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Love Not the World by Joyce Meyer – posted May 16, 2016

Love Not the World

by Joyce Meyer – posted May 16, 2016

Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.
—1 John 2:15

Many today are far too attached to the things of this world. Our society is filled to the brim with commerce—there are stores on almost every corner. And everyone is busy making money so they can buy more things. God wants His children to be blessed with nice things, but the Bible tells us not to love them excessively. It is important to keep things in their proper place.

If you use what you have to bless others, God will see to it that you have everything you need and more. So your goal should be to enjoy the things God gives you and to share with others. This shows your love for the Father.

Scourged For Your Wholeness

16
May

Isaiah 53:5

…and by His stripes we are healed.

Under Roman law in Bible times, a criminal was either scourged for a lesser crime and then set free, or crucified straightaway if guilty of a greater crime. But Jesus was both scourged and crucified. Pontius Pilate had hoped that after scourging Jesus and presenting His bloodied body to the people, they would be satisfied and willing to let Him go. But the people were not and demanded His crucifixion instead.

Don’t think for a moment that the people had power to inflict such suffering on Jesus. It was all part of God’s plan and the scourging was necessary for only by His stripes are we healed.

The Roman whip used for scourging was made of leather straps embedded with glass, bone and metal hooks. With just one strike, the instrument would have been wrapped around Jesus’ body, causing the glass, bones and hooks to cut deep into His flesh. And as the whip was pulled back, the hooks would have stripped His flesh off, exposing muscle and bone. Indeed, the psalmist says, “They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me,” (Psalm 22:16–17) and “The plowers plowed on My back; they made their furrows long”. (Psalm 129:3)

Although 39 was the maximum number of times one could be whipped according to Jewish law, I believe that Jesus was whipped more times than that because the Romans, who were not likely to regard Jewish law, carried out the scourging.

Whichever the case, His back would have been reduced to a mass of bloody, mutilated flesh. That day, Jesus’ blood flowed freely from His body for your deliverance from every kind of disease and physical affliction. God allowed every one of those stripes to fall on His Son’s body so that your body need not be scourged with diseases.

My friend, if you are sick or suffering from some physical condition, know that Jesus took the scourging as full payment for you to be free of that condition. He bore those stripes so that, today, there is no sickness, no disease left for you to bear. By His stripes you have been healed!

Thought For The Day

Jesus bore the terrible scourging to purchase for you deliverance from every kind of disease.

WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES II – Monday May 16th 2016

WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES II 

Memorise: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in

Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8

Read: Acts 4:31-34, 31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,

Bible in one year: 2nd Kings 21:19-23:27, Proverbs 25:1-14

MESSAGE

The role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and the child of God is so vital that survival seems virtually impossible without Him. Jesus made several statements that emphasized the importance of the Holy Spirit in the life of Christians.’

Based our memory verse of today, the great commission could not be carried out without the support of the Holy Spirit. But when the power of the Holy Spirit is active we become exceptionally empowered for soul winning even in very difficult situations. I have had some unbelievable experiences about how the Holy Spirit can empower a person. While preaching in one of our programs a few years ago, as I was about to pray,
I heard in my spirit a discussion between two witches – one on my right and the other on my left, saying it was time for them to operate. Immediately, I announced that if they came out they would be delivered, but if not, they would die within a week. Thank God they both came out and confessed. The presence of the supernatural would make men to see God the way He is. Quite a number of unbelievers believe that the testimonies they hear by testifiers are stage-managed – nothing but lies. But when they see the raw demonstration of God’s power, they will not need to be cajoled before they surrender. A man once attended our monthly Holy Ghost Service in Nigeria. His son had been trying to persuade him to surrender his life to Christ, but he refused to listen. As soon as he came in, as instructed by the Lord, I said “there is a man coming for the first time who came late because he was feeding his snake”. And that the Lord said before he gets home, his snake will die but if he loves himself he should surrender to Jesus or else he will die with his snake. Immediately he heard it, he ran out and was delivered. If you are in contact with the supernatural, soul winning would be ‘piece of cake’.

However, some have been baptized in the Holy Ghost but are not able to function the way they should. This is because the right knowledge is required to get the best out of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. For example, it is difficult for you to be in the Spirit when you are overfed with physical food. So if you want to be in the Spirit, watch your diet. On the other hand, feed on the Word of God. Spiritual overfeeding is allowed. Be constantly in the mood for prayer. Pray in tongues. Focus on God and cut off every distraction. Take time to give God spirit-filled praise, worship and thanksgiving. Open your heart wholly to God. Be sensitive to His voice. As you minister to God, be full of expectations. Be sensitive to all Heavenly communications: visions, dreams, voice, scriptures, impressions on your spirit man, ideas, etc. It is also important to set yourself apart just to fellowship with the King of kings. Take time to meditate on key scriptures. When last were you in the Spirit? Nothing is impossible to the one who is in the Spirit.

Prayer Point

Father, please fill me with your Holy Spirit and empower me to do the impossible henceforth.

WHEN DOES GOD WORK? Today: 2016-05-15

…When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

Isaiah 59:19

You don’t know how strong your God is until you are face with strong men.

God is strongest when the battle is toughest.
You don’t know how strong your God is until you are faced with strong men.

Whenever you are confronted by mighty men, remember the almighty God.

God steps into your matter only when you don’t know what next to do and where next to turn as human. IIChr.20:1-24.

You don’t know what God can do until you acknowledge that you don’t know what you can do.

He is described as the very present help in trouble, and that is when we think he is absent. Ps. 46:1.

The anointing became strongest on Samson when the Philistines shouted the loudest on him. Judges 15:14-17; 14.5-6.

God rises to scatter His enemies only when they have gathered. Ps.66:1. God does not engage in small fight.

God is too big to be invited into a small fight.
God rises only to challenge.

What it takes to move God against your opposition is faith that is demonstrated by the combination of rest, (calmness) and action.

At All Times by Joyce Meyer – posted May 15, 2016

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
—Matthew 18:21-22
Faith and trust in God is meant to be exercised more than once in a while or from time to time; we can live in faith at all times. With God’s help we can learn to live from faith to faith, trusting the Lord when things are good, and when things are difficult. It is easy to trust God when things are good, but when things are challenging and we decide to trust God, then we really develop character.

Psalm 34:1 encourages us to bless the Lord at all times. There are several other scriptures that tell us things to do at all times—resist the devil at all times, believe God at all times, love others at all times—not just when it’s convenient or it feels good.

Temptation is a frequent visitor in our lives and as long as we are here on earth, we will have to discipline our emotions, our moods, and our mouths, so that we remain stable and calm, and peaceful—whatever our situation or circumstances. That enables us to be in close fellowship with God and walk in the joy of His Spirit.
Since you can choose your own thoughts, when doubt comes, you can learn to recognize it for what it is, say, “No, thank you,” and keep on believing!

BELIEVE FIRST AND YOU WILL SEE

15
May
Matthew 8:13
…as you have believed, so let it be done for you…
You may have heard some people say, “How can I believe it when I don’t see it? If I can only see it or feel it, I may just believe that something is happening!”
he woman with the issue of blood who came to Jesus could have felt the same way. For 12 long years, she had gone from one doctor to another, trying every conceivable cure they could offer. She not only grew worse, but ended up losing all her money to those doctors and their “cures”.

Then, something happened to her when “she heard about Jesus”. (Mark 5:27) She started believing that He could and would heal her to the extent that she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” (Mark 5:28) Acting on her belief, she made her way to Jesus and touched His garment. Immediately, her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was healed of that affliction. Jesus, her true physician, also pronounced her healed.

Beloved, God wants you to know that when you believe Him, you will see your miracle. What you believe Him for, you will receive.

When a church member lost her wallet at a swimming pool, she prayed together with her husband, declaring their belief that God would restore the loss. One day later, not at the swimming pool but at her feet in the car, she found her wallet! She simply believed that God would restore her loss and she saw the restoration.

In another case, a lady who had skin cancer wore long sleeves all the time to conceal her condition from others. During one of our church camps, she went forward for prayer, believing God for her healing. After one of our pastors, Pastor Henry, prayed for her, she went back to her room, rolled up her sleeves and saw that all the cancerous scarring on her arms had disappeared! Her doctor later confirmed that she had been cured of skin cancer. She believed God for healing and saw it.
The world says, “Unless I can see it or feel it, I will not believe it.” But God says, “If you will believe it, you will feel it. Indeed, if you will believe it, you will see it!”

Thought For The Day
If you will believe it, you will feel it and see it.

WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES I – Sunday May 15th 2016

WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES I
Memorise: And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of

righteousness, and of judgment: John 16:8
Read: John 8:8-14, 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
13 The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.
14 Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.

Bible in one year: 2nd Kings 19:8-21:18, Proverbs 24:21-34
MESSAGE
In the story of creation, the Bible talked about the earth being without form and void, and darkness being upon the face of the deep. In the midst of darkness and apparent confusion, the Spirit of God stepped into the scene, the God said, “let there be light” and there was light. We can then safely say that when the Holy Spirit comes into any situation, He brings light. If you ignite a fire, no matter how little it is, there will be light around the fire. In the midst of the darkness, emptiness and chaos, the Holy Spirit stepped in and light had to be created immediately. In other words, it was His coming that brought about light at the very beginning. The beauty of this is that the light of the Spirit exposes the hidden contents of darkness. This is confirmed by our Lord Jesus Christ when He said in John 3:20:
“For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deed should be reproved.”
In Acts 28:3-6, when Paul gathered some firewood and lit it up, a serpent that was hiding in the wood suddenly reared up its ugly head, but Paul threw it back into the fire. If the fire of God is really burning in your ministry, it will expose every evil person in the church, and deal with them. When under the strong influence of the Holy Spirit, your personal problems will be exposed to you. Your greatest enemy is not the witch or wizard around, but yourself. Not many of us think we are part of our problems.

If you ask a student to mark his examination sheet, he will most probably award himself the highest grades. If you know that what is hindering your progress is in you, it is then important to deal with it. The fire in Acts 28:5 not only exposed the serpent, it also killed it. Every serpent that is hiding in any corner of your life shall be exposed and destroyed today in Jesus’ name. Moreover, if you walk in the light of the Spirit, People will hate you. Don’t be surprised that compromising brethren and church leaders would not only hate and persecute you; they may also want to get rid of you. If your presence does not allow them to steal, they will hate your guts. The more you allow the light of the Spirit to shine in and around you, the more difficult it is for your enemies to cover up their evil intents. This season, the Lord will expose all the hidden agenda of your enemies by the light of the Spirit.
It is obvious that without an encounter with the power of the Spirit, many will remain trapped and live far below their expected potentials. To fulfil your destiny, you must partner with the Holy Spirit. Another character who realized his potential was Peter. If you compare Peter before the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost with the Peter after Pentecost, you will notice some sharp differences. Before Pentecost, Peter was full of fear. He found it difficult to stand on his convictions. Even a maid could make him deny the Lord, but after Pentecost, he became so bold that not even the council’s threat stopped him. Before Pentecost, Peter realized his leadership potential but lacked the fire, zeal, direction and divine backing of the Holy Spirit to fulfil it. As a result of this, he went back for fishing after Christ’s death (John 21:1-3). But after Pentecost, he was able to perform according to Heaven’s expectations.
Prayer Point
ather, ignite the Holy Ghost fire in me that I may reach my full potentials in Jesus’ name

Don’t Forget the Joy Kenneth Copeland

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

Philippians 4:4
Years ago, I decided I was going to walk by the Word of God. I told God that, as far as I was concerned, His Word was final and I’d confess it the rest of my life no matter what. That was the most important decision I’ve ever made.

Not too long after that, I decided that no matter what happened, whether I felt like it or not, I’d walk in love. Because the Bible clearly says “faith worketh by love.” It won’t work any other way.

Those two decisions—to operate by faith in the Word of God and to walk in love—are the two most important decisions I’ve ever made in my life.

Recently, though, God pointed out to me that there was something I’d been leaving out. The force of joy. He told me I have no right to walk by faith and love and just leave joy dormant in my spirit. It’s too important. As He taught me about it, I soon came to realize that joy is an essential part of a life of victory. Without it, I might have an occasional triumph now and then, but I wouldn’t be able to sustain them. They’d quickly slip away.

You see, joy is what gives you the strength (Nehemiah 8:10) to hold steady when the circumstances get rough. Joy gives you the ability to laugh in the devil’s face when he starts trying to knock you off your faith. It gives you a kind of staying power that will make you a winner again and again.
So make a commitment to God that you’re going to walk, not only in faith and in love but in joy as well. Make it a point to rejoice in the Lord always…and there won’t be anything the devil can do or say to steal your victory from you!

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 84:1-7

An Act of Love Endures Forever by Joyce Meyer – posted May 14, 2016

If I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God’s love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
—1 Corinthians 13:1
Most of the things we devote our time and energy to are things that are currently passing away, things that will not last. We strive to make money, build businesses, achieve great accomplishments, be popular, own buildings, cars, and jewelry. We want to expand our minds and see the world, yet all of these things are temporal. They will all come to an end.

Only love never comes to an end. An act of love goes on and endures forever. Thankfully, God allows us to have a lasting impact when He asks us to love others. Henry Drummond says that “to love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever.” In order to “love abundantly” and “love forever,” I encourage you to first receive God’s love for you…then you can walk in love toward everyone else.

Prayer of Thanks: Father, I am grateful that I can live my life in such a way as to have a lasting impact. Thank You for the power of love. Help me exercise that power and make an eternal impact by showing love to those around me today. Help me to always know what is truly important.

CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD

14
May
Matthew 6:28–29
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
You may think that you must work very hard to provide for yourself and get ahead in life. But God wants you to consider the lilies of the field—they do nothing. They toil not, spin not and struggle not. Yet, they grow and are clothed by God while simply resting and basking in the sunshine of God’s love! And when God clothes them, they look even more glorious than King Solomon, the richest king who ever lived.
Like the lilies of the field, God wants you to let Him take care of providing for your material needs, instead of you striving to do it yourself. When you let go and let Him, you will see Him bless you supernaturally, abundantly and generously!

This is what happened to one of our church members who had been looking for a job. Initially, he received only two calls for interviews after sending out 12 résumés. Refusing to be discouraged, he believed that God wanted to bless him not just with a job, but with a position of influence too.

God was faithful. This church member soon became the business manager of an engineering company even though he had no engineering background. He was offered a very attractive remuneration package and within his first week on the job, was asked to quote on two projects. He knew that this was God’s doing because it was difficult enough just to secure an appointment with contract managers to discuss projects, let alone be asked to quote on not one but two projects. Before long, he was offered the position to run the entire Singapore subsidiary with only one other business development manager. He was then only 25 years old!

My friend, God can do for you what He did for this person. Just believe that if God clothes the lilies and grass of the field, which are here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will He clothe you, His eternal and precious child, with beauty and favor! All He asks is that you cease from your striving, allow Him to take over and just flow with Him!
Thought For The Day
When you let go and let God, you will see Him bless you supernaturally, abundantly and generously!