babylon
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The Judas Test
“If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God” (Ps.
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Listening to the Father’s Heart
There is a mystery that my sons and daughters have failed to embrace. It has to do with walking in unity together. They spend so much time building their own thing. My desire is for them to model a different way. Think of it this way: one mission – separate callings – many alliances. By
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Filled with the Holy Spirit
“Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord-Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here-has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 9:1). Billy Graham, the great evangelist, shared
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Knowing Versus Doing
“I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection….” – Philippians 3:10 If I asked you the purpose for which God made you, what might you say? You might give a lot of answers that required some action on your part. However, the simplest answer to that question relates to one primary thing:
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Going Against Public Opinion
“On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, ‘No! He is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘there is no one among your relatives who has that name.’” (Luke 1:59-61). Have you ever
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Listening to the Father’s Heart
You have been pondering something, my son, that you’re having trouble reconciling. You are wondering how I could honor David by making his son Solomon king and part of the generational line to the Messiah when he was a byproduct of a sinful relationship, even involving murder as a cover up for David’s sin with
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Spiritual Warfare
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood….” – Ephesians 6:12 Have you ever heard someone say, “I will never do business with another Christian”? I hear this comment quite often in my dealings with Christian workplace believers. This comment represents the battle that rages against us by the enemy of our soul to
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Listening to the Father’s Heart
I created every one of my children to have a unique purpose, but not all of them find or fulfill it. Many simply do not seek me to understand how to best live their time on earth. They simply wonder through life trying to live a life free of pain and for the next pleasure
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But Master…
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5). Have you ever argued with God? One of the first sermons Jesus ever gave was from a boat. It was Simon Peter’s boat. Jesus used a businessman’s business to preach
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Fruitful Suffering
…”It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”– Genesis 41:52 Joseph named his second son Ephraim. Ephraim was given to him after he had been delivered from his suffering of 13 years. Joseph said that he named him this because God had made him fruitful in the land of
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Godly Rewards
“You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out His requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’” – Malachi 3:14-15 Have you ever felt that serving God
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Listening to the Father’s Heart
Sometimes I am amazed that my children doubt my existence. Have they not noticed my incredible creativity in my animals– like the tiger, the elephant, my tropical fish, or how about my whales!? Or, have they not noticed my flowers –my orchids, my tulips, or the thousands upon thousands of varieties of my plant life?
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John the Baptist was the Greatest
“I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matt 11:11-12). John the Baptist did no miracles. Elijah performed miracle after miracle. Daniel interpreted dreams for kings and he and
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The Trinity’s Teamwork
“Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Isa 64:8). The Father, Son and Holy Spirit make up three distinct aspects of the God-head. Each of these persons form the trinity and contribute to the overall work of God. The
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A Man Who Has God’s Favor
“…Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.” – Zechariah 8:23 Few men of God have become extraordinary people of faith without the influence of mentors. A mentor is one who takes responsibility for the spiritual and, sometimes, physical care of another. It requires a commitment from the teacher
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Listening to the Father’s Heart
Son, you are excited today, aren’t you? That is because you are launching your new product today. I am just as excited as you are. I put that creativity in you. I made you an entrepreneur. You were made to create and to solve problems. Many of my sons and daughters think of their work
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Listening to the Father’s Heart
Many of my sons and daughters think I want them to work for me on earth. While it is true I give my sons and daughters unique and custom designed assignments, the greatest assignment I have for them is simply to know me and understand my true nature and to know my desire for relationship
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Paneled Houses
“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” – Haggai 1:4 There is a crisis of grand proportions in the spiritual house of God today. The moral fiber of our world has eroded. Greed, idolatry, and pleasure are the gods of our day.
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Confirmed by Others
“The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD” (1 Sam 3:19-20). When I was 14 years old I was an exceptional junior golfer. This is
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3 Nails
“I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal 2:20). It took three nails to crucify our Savior to the cross. God says that if we are to allow Christ to live through us then the old man must be crucified. We can each voluntarily crucify our
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Listening to the Father’s Heart
Son, you have been learning the difference between my kingdom and the world’s kingdom. There is a kind of joy you have been learning about that is not a “happy” kind of joy, but a joy that resides deep in your soul. It is a joy born out of mourning and suffering like my son.
