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Showing posts from June, 2014

Depend on the Power of the Cross-kingdomnomics

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  (1 Corinthians  1:18 ) Understanding the power of the cross is instrumental in our understanding of the concepts of  KingdomNomics.   It is by the cross that we are crucified to the world and have new life in Jesus Christ.  Paul boasted about the cross in his own life with regard to his relationship to the world and the passions of the flesh. He was dead to them by the power of the cross.  The same can be said of us when we apply the power of the cross to our own lives.  God’s power overcame Jesus’ death on the cross!  And it is the power of the cross that gives us new hope and new perspective for living. Through the power of the cross, we are able to overcome the giants of consumerism and greed.  They relentlessly pursue us to keep us from giving to the work of God.  It is the power of the cross that enables us to overcome these giants by the practice of

The Blessing of Forgiveness-from Joel and Victoria Osteen

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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” (Psalm 32:1, NIV) TODAY’S WORD   The Bible is filled with keys to obtaining God’s promise of blessing. In Psalm 32, it says that you are blessed when your transgressions, or sins, are forgiven. See, God extends forgiveness to everyone, but we have to do our part to receive the forgiveness. We have to repent, or  change our ways , with open hearts. The Bible also tells us that if we don’t forgive others, we  cannot  be forgiven. Is there anyone in your life today that you need to forgive? Is there someone who has hurt or wronged you? Make the decision to forgive so that you can walk in the blessing of God’s forgiveness for you. Forgiveness doesn’t condone wrong behavior. It simply releases the person from the debt they owe you so that God can release you from the debt you owe from your own transgressions. When you make the choice to forgive and allow God to heal your heart,

LOOK UNTO JESUS-Joseph Prince

HEBREWS 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…   What does it mean to look unto Jesus? Well, we can think of it like this: If you are drowning and somebody walks past you, you do not look  at  him. You look  unto  him. When you look unto him, you are turning to him and expecting him to rescue you. In the same manner, you look unto Jesus expecting Him to save, heal and protect you because you know His mighty power and sacrificial love for you. God’s Word says that we are to keep “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith”. That is how God wants us to live. So if you have a recurring migraine, keep looking unto Jesus. See Him taking that migraine upon His body on the cross and say, “Lord, I thank You that by Your stripes I am healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) As you keep looking unto Jesus, your healer, that migraine will have to bow to His finished work! If you have a financial lack in your life, just keep looking unto Jesus with confident expectat

Move Forward-Joel and Victoria Osteen

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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18–19, ESV) TODAY’S WORD  from  Oftentimes, people get stuck in life because they’ve been hurt or betrayed, and they end up settling where they are. They allow the disappointment to keep them from the divine appointment. Don’t let that be you! Don’t let what somebody did or didn’t do for you be an excuse to live sour. Don’t let a bad break, a divorce, a betrayal or a bad childhood cause you to settle where you are. Move forward and God will pay you back. Move forward and God will vindicate you. Move forward and you’ll come into a new beginning. Nothing that has happened to you is a surprise to God. The loss of that loved one didn’t catch God off guard. The business that didn’t make it, the relationship that didn’t work out did not stop Go

LOOK TO THE WORD, NOT NATURAL FACTS -Joseph Prince

NUMBERS 21:9  So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.   "Pastor Prince, I know that God is my healer. But why is this sickness and pain still in my body?” If you have been looking at your sickness and pain all this while, stop looking at yourself and start looking at Jesus. Did He or did He not take upon Himself your sickness and pain? God’s Word declares, “Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, and our pains—he hath carried them…” (Isaiah 53:4, YLT) Since Jesus has already taken your sickness and pain at the cross, then He cannot “untake” them. Even if you find it hard to believe that Jesus has paid for your healing, especially when the pain is unbearable, the truth is that it is still paid for. It is a finished work! God is not saying that your sickness does not exist, nor is He asking you to pretend that it is not there. He is asking you to  look away from the sick

MAKE YOUR TEMPLE A HOUSE OF PRAYER-Joseph Prince

MARK  11:17   Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves’.”   It would be great if every time we prayed, the answers came quickly. Thank God for immediate results, but what do we do when the results are not immediate? The promises of God are there for us, but when they have yet to manifest in our circumstances, what should we do in the meantime? Jesus showed us what to do. After He had cursed the fig tree, the tree did not wither immediately. (Mark  11:14 ) What did He do then? He went to the temple in Jerusalem and cleansed it, saying that it should be a house of prayer and not a den of thieves. (Mark  11:15 –17) After cleansing the temple, when the disciples saw the same fig tree the next day, it had dried up from its roots! (Mark  11:20 –21) Today, you are the temple of God. (1 Corinthians  3:16 ) And your temple should be a “house of prayer” or it becomes a “den of

JESUS GOES BEFORE YOU -Joseph Prince

JOHN 10:4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him...   Have you ever seen a farmer trying to drive a bunch of geese from one location to another? He goes behind the geese, doesn’t he? Compare this to a shepherd who leads his sheep. He goes before them and the sheep simply follow him. Jesus is our shepherd and we are His sheep. He does not drive us, but He leads us. Legalistic people drive others. Jesus leads. He goes in front of us. He is not like the sergeant who says, “Men, cross this river. I’ll cover you from behind,” because he suspects that the river is infested with crocodiles. Jesus is not that kind of leader. He goes in front of us. In the Old Testament, Jesus led the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. Do you know how Jesus appeared back then? He appeared in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Where was that pillar? It was in front of them. In fact, the pillar of cloud shaded them from the hot des

Let it Go-from Joel and Victoria Osteen

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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” (Philippians  3:13 , NIV) TODAY’S WORD   It’s easy to go through life focused on what didn’t work out, who hurt us, or the mistakes we’ve made. “If only I would have finished college. If only I would have spent more time with my children. If only that company wouldn’t have laid me off after 20 years. That’s just not right.” As long as you’re living in regret, focused on the negative things of the past, it’s going to keep you from the bright future God has in store. You’ve got to let go of what didn’t work out. Let go of the hurts and pain. Let go of your disappointments and failures. You can’t do anything about the past, but you can do something about right now. Whether it happened 20 years ago or 20 minutes ago, let it go and move forward. If you keep bringing negative baggage from yesterday into today, it will po

Anticipate God's Involvement-KingdomNomics

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways.”  (Isaiah 64:4–5) In these verses, we see an example of the soak, sow, and flow principle. Isaiah  reaped  from the Spirit a response  in direct correlation to his  relationship  with God.  This gives us insight into how God moves and works in the life of the believer who has a heart that is hungering and thirsting for his presence!  When we spend time with God, we will experience the power that flows from the Holy Spirit.  It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to perform the activities that God has planned for us! It is the Holy Spirit who reveals to us what God wants us to do.  It is the Holy Spirit who opens the doors of opportunity that enable us to accomplish the works God has set for us to do.  It is the Holy Spirit who makes us into instruments that God can use. 

KINDOMNOMICS-LOVE OTHERS

“For Christ’s love compels us.”  (2 Corinthians  5:14 ) When we study the life of Paul, there is no question about what compelled him to live as he did.  It was the love of Christ!  Christ’s love provided a vision that enabled Paul to endure the multitude of obstacles and difficulties that he came up against as he sought to accomplish the mission that God had given him to do.  And it was the eternal aspect of life that provided the primary motivation in Paul’s life.  He said that he fixed his eyes on the unseen, eternal things rather than the seen, temporary matters of this world.  Something is making you do the things you have chosen to do.  Have you figured out what the driving force in your life is?  Are you concerned with the temporary, or have you turned your attention to the eternal?  We need to ask God to free us from the prison of ourselves, so that we can be good ambassadors for Christ.  An ambassador is the representative of a foreign kingdom or state seeking to communicate

Don’t Let Fear Stop You-from Joel and Victoria Osteen

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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT) TODAY’S WORD   God’s desire is that we continually progress, that we reach higher heights and go to new levels. Oftentimes, as soon as we make the decision to step out in faith and obey God, the enemy brings in fear to try to stop us. He’ll bring thoughts like, “What if you fail? What are other people going to think? You don’t have what it takes.” He’ll do his best to use fear to try to convince us to shrink back and stay where we are. The Bible says that fear is a spirit. It plays on our emotions and holds us back. But the good news is that we have power over fear! The Bible says that perfect love casts out all fear. When we receive God’s perfect love, we will have confidence about the future because we know His plans are for our good. I’ve heard it said that fear is an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real. Understand that fear

TODAY’S BREAD IS NOT FOR TOMORROW -Joseph Prince

MATTHEW  6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.  Doctors have discovered that worry, stress, fear and anxiety can cause stomach ulcers, high blood pressure and other health problems. The Bible says that a merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. (Proverbs  17:22 ) It also says that God wants us to prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers. (3 John 1:2) When our church was much smaller, I used to worry a lot about my sermons weeks before I even preached them! I was so stressed that I developed symptoms in my body. Two doctors checked me on separate days and found my blood pressure to be very high. Other tests found traces of blood in my urine. I even had mild panic attacks. I believe that the devil was trying to undermine my ministry and destroy me. But praise God, He delivered and healed me, and taught me not to worry. Today, the church is a lot bigger and I have learnt by the grace of God not to worry. The verse that set me free was

NOW faith -Favor, blessings, healing, breakthrough-Joel & Victoria Osteen

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Dear Isabella, Today is a new day — and a new day is a new opportunity for God to do something amazing in your life. You don’t have to wait for tomorrow, for next week, for next month or for next year... Favor, blessings, healing, breakthrough, increase — they’re all available to you today. Many times we only have future faith. We believe one day in the future we’ll get a good break. One day in the future we’ll start to feel better. One day in the future the problem will turn around. It’s good to have faith for the future, but you can become so future-minded you lose sight of the fact that God wants to do something great in your life today. Today, God wants to show you His favor. Today, God wants to amaze you with His goodness. Today, God wants to provide for your every need. In the scriptures God is called “The Great I Am,” not “The Great I Was” or “The Great I Will Be.” God is with you in the present...right now. 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NIV) says, “Now is the time of God’s favor.” Notic

THE BLOOD ALONE SAVES-Joseph Prince

EXODUS  12:13   Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you…   On the night of the first Passover, many of the children of Israel were probably anxious. Imagine one Israelite asking another nervously, “Did you hear that the angel of death is passing through tonight?” “Yes! We were told to put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of our home and everything would be all right. Is that true?” Like the Israelites, you might be wondering, “Can the blood really protect me? How much blood do I have to put on my doorposts? Will the angel of death get me if I am fearful?” My friend, don’t add to God’s conditions. He said, “When I see the blood , I will pass over you and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you.” He did not say, “When I see the blood, plus your understanding, efforts, obedience, faithfulness and refusal to give in to fear, then I will pass ov

Cast Your Cares-from Joel and Victoria Osteen

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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares or you.” (1 Peter 5:7, NIV) TODAY’S WORD   God cares so much about you today. Not only does He love and care about you, He cares about the things that you care about as well. If you have concerns, worry or anxiety about something in your life today; finances, relationships, your job or anything else, know that your heavenly Father already has a plan to take care of those things for you. It’s a good plan, and He wants to show Himself strong on your behalf. The scripture reminds us that the lilies of the field and the birds of the air are cared for, how much more will your heavenly Father take care of you? Today, cast all of your anxiety on Him by choosing to trust that He is going to take care of you. Refuse to dwell on your problems and don’t allow them to steal your peace and joy any longer. Instead, choose to meditate on His Word and confess God’s promises over your life. Cast your cares on Him and expe

CONDEMNATION IS THE ROOT CAUSE-Joseph Prince

ROMANS 8:1, NASB  Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.   When you have a plant with sickly leaves, it would be foolish to just treat the leaves without knowing the root cause of the problem. Similarly, when “leaves” of sickness, poverty and destructive habits start sprouting in your life, you need to know what the root cause is. Experts will tell you that it is stress. They may go a little deeper and say that it is fear—fear of the future, of rejection, of loss, of death and so on. But is fear really the root? Or is there something deeper than fear? The Bible shows us that the most fundamental cause of problems in our lives is condemnation. With condemnation comes fear. Fear then induces stress which brings about the symptoms of the curse. This is what happened to Adam. Long before he faced poverty, sickness and eventually death, he had stress. Because of his sin, God told him, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you retur

Get Your Feet Wet-from Joel and Victoria Osteen

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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side!” (Exodus  14:22 , NLT) TODAY’S WORD   When Joshua and the Israelites needed to get across the Jordan River, God said He would open it up, but they had to get their feet wet before the waters parted. They could have sat back and thought, “As soon as God opens it, then we’ll walk toward it. It doesn’t make sense to go now. The river is still flowing. Everything is normal. Nothing is unusual.” No, they took a step of faith and started walking toward the water. I can imagine when water got up to their ankles they thought, “What are we doing walking into a river? We could drown.” Water got up to their knees and thoughts said, “You’d better turn around. You’re making a mistake.” Water up to their waist. They just kept walking. What is that? Bold obedience. About that time, the river supernaturally parted. They walked into their promised land. In th

SEE THE ABUNDANCE WITHIN YOU-Joseph Prince

LUKE  17:21 …For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”   When you were younger, were you often scolded for not finishing all your food or leaving the lights and fan on when you left your room? Were you constantly reminded that there are people starving in the world, that electricity costs a lot of money and that money doesn’t grow on trees? Now, do you find yourself telling your child the same things? We are naturally conscious of lack, but Jesus isn’t. Even in the midst of lack, He was always conscious of abundance. Remember the little boy’s five loaves and two fish? What did Jesus do when these were placed in His hands? Did He say, “What do you expect Me to do with so little?” No, His eyes were not on the natural, the visible, the lack. His eyes were on the kingdom of God where there is always abundance. So in His hands, the little boy’s lunch was multiplied, and 5,000 men, not counting women and children, were fed that day! (John 6:1–13) God doesn’t want you to be cons

Living Limitless-from Joel and Victoria Osteen

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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “He raised us up together with Him...that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor)...” (Ephesians 2:6–7, AMP) TODAY’S WORD   When God sees you, He sees unlimited possibility. He sees unlimited potential. He sees unlimited resources. God’s grace and favor in your life enables you to become what He sees. But first, you have to open your heart and take the limits off of your life. How do we limit God? We limit God in our thinking. Thoughts of doubt, unbelief and unforgiveness in your heart will close the door to His favor. In Mark 6, it says that Jesus could do no mighty works in a particular town because of the unbelief of the people. It works the same way today. On the other hand, when you choose thoughts of faith and expectancy, you are opening the door for God to work in your life. You are taking the limits off. You are giving Him the opportunity to m