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Showing posts with label Devotional. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Devotional. Show all posts

Sunday, March 17, 2013

“WISDOM” – THIS WEEK’S WORD & PRAYER



0011-OWprince-copy_thumb7_thumb “Wisdom”
“In the first chapter of the book of James, James instructs us to go to God for help.  In the struggles of life we oftentimes lack the wisdom to get through the trial of our circumstances.  James says If we don’t know what we’re doing, we should pray to the Father.  He loves to help.  We’ll get his help, and we won’t be judged as unworthy when we ask for it.
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This Week’s Word
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)
This Week’ Prayer
clip_image002Dear Father, we confess today that we lack the wisdom necessary to solve our problems or meet our needs. We need Your wisdom now. By Wisdom You made the heavens and founded the earth. Therefore, We are confident that You are able and that You will give us the wisdom necessary to resolve all of our issues and meet all of our needs. We want to know what to do and how to do it according to Your wisdom that our joy may be full and the desires of our hearts fulfilled. Empower us right now O Lord! Please impart to us the wisdom we so fervently desire that we might experience success in all of our endeavors. We thank You for not finding fault in us and we thank You for liberally giving us the wisdom we are asking for. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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Friday, June 8, 2012

Where Does Your Loyalty Lie?

This week’s Word & Prayer is presented by our guest —Mother Lucile W. Prince.

Mother Lucile W. Prince is a semiretired public school teacher with over 48 years of teaching experience. At the blessed age of 79 (she will be 80 in one month) she continues to serve her State and community by teaching part-time at the Sumter Lee Adult Education Center, Sumter, South Carolina. I can truthfully say that God has called her to be a teacher and I am honored and blessed to have her as my mother and prayer partner.

May God be glorified for the things that He has done.

This Week's Word
(For an audio podcast download please visit Where Does Your Loyalty Lie)

Jesus said in Matthew 10:37:

“The person who loves his father or mother more than me does not deserve to be my disciple. The person who loves a son or daughter more than me does not deserve to be my disciple.”

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Human families are born into sin and shaped in iniquity and each individual member of a family is taught from birth that family is everything—their loyalty should always be to the family.  But Jesus challenges us to rethink that sentiment and to redefine the idea of family loyalty in the light of eternal life.  Jesus tells us that we will have to decide between following him or our human families. He is not going to share control of our lives with our families. He has paid the cost to be the boss in our lives with own precious blood. He deserves our uncompromising loyalty. (1 Corinthians 6:20 and Matthew 10:34-36)

We can never truly belong to God as long as our loyalties remain bound to our human relationships. We can never really know God unless we are willing to sacrifice our human relationships for the sake of Christ. We must be willing to deny ourselves the pleasures and comforts of relational intimacy in favor of eternal life with Christ. (Matthew 10:38)  Christ challenges us to decide whom we will serve. No one can be loyal to two masters. He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. This is what Jesus is pointing out to us in Matthew 10:37.

The Lord tells us that we must decide where our loyalties really lie; with family or with him?  He says it plainly that our priorities and ultimate loyalties must lie with him otherwise we disqualify ourselves from being his disciple.

Whenever we decide to relax God’s commandments for the sake of getting along with individual family members, we have disqualified ourselves as disciples of God.

Whenever we allow immoral family members to preach, teach or hold office in the church, we have chosen family over God.

Whenever we hear the Truth of God’s Commandment to Repent, to be baptized into water in the name the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin, and we reject baptism because the family doesn’t believe in it, we have rejected God’s forgiveness in favor of the family’s approval.

Where Does Your Loyalty Lie?

Don’t let family send you to Hell.

REPENT!

This Week’s Prayer 

Father, I pray to You today in the name of *YeHoWsHua HaMashiach – Jesus the Christ. I love You Lord! From everlasting to everlasting You are God. Your Love and Your Faithfulness rescued me. There is no one who loves me like You do. There is not a family member or church member who cares for me like You. No one deserve my total loyalty and faithfulness but You. Please forgive me for the times when I put my family and friends above obeying Your Commandments. I repent to day and accept responsibility for my transgressions. Have Mercy On Me Oh LORD! Help me to a live a life in total submissive and subjective obedience to Your Word Your Way.  Empower me to crucify the needs and deeds of the flesh so that I may be counted as one of Your disciples.  This is my prayer today in the name of the LORD YeHoWsHua* (Jesus) the Christ, Amen.

Monday, May 7, 2012

"The Narrow Way"


This Week’s Word
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
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In this passage of scripture, the term Broad is to be understood as meaning wide-ranging. The words Narrow and Strait are words that signify a constricted passage; a slim firm way with no room for deviation or change. (Malachi 3:6)

The Lord Jesus Christ spoke these words to his disciples as he taught them The Kingdom principles of being wise, identifying false prophets, asking and trusting God and discerning judgment. In Matthew’s Gospel chapter 7 verses 13-14, Jesus admonished and encouraged his disciples to follow the path least traveled. And he taught them how to identify the road to destruction from the narrow path to eternal life.

As I read this scripture passage I thought of the wide-range of belief systems and methods of salvation that exist today in Christendom. I thought of the relatively recent phenomenon of the mega church. I thought of the great crowds of followers that are drawn to glamorous worship facilities. I thought of the mega star preaching personalities that entertain and persuade millions of people to join their ministries. I began to think of the popular gospels of prosperity, wisdom and seed faith giving. I thought of the phony but popular method of salvation called the “sinner’s prayer.” I thought of the many false prophets who have populated their churches with countless lost souls by teaching the doctrines of demons – denominationalism. And I have become acutely aware of the glamorization of Christianity as a commodity available to anyone willing to call themselves a Christian. According to contemporary Christianity, wide is the gate and broad is the road that lead to salvation.

However, Jesus said, “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that lead to destruction and many enter through it.” It is obvious that the world’s view of Christianity is diametrically opposed to genuine Christianity. The world presents Christianity as being available to all regardless of their unbelieving and unrepentful state. For no one can say that they believe in God while yet disobeying God’s Commandments and instructions. If they do, they are liars! (1 John 2:4)

Contrary to popular Christianity, Jesus teaches us that the way to eternal life is a narrow unchanging path and only a few will find it.

With so many claiming to be saved, it is disturbing to me that only a few will actually find the way of salvation. Only a few will actually be submissive enough to surrender to the voice of God’s divine plan of salvation and be saved. Only a few will hear and obey. With so many mega churches springing up over the land and so many televised churches claiming tens of thousands as church members, only a remnant will have repented, been baptized into water in the name of Jesus Christ and endowed with the Holy Spirit as evidenced by the speaking in tongues. (John 3:3-7, Acts 2:38, Acts 19:1-7) Only a few will adhere to God’s strict moral code of holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23:
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Only a few will walk the narrow path to eternal life.

REPENT!


This Week’s Prayer
Father, I pray to You today in the name of *YeHoWsHua HaMashiach – Jesus the Christ. I come praising Your name and giving You honor and reverence for Your great love for me. You are the God of my salvation. I realize that I have been wrong. I have been walking on the broad road to destruction. I have been serving the false gods of denominationalism, worldly prosperity and human wisdom. I have followed the crowd more than I have listened to You. I repent today. Lord have mercy on me. I diligently seek Your True Path and Your Way of salvation. Help me to truly repent of my sins and be submissive to Your instruction to be baptized into water in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins whereby I might receive Your promised gift of the Holy Spirit. I cannot do anything without You Oh Lord. Help me to live a life of holiness—Trusting and Obeying only You—keeping all of Your Holy Commandments—Loving and forgiving as a Christian ought to. I want to be numbered among the few that find You. This is my prayer today in the name of the LORD YeHoWsHua* (Jesus) the Christ, Amen.
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Footnote:
The Hebrew spelling of the name of Christ is used in this prayer for educational purposes. Yehowshua is often shorten to Yeshua but out of respect for my Lord I chose to use the spelling of His proper name to demonstrate that His name s above every name and that even the spelling of His name is relative to the spelling of The Father’s name – remembering that there were not any vowels in the Hebrew alphabets. Thus, YHWH (Yahweh) and YeHoWsHua (Yahweh is salvation) are grammatically and uniquely related.
For more information of the authentic name of God, please follow the link below:
http://www.therockofmontgomery.org/Yahweh.html

Please pray for this ministry.