At the Cross

Matthew 27:46 
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Do you know that it was at the cross that Jesus addressed His Father as "God" for the first time? He had always addressed His Father as "Father". But at Calvary's tree, He addressed His Father as "God".

Jesus lost that Father-Son relationship when He was representing you and carrying your sins at the cross so that today, you can call God "Abba! Father!" (Romans 8:15) and have a loving father-son relationship with God forever. Jesus was forsaken by God and His world became very dark on that lonely hill so that in your darkest hour, God will always say to you, "I will never leave you nor forsake you!" (Hebrews 13:5)

At the time when Jesus needed God most, God turned His back on Him. God had to turn His back on His Son because His eyes are too holy to behold all the sin that was in His Son's body. And because God turned His back on Jesus, He will never turn His back on you. Instead, you will see God's face of favor shining on you all the time!

Jesus also took your place of no protection at the cross. For the first time, He gave up divine protection so that you can have it every day of your life! And because He became sin, He took your curse at the cross so that today, as you take His gift of righteousness, you receive only blessings from God.

Jesus received the full brunt of God's wrath in His body once and for all when He carried your sins. All of God's anger and condemnation fell on Him, consuming all your sins until God's wrath was exhausted.

Today, God is not angry with you. The body of Jesus absorbed everything - your sins, curses, and God's anger and condemnation. So live life expecting to see not the judgment, but the goodness and blessings of God!

Thought For The Day

Today, live life expecting to see not the judgment, but the goodness and blessings of God.

Not Judging

1 Thessalonians 5:9

For God appointed us not into wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ

 

When you think of Sodom and Gomorrah, what comes to your mind? God's wrath and fiery judgment? The truth is that God was not all out to judge the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He was not on a sin hunt. He was, in fact, on a righteousness hunt!

This is evident because if God was on a sin hunt, He would not have allowed anyone to stop Him. But we know that He let Abraham in on what He was about to do and even allowed Abraham to entreat Him.

Abraham asked God if He would destroy Sodom if He could find 50 righteous people there. God's reply was, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes." (Genesis 18:26) Abraham then asked God if He would destroy the city if there were only 45... 40... 30... or 10 righteous. And each time, God's reply was that He would spare the place for the sake of the righteous.

Abraham stopped at 10. If he had gone down to just one righteous man, I believe God's reply would have been the same because He was on a righteousness hunt.

Now, if God was not all out to destroy then, how much more today, when God has already judged our sins in the body of His Son? At the cross, Jesus exhausted all of God's fiery judgments until there was no more fire of God's wrath left for us!

Today, God is not judging us for our sins because He has found the righteousness of the one Man - Christ Jesus. So do not let anyone tell you that God judges you for your sins and punishes you with cancer, car accidents, business failures or brokenness. God would be unjust if He punished the same sins twice - in Jesus' body and then in yours.

Beloved, God is not out to judge you but bless you today, not because you deserve it, but because Jesus was judged and punished in your place!

Thought For The Day

God would be unjust if He punished the same sins twice - in Jesus' body and then in yours.

Idols in our Lives

Judges 18:24

What do you mean, ‘What’s the matter?’” Micah replied. “You’ve taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!”

 

 

 

Micah made idols and hired a priest to run his personal religion. When the men of Dan took his idols and priest, nothing remained. What an empty spiritual condition! An idol is anything that takes God's place in a person's life. Some people invest all their energy in pursuing money, success, possessions, or a career. If these idols are taken away, only an empty shell is left. The only way to protect yourself against such loss is to invest your life in the living God, whom you can never lose.

Decisions

I have made my mind up to have peace whatever it takes, whatever i have to change and alter in my life...

I am going to have peace!

I have made my mind up that am going to enjoy my life.

Jesus you paid a  terrible price for my freedom, and am not going to sit by and allow the devil to steal  from me...  i will no longer sit by and make excuses when you have said this is "my inheitance"  my birthright..

I am making a decision that whatever it takes, I WILL ENJOY THE KINGDOM! I WILL HAVE RIGHTEOUSNESS PEACE AND JOY IN THE HOLYGHOST.

Reach Out

Mark 5:34
He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.

“Who touched me?” This question came from Jesus as He was crowded by the multitudes trying to get close to Him. One little woman reached out in faith and touched Him, expecting to receive a tangible transfer of His anointing.

When she did…she was healed! Why? She believed what she heard about Jesus healing the sick. The thought of receiving a “touch” from Jesus sparked insight and faith. “When she heard about Jesus…” (Mark 5:27).

She spoke the truth again and again in her heart. Mark 5:27-28 says, “She came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’”

She didn’t give up…she pressed on. She could have given up, but she touched Jesus and received His healing. We are to act in faith just like this woman did. Do you need a tangible transfer of His anointing on your life? Reach out to Him in faith.

When the woman reached out, a tangible transfer of power took place. She came into the Lord’s presence and touched His anointing and power…and was healed...all because of her faith!

 

Rod Parsley Devotion

My Healer

I was feeling a bit low today,  more like unsure of what is happening around me. One thing i know is that God never leaves his own. I read this on Joseph's Devotional, and it was just what i needed. Thank you Lord!

 Isaiah 53:4
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Imagine the dreadful disease leprosy eating a man alive. The poor leper in Matthew 8:2 could stand his suffering no longer, so he came out into the open to look for Jesus. He needed to know if Jesus was willing to heal him. When he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet and said, ‚"Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.‚" (Matthew 8:2) The Son of God looked at the outcast with love in His eyes, reached out His hand, touched him and said, ‚"I am willing; be cleansed.‚" (Matthew 8:3)

Perhaps you are suffering from some disease and wondering if God is willing to heal you? You are not sure if He is willing because just as you have seen people get healed, you have also seen people not get healed. My friend, don't look to people's experiences. Look to the cross! As surely as Jesus bore away your sins, He also bore away your diseases!

I want to give you a solid foundation today for believing this truth. In Isaiah 53, the chapter on our Lord's crucifixion, it says in verse four: ‚"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows‚". Now, let's learn a little Hebrew. The words ‚"griefs‚" and ‚"sorrows‚" here mean ‚"sicknesses‚" and ‚"pains‚" in the original Hebrew text. So Isaiah was referring to physical healing.

Once, I asked a Jewish friend to read this verse in his Hebrew Bible and tell me what it means. He told me that his Bible says clearly that Jesus has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains.

If that is not enough, look at Matthew 8:16-17: ‚"... they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.'‚" Matthew quotes Isaiah 53:4, saying that Jesus took our ‚"infirmities‚" and bore our ‚"sicknesses‚". The context here refers to physical healing.

My friend, if you will just believe this truth, your days of sickness will be over. You will walk in greater health because the One who has surely borne your sick- nesses and carried your pains says to you, ‚"I am willing, be cleansed!‚"

Thought For The Day

As surely as Jesus bore away your sins, He also bore away your diseases!

Great News

Psalm 11:4

Jehovah is in his holy temple; Jehovah, his throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

There's big news. Actually, it's huge news. Mind-blowing, in fact. It isn't the political unrest and instability that's all around us. It isn't a killer flu outbreak that threatens to immobilize us. It isn't the crime that's spinning out of control. And it isn't the latest headlines concerning the weather, the economy, the environment, or any of the other fragile systems that seem to be coming apart at the seams.

So what's the news? Just this: The Lord is in His holy temple, and the Lord's throne is in heaven. No matter how much bad news there may be out there, and no matter how much worse it seems to be getting day after day, none of it changes the fact that God is still on His throne and in control.

Yeah, but do you know how bad our federal deficit is? Yes, but God is still in control. Yeah, but have you read the latest forecast from the Center for Disease Control?

Yes, but God is still in control. Yeah, but have you heard what kind of weapons are floating around out there? Yes, but God is still in control. Yeah, but...yeah, but...yeah, but.... The great fact remains, despite our world's crumbling condition, God is still in control. And that's great news!

So the next time you open a magazine, log onto the Web, or tune into the nightly news...the next time you hear a headline that makes your gut clinch and your heart ache...the next time you feel fear welling up and rising in the pit of your stomach...the next time that happens, remember this: The Lord is in His holy temple, and His throne is in heaven.

Mighty and Sovereign Lord of all, keep reminding me that You're in control of everything that comes my way-today and always!

What does this passage reveal to me about God?

What does this passage reveal to me about myself?

Based on this, what changes do I need to make?

What is my prayer for today? 

God Helps Those Who Can't Help Themselves

Psalm 10:14

14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: The helpless committeth himself unto thee; Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless.

We all have an image in our minds when it comes to those considered great and powerful by the world. It might be a particular politician, an athlete, an entertainer, a corporate CEO, or a real-estate mogul. They've risen to the top of their respective fields, and a hushed silence falls over the boardrooms, locker rooms, and green rooms of the world whenever they walk in. Their power and greatness precede them, and we're impressed.

But God isn't. He isn't moved by the aura of man's accomplishments. In fact, He's moved by an unlikely group: those who are helpless. Think abut that for a moment. In a world where everyone is doing all they can to rise to the top, God is paying attention to those who are at the bottom. His heart is set on those who are hurting, experiencing hardships, those who can't help themselves.

Not only that, He also wants to share His heavenly resources with those who can't help themselves. He wants to pour out His power, strength, patience, joy, peace, love, wisdom-all that comes along with His presence-into those who need it most.

When it's all said and done, an ounce of what God has outweighs a ton of what man has to offer. And when it comes to our status and standing in this life, it's better to be helpless in God's hands than to be "great" or "powerful" apart from Him. So rather than strive to be a self-made somebody, we should strive to recognize our utter helplessness apart from the Helper of the helpless.

Father of the fatherless, great Helper of the helpless, may we always seek your help in all things and in all ways!

What does this passage reveal to me about God?

What does this passage reveal to me about myself?

Based on this, what changes do I need to make?

What is my prayer for today? 

Convenant God

Genesis 15:8-9

8 And he said, O Lord Jehovah, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? 9 And he said unto him, Take me a heifer three years old, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.

Are you discouraged because a breakthrough that you have been praying for has yet to manifest? Maybe it has been days or even weeks and you are asking, "How will I know that I will get it?" Abraham faced the same situation and asked God the same question. And God answered, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle- dove, and a young pigeon." What a strange answer!

But if you read on (Genesis 15:10-21), you will realize that God took Abraham's question very seriously, and went on to show him just how serious He was about being his provider, protector and prosperity-giver. God was so serious that He was willing to bind Himself to a covenant.

What is a covenant? It is like a contract. Yet, it is more than a contract. A contract is binding only for a period of time, like five years or seven years, or until certain terms are fulfilled. But a covenant is perpetual. It is permanent. The only way out is through death. That is why marriage is a covenant, not a contract. It is permanent - "Till death do us part".

In Bible times, when you cut a covenant with someone, you bring an animal, usually a ram or goat, and kill it by cutting it in two. Next, you will face your covenant partner and walk toward each other between the two pieces of the animal, passing each other in the center.

What all this means is that both parties are obligated to protect and provide for each other. Whatever belongs to you is your partner's and whatever belongs to your partner is yours. Of course, the one who benefits is the lesser or poorer party.

Today, God is in covenant with us. We are the lesser, poorer party. We have nothing to offer God. But God, the richest and most powerful being in the universe, has everything to offer us!

God has bound Himself to a covenant, an iron-clad guarantee of His blessings and provision in your life, and it is all for your benefit. The breakthrough you are waiting for is guaranteed by covenant!

Thought For The Day

God has bound Himself to a covenant, an iron-clad guarantee of His blessings and provision in your life.

Why Worry

Matthew 6:27

27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?

 

 

Many Christians are familiar with Jesus' rhetorical question, "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" But not many of us actually let it get into our hearts and allow the love of God to free us from our habit of worrying.

The truth is, no amount of worrying can lengthen your life or add anything to your physical person. Instead, worrying robs you of sleep, health and many good years. In fact, it is only when you are worry-free that God's anointing flows freely in you, strengthening, healing, restoring and adding to you.

A lady, after undergoing a mammogram, found that she had lumps in her breast. Upon receiving the doctor's report, she wrote this down on the report: "Jesus is my healer. I receive my healing. I am healed. I rest in God completely."

She was due back at the clinic later the same day for a biopsy to see if the lumps were malignant. Her sister-in-law, who was having lunch with her that day, witnessed her cheerful and worry-free attitude while she ate her lunch.

Back at the clinic, this precious sister sat among other ladies who were also there for their biopsies. They looked very worried, so she started sharing Jesus with them and prayed for some of them. When her turn came and she had an ultrasound scan done, the doctor was puzzled - her scan showed no evidence of any lumps!

The doctor went back to consult her colleague who had first discovered the lumps. Stunned, both doctors conducted their own investigations. They returned to her only to say, "It's a miracle!"

My friend, when you worry, you are actually believing that the devil has the power to make inroads into your life that God cannot protect you from. But when you refuse to worry, you are putting your faith in God. You have more confidence in His love and power working for you than in the devil's ability to harm you! When you refuse to worry, but choose to rest in the finished work of Christ, you will see the manifestation of your blessing. You will see your miracle!

Thought For The Day

When you refuse to worry, but choose to rest in the finished work of Christ, you will see the manifestation of your blessing.

Pondering

Who are we to question you? You created the heavens and the earth, I was created in your own image.
Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Shalom
You are the I am that I am
My Rock and My Salvation
The Begining and the End
All Sufficient One
Kings of Kings
Lord of Lords
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Lilly of the Valley
The Lamb that was slain
You are the God that makes a way where there seems to be no way
You are the Holy one of Israel, Holy Holy Holy is your name
Wonderful, Marvelous, Excellent, Awesome God
You are the God that opens that no man can shut
Unchangeable God, My Covenant Keeping Father
Merciful God, Prince of Peace
Everlasting Father
Immortal, Invisible
Omnipotent, Omniscience, Omnipresence
Ever Faithful Father
My healer, My Redeemer, My Provider, My Protector, My Comforter
You are the Miracle working God
Special Effects God, God of Wonders, Mighty God
My Father, My Husband, My Friend, My All

Is there anything difficult  for you?

Mercy's Messenger

Psalm 6:2

2 Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah; for I am withered away: O Jehovah, heal me; for my bones are troubled.

There are certain things in this universe that just can't be separated. God and love, faith and good works, obedience and blessing, salvation and the cross, etc. But here's an inseparable association that we may not be so quick to recognize: mercy and weakness. In reality, you can't disassociate the Lord's mercy from man's weakness, because it's our deficiency that signals our need for His sufficiency. Our weakness acts as a messenger to us that we need help, that we need mercy. And it's when we recognize this and open our empty hands that God fills them with the multitude of His mercies. As you survey the Scriptures, you'll find that those who owned their weakness received mercy. We see this most strikingly in the ministry of Jesus. A leper, a woman who had been bleeding for more than a decade, a frantic and helpless father, a blind man who had been banished to a life of begging by the wayside...all understood they were weak...all received immeasurable mercy. Don't misunderstand. This doesn't mean all our ills will be healed if we simply confess them. Sometimes our suffering is a providential tool God uses for His purposes. But it does mean this: Our weakness can be our greatest strength if causes us to humbly call out to God for His mercy. Be in tune and in touch with the reality that your frame is frail. Do what the Psalmist did and confess your weakness, for it's then you'll find yourself mightily covered in mercy.

Lord of all mercies, never allow us to forget how undone and helpless we are apart from You!

What does this passage reveal to me about God?

What does this passage reveal to me about myself?

Based on this, what changes do I need to make?

What is my prayer for today?

Rest

 Psalm 17:15
As for me, I will continue beholding Your face in righteousness (rightness, justice, and right standing with You); I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake [to find myself ] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You].

Each evening the sun sets on all of our problems and on all of the mistakes we made that day. But something marvelous happens to us as we sleep—the Lord gives us rest physically, mentally, and emotionally.We are renewed and rejuvenated to face the next day.

Today we may wake up with the same problems we had when we went to bed, problems that yesterday we felt we just couldn’t take anymore. But somehow today after proper rest and sleep, we think, I can do it; I can face it again. God promises to renew our strength when we rest in Him.


From the book Starting Your Day Right: Joyce Meyer

Staff to a Shadow

Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me…


The Bible’s pages are filled with accounts of how God’s anointing was present upon everything from a staff to a shadow.

The anointing rested on Moses’ staff as it swallowed the snakes of Pharaoh (Exodus 7:8-13) and upon Elijah’s cloak as he parted the Jordan and walked on dry ground (2 Kings 2).

The anointing rested upon Elisha’s bones—and, when a dead man was thrown into his open tomb, the dead man’s eyes popped open and he became alive again (2 Kings 13:21).

The anointing will cause what was once dead to come alive again! It is the life force of Almighty God!

Romans 8:11 says, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”

The anointing of God was in the mud Jesus placed upon the blind man’s eyes and upon Peter’s handkerchiefs and aprons.

The same anointing that resurrected Jesus is still at work in our lives today for God’s glory and for the furthering of His kingdom.
 Rod Parsley Breakthrough Devotion

An Intimate Moment

Luke 7:37-38

37 When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them

Joanna carefully brushed her long, coarse hair before she put the covering over her head. She was scared, yes, but she was so excited! Her hands were trembling as she tucked the vial of perfume into the sleeve of her heavy garment. She was actually going to see Him, maybe even touch Him. And deep within her heart was the hope that He might see her-- might notice her in some way. If I can just get into the portico of Simon's house, surely I can find where they are eating.

She stayed in the shadows as she walked down the street, fully aware of the people staring and moving away from her as she approached. No one cares to recognize a harlot. But she was used to that. Not that being used to it had taken away the hurt, but she understood. And yet, maybe that humiliating life of sin and degradation was over? Maybe it was behind her? Maybe He will set me free!

She had first heard Him the day He taught the multitudes, and had followed Him ever since, sometimes losing herself in the crowds or crouching behind the trees and rocks. There were days when there wasn't anyone around who knew her and she was able to help prepare the meals and serve Him and His disciples.

There's his house. I know people can hear my heart pounding! Wait, there's the entrance to the servant's quarters. I'll go in there.

She walked quickly into the dark doorway and then moved toward the sounds of the kitchen.

I hear Him talking! Oh, please let me be close to Him just this once. I long so to show Him how much I love Him. . . .

She crept quietly to an open door just behind Jesus. Then, with one deep breath, she stepped into the room, knelt beside Him, and kissed His feet. It was almost funny the way everyone stopped talking and eating. They were shocked -- of that there was no doubt -- and their silence condemned her.

Joanna wept as she poured the perfume, her tears mingling with the sweet-smelling oil. Then she loosed her hair and began drying those dear, blessed feet.

* * *

Jesus talked to Simon and to the others lounging around the table that day. He talked to Joanna, too. She left, clean and forgiven, knowing that He returned her love and that she was special to Him. We don't hear any more about her, but I want to believe she held steadfastly to her new life.

She made quite a spectacle of herself that day. I can imagine that it took her a long while to make her plans and then to carry them out.

I'm prone to say, "What courage." But no. It wasn't courage that drove Joanna to Simon's house. It was love.

And so the unnamed harlot lives on through biblical history . . . while princes and procurators and scribes and Pharisees, mighty men and strong men and wise men and rich men, are all long since forgotten. Her only claim to fame? She loved much.

Lord, may I love You as much as Joanna loved You.

We Should Know Who We Are In Christ

John 10:3

3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

Do you sometimes feel like you are just a face in a crowd or a number in a system? You are identified by your social security number. Even when you see the doctor, you are called by your queue number. If you feel depersonalized and dehumanized, that is exactly how the devil wants you to feel - that you do not matter much to anyone, especially to God.

But you do matter to God! He calls you by name. He knows exactly what you are going through and where you are hurting. He sees you and cares for you, just as He cared for the people when He first walked on earth.

Jesus will do for you what He did for the woman in Samaria. There was a shorter route from Judea to Galilee, but the Bible says that ‚"He needed to go through Samaria‚". (John 4:4) In other words, Jesus deliberately took a longer route, so that He could stop by Samaria to speak to the woman who had been searching for something in her life to satisfy her.

This woman had had five husbands and the man she was living with was not her husband. Clearly, things had not been going right in her life. She was probably looking for answers and fulfillment, and must have felt ashamed about her failed marriages and current lifestyle.

Yet, in spite of all this, she mattered to Jesus! He needed to go to her to minister to her. And indeed, after she met Jesus, the perfect Man, she was transformed. She was no longer ashamed, and went into the city to tell the people about Him. (John 4:28-29)

Jesus came a long way from heaven for you. You certainly matter to Him. He came to give you life and life more abundantly. (John 10:10) You are not just a face in a crowd or a number. No, He knows you by name and has a personal love for you. And in spite of the mess which you might be in, He wants to meet your every need and make your life beautiful!

Thought For The Day

You do matter to God! He knows what you are going through and wants to meet your every need.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

New year resolution - I have just got one so far, and that is getting close to God (reading my bible daily and applying the word to my everyday life) I really need to learn bible verses....i lack in this area!

I have set myself a challenge to learn at least a verse in the bible each day and will be posting this on my blog everyday. Help me Lord!


So i am currently reading Joseph Prince's Devotional and Life Application Study Bible via YouVersion and will be sharing this with you guys!