God Sees Glorious Things In You!

1 Samuel 16:7 
7… For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 

Picture David when he was a shepherd boy. Many who knew him in his pre- Goliath days would very likely have seen just an ordinary youth — one who lived at home with his parents and siblings, enjoyed the outdoors and loved music. But where others saw a typical teenager, God saw a king in young David. He saw David’s name being uttered in honor forever for even the Lord Jesus is called the Son of David! 

Picture Moses after he had settled down comfortably in the desert with a beautiful wife, lovely children and good in-laws. He might have seen himself happily retiring in the near future. But God had bigger plans for him. God had big dreams for him. God saw the Red Sea opening up before him and an entire Egyptian army being wiped out in his presence. God saw in Moses the deliverer of His people. 

Now, step back a little less far in time with me. See a little boy standing alone during playtime. Nobody wants him on their team because he is scrawny and seen as a weakling. As he grows into his teens, he suffers from an inferiority complex. He stammers and stutters so much that all his classmates laugh at him. 

But today, he is the senior pastor of New Creation Church. Each week, he stands in front of a crowd of more than 24,000 people to preach. And he receives invitations to speak in churches and pastors’ conferences worldwide. In those early years, there was no way I could have ever conceived in my mind what God saw in me and the dreams that He had for me. 

Beloved, God does not see as man sees. God saw in fearful Gideon a mighty man of valor and called him so even when he was hiding from his enemies in fear. (Judges 6:12) God saw in young David a king and anointed him as one. (1 Samuel 16:10–13) God saw in meek Moses a deliverer and drew him out from obscurity. (Exodus 3) 

Today, God looks beyond what man sees and says about you, and He has dreams for you that are bigger than you can imagine! 

Thought For The Day 
God looks beyond what man sees and says about you, and He has dreams for you that are bigger than you can imagine!

Written by Joseph Prince

Posted by Kachi

Even a Perfect Husband makes a Poor God

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians4:19 (NIV)

I’ve often wished I could travel back 21 years ago and give my “young bride self” some advice. But since that’s not possible, I love sharing what I’ve learned with others.

Not so long ago, I had dinner with a friend in her twenties who would love to be married one day. During our time together, the conversation flowed freely about all sorts of things. Blogs. Writing. Leaving your comfort zone because God said so. You know, girl stuff. And then we moved on to the subject of relationships and marriage.

I shared with my friend that when I was single, I thought marriage was all about finding the right partner. I thought if you found “the one,” you’d be happy, secure and fulfilled.

I do think it’s good to have a list of standards you desire in a spouse. However, it can never be with the expectation that if you find that special someone, he’ll right all your wrongs and fill up all your insecurities. The problem with this thinking is the pressure it will eventually put on your spouse.

To expect another person to make you feel happy, secure and fulfilled will leave you disappointed at best and disillusioned at worst. Even a great husband makes a very poor God.

Only God Himself can settle those deep heart-needs. Our key verse, Philippians 4:19 reminds us of this,“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

If a husband could meet every need his wife had, we’d have no need for God. Therefore, instead of just focusing on finding the right partner, let God work on your heart to help you become the right partner. The time to start working on becoming a wife is now. Before the white 

dress, delicate bouquets, unity candle, bacon-wrapped shrimp and reception punch, there is some heart stuff to consider:ed shrimp and reception punch, there is some heart stuff to consider:

Getting married doesn’t instantly make you selfless … it makes you realize how very selfish you can be at times.

Getting married doesn’t make you feel loved … it makes you realize love is more of a decision you make than a feeling you feel.

Getting married doesn’t take away loneliness … it makes you realize true companionship comes not when you demand it, but rather when you give it to another person.

So, what does marriage give? A beautiful chance to make the choice to …

Laugh whether or not the jokes are funny.

Love by folding his collar over his tie every morning.

Talk things through by addressing issues rather than attacking him personally.

Cheer him on through both failures and successes.

Look for a positive quality in him each day and take the time to tell him.

Thank God for the privilege of being his wife.

After our time together, my friend thanked me for our talk. She said it gave her a lot to think about. To be honest, it gave me a lot to think about as well.

Dear Lord, only You can fill my heart, right my wrongs, and make me feel loved. I pray that You would show me how to keep my expectations of my husband in check. Help me be the wife he desires. And help me remember that marriage was never meant to make me happy all the time. Marriage is a decision to honor You by honoring the one you’ve entrusted to me to be my husband. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)

2 Peter 1:3, “Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received!” (MSG)

RELATED RESOURCES:
Determine to pray more words over your marriage than you speak about your marriage. Lysa is sharing five powerful Scriptures you can pray for yourself and your husband on her blog. Click here to find out more.

If you’re seeking more encouragement for your marriage, Lysa’s books, Capture His Heart(for wives) and Capture Her Heart(for husbands) can help. These books are wonderful resources to read with your husband!

REFLECT AND RESPOND:
If you aren’t married yet, think of some ways God might want to work on your heart before marriage.

If you are married, think of a way you’ve tried to get your husband to fill a need only God can meet. Pray and ask God how you can rely on Him for this need instead of your husband.

Written by Lisa Boyd

Posted by Kachi

Do not overlook thanksgiving

What do you understand by thanksgiving? I feel it is an expression of gratitude to God, you know, it is you saying, Lord I am pleased with all you have done for me and all you are going to do, I am grateful, I appreciate you and your works in my life.

Why is it (thanksgiving) important?

Luke 17:11-19. The story of the ten lepers teaches us that when we come to God in thanksgiving He perfects all His works/miracles in our lives.

Acts 16:25-40. The story of Paul and Silas in the prison reveals to us the effects of praising God.

Ephesians 5:19-20 Paul writes to the Ephesians and to us instructing us to sing psalms, hymns, and inspired songs amongst ourselves, singing and chanting to the Lord in our hearts always and everywhere giving thanks to God our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here are a few ways we could make conscious efforts to remain thankful to God.

* Keep a gratitude journal.

This may sound ridiculous but it does work a lot and at the end of each day we would be astonished at the number of things we are genuinely grateful for.

*Pray.

Whenever we pray, we thank God for what He has done for us and then we make our request known to Him, so, praying frequently means, thanking God frequently too.

*Repent.

When we repent of our sins and begin to live life as God has called us we appreciate God for the difference He makes in our lives.

*Contentment.

Being contented with what God has done for us or where God has placed us is an act of appreciation to God.

*Give Testimonies.

When you publicly testify of Gods goodness in your life, when you share your experiences and Gods faithfulness in your life, you are also motivating others to believe in God for their own miracles.

       In conclusion, bear in mind, that whatever faith starts, thanksgiving perfects and also that, thanksgiving turns out every citical situation to a favourable situation, for every aiota of thanksgiving, there is an aiota of breakthrough.

Psalms of thanksgiving:

Psalms: 107,136,66,65,18.... These are the few I was able to come up with, please feel free to add more to the list.

Written by

MisLin. 

Develop A Steadfast Faith.

                

          Steadfastness means being loyal, it means faithfulness, it means you deciding to remain certain on your decision over something. Faith as we all know is being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we don't see it.

         

Hence, having a steadfast faith means having an unshakeable believe in God, it means remaining faithful to God come what may, it means staying loyal to God no matter the trials and tribulations you face, believing that God will always vindicate you, that He would never leave you nor forsake you, that in His tender loving kindness, His unending mercies would never be cut short from your life. In order to develop a steadfast faith, you must:                                        

* Know the truth, for the bible says only the truth will set you free. What is the truth? The truth is Jesus Christ himself, He is the way the TRUTH and the life. There is only one place we can study the character and teaching of our dear Lord and that is the bible. 2nd Peter3:18 says "......continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.....". Joshua 1:8 says "Have the book of the Law (which is our present day bible) always on your lips; meditate on it day and night,.....".

* Ask God to increase your faith, spiritual gifts are not obtained by our efforts, they are gifts from God, the Holy spirit. Remember Mathew 7:7 says ask and you shall receive,seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be open unto thee. Hebrews 4:16 says in confidence approach Gods throne where grace abounds. It is by Gods grace that our faith can be increased, and remember, God is pleased with those who have faith in Him.

* Love,the most important commandment God has given us is to Love, do you show love? How do you develop a steadfast without love? Love God, love your neighbours. Prove your believe in God by your character, our God is love in all sense of the word love.

* Associate with the right people. Who do you associate with? Fellow believers who would strengthen you spiritually when you are down, who'd correct you with love, who'd show you love and kindness without expecting anything in return or unbelievers who dwell on the things of this world, who indulge in everything our God is against. Iron as they say sharpeneth iron.

* Endure in trying time, endure suffering for if there is no good Friday would there be an Easter Sunday? In order to have a steadfast faith you must be mentally and spiritually prepared for the rocky days, there is perseverance in faith.

        

  Finally, let us learn to encourage ourselves never to compromise our faith so that on the last day, we can say like our brother St. Paul did in 2Timothy 4:7 "I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance and I have kept the faith".

Written by:

MisLin.

Forgive.

        

To forgive means to stop being angry with someone, to stop blaming them although they have done something wrong. It means to release the other person from blame, it means leaving the event in Gods hands, it means to move on.

I believe forgiveness is a choice we make through a decision of our will, motivated by obedience to God and his command to forgive.

One may ask, why must I forgive? Why must I let go of this wrong done to me? I know a few reasons why;

Asides from the most common reason which is, the burden of unforgiveness is so heavy for the heart to bear,  our Lord Jesus Christ commands us to forgive (Mathew 6:14-16), Apostle Mark reminds us of the need to forgive (Mark 11:25), Apostle Luke also says the same about forgiveness (Luke 6:37), St. Paul warns the colossians to forgive (Colossians 3:13).

Refusing to forgive leaves an open wound in our soul that festers into bitterness, resentment, and depression. For our own good, and the good of the person who hurt us, we simply must forgive.

We are to forgive so that we may enjoy God's goodness without feeling the weight of anger burning deep within our hearts. Forgiveness does not mean we recant the fact that what happened to us was wrong. Instead, we roll our burdens onto the Lord and allow Him to carry them for us.

To forgive may be difficult but if you try to acknowledge that the person who hurt you also makes mistakes, that this atrocity that has been committed against you is this persons weakness, that you have your own weaknesses too (even if this persons weakness seems to weigh a lot more than yours), and you would want to be forgiven when your weaknesses get th better part of you, it would be a lot easier to let go, to forgive.

How will we know if we have truly forgiven?

Lewis B. Smedes wrote in his book, Forgive and Forget, "When you release the wrong doer from the wrong, you cut a malignant tumour out of your inner life. You set a prisoner free, but you discover that the real prisoner was yourself."

We will know the work of forgiveness is complete when we experience the freedom that comes as a result. We are the ones who suffer most when we choose not to forgive. When we do forgive, the Lord sets our hearts free from the anger, bitterness, resentment and hurt that previously imprisoned us.

I encourage us all today, to make conscious efforts to forgive anyone who has hurt us.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all.

Written by:

Mis'Lin.