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A sharing of Christian video sermons delivered globally by Archbishop Foley Beach
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7 hours ago
7 hours ago
How God Says He Loves Us: Part 2 -- The Covenant with Abraham
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Throughout human history, God has reached out to humans for a personal relationship and to express His love for humankind. We have a God that loves us so much, and God’s love for us is expressed to us through His “covenants”. Also, God’s “covenants” reveal to us His grace and faithfulness. In today’s message, we will discuss God’s Covenant with Abram and Abraham. A “covenant” can be defined as an “oath or promise of God”. In a Biblical covenant: 1) God establishes the Covenant; 2) God always implies that “I am your God, and you are my people” – God desires a personal relationship with us; and 3) God sets the covenant’s terms and rulers.
In Genesis 12:1-5, God presents His promise to Abram: “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.".
In Genesis 15:18, God makes a covenant with Abram: “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give his land . . .’”. In Genesis 17:4-5, God makes another covenant with Abram changing Abram’s name to Abraham: “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.". in Genesis 21-1-4, Abraham’s son through Sarah, that God had promised Abraham, is born: “The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.”.
In Genesis 22:1-18, the final part of God’s covenant with Abraham is found when God provided the blood sacrifice of the lamb that sealed His covenant with Abraham: “And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, ‘By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.’”.
The significance of God’s covenant with Abraham includes: 1) Abraham believed God and had faith, and because of Abraham’s faith God made Abraham righteous – foretells the significance of the Gospel because God’s covenant through Jesus for us is a covenant of faith; 2) God’s covenant with Abraham foreshadows His covenant through Jesus as he Messiah, the Christ – Isaac is the first legitimate son of Abraham, and Jesus is considered the last son through Abraham, Isaac voluntarily went to the alter and Jesus voluntarily went to the cross, Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice and God gave His Son as a sacrifice; 3) God’s covenant is still being fulfilled today – in a physical sense, the covenant is fulfilled through the Arabs and the Jews since both consider Abraham as their father and fulfilled in a spiritual sense through Jesus as Paul tells us in Galatians 3:14: “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.".
Remember, the God who made covenant with Abraham is Jesus.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Romans 10:9; Genesis 9:20-29; Genesis 3:15; Genesis 12:1-9; Genesis 15:1-27; 1 Peter 3:18-21; John 3:16-17; Hebrews 11:6; Galatians 3:7-9,14-16,29.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “God, the Father, Is Spirit; Jesus Followers Must Worship the Father in Spirit and Truth with Reality and Honesty and Not a Façade”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
How God Says He Loves Us: Part 1 -- The Covenant with Noah
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
We have a God that loves us so much, and God’s love for us is expressed to us through His “covenants”. Also, God’s “covenants” reveal to us His grace and faithfulness. In today’s message, we will discuss God’s Covenant with Noah. A “covenant” can be defined as an “oath or promise of God”. In a Biblical covenant: 1) God establishes the Covenant; 2) God always implies that “I am your God, and you are my people” – God desires a personal relationship with us; and 3) God sets the covenant’s terms and rulers.
In Genesis 6:5-22, the corruption of humanity, through mankind’s sin after the Fall, became too much for God, and He became sorry that He made mankind. From Genesis, we know that God “grieved in His heart” because of human evil, corruption, and violence. However, Noah found favor in the eyes of God. Noah was righteous and blameless, and Noah “walked with God”.
After destroying all humans and all other inhabitants of the earth, except for Noah, his family, those animals that Noah collected for His arch, God “blessed Noah in Genesis 9:1-29; and God established His covenant with Noah in Genesis 9:9-1:10,11-13: “’Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you . . . that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.’". Therefore, this covenant is not only with Noah and all other living things on the earth; but God’s covenant with Noah is with us too! The “rain’bow’” is a sign of this covenant between Noah and all humanity; and this “rainbow” is, also, a sign of God’s love, grace, and mercy.
In 1 Peter 3:18-21, the Apostle Peter relates Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, which is redemptive covenant for our salvation, to God’s earlier covenant with Noah: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ . . .". In this text from 1 Peter, we learn that our “baptism” represents our Salvation through Jesus. Like Noah and his family, we have been saved “through the water” not “by the water”. Therefore, “baptism” is another covenant between God and all humanity, through God’s Grace, to save mankind from itself if we accept God’s Grace. God does not see us, now, in our sin like humanity’s evil of Noah’s time; rather, God sees us through the eternal (like the “rainbow”) “Justifying” covenant blood of Jesus.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Genesis 6:5-22; Genesis 9:1-29; 1 Peter 3:18-21; Psalms 28:1-9.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers Have Eternal Life, Even Before their Earthly Death, Because Whoever “believes him {God} who sent me {Jesus}” ”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Friday Feb 07, 2025
Friday Feb 07, 2025
Beginnings of Prayer – Part 5: Start Now and Improve Your Prayer Life -- A Robust Prayer Life Will Transform Your Life
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
INTRODUCTIOIN -- Prayer is: 1) spending time with God – acknowledging God’s presence in all our lives’ activities; and 2) conversation with God – listening to and talking with God. Prayer reflects on our relationship with God. Why don’t we pray. The Apostle James, in James 4:2-3, provides a perspective regarding Prayer Life: “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
In praying, we should know the difference between prayers of "petition" (praying for one's own needs) and prayers of "intercession" (praying for the needs of others). God wants prayers of "petition" from us -- all our needs and concerns should be brought to Him in prayer because He loves and cares for us. However, God want us to, also, focus on others and their needs (intercession) -- physical and spiritual. "Intercessory prayer” is fundamental to deepening our prayer life and our personal relationship with God.
SUNDAY MESSAGE -- This Sermon is Q and A session on prayer with Archbishop Beach and Rev. Matt Jordan.
Jan Karen, author of the Mitford Series, says that "In the big issues of life as well as the small, God wants to hear from His children . . . the most important thing we get from prayer is the relationship that we enter into with God.". As Jesus tells us in Luke 11:9-10 that, as His followers we are both expected to pray and to ask as a fundamental part of our lives in Him: “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.". Additionally, Luke tells us, in Luke 18:1, that we should continue to pray: “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart."
How do you know that God has answered your prayer? What does it mean when God has not answered your prayer? Why, if God answers our prayers, should we ask for others to pray for us? How do we know if we are praying in the Holy Spirit? Why does my mind start wandering when I start praying? How good is it to have a prayer journal? Why, sometimes, are we tempted to sin when we pray? How important is fasting? Do we stop in our prayers enough to give thanks to the Lord? The common position, derivative of all these questions is expressed to us in Ephesians 3:21b-24 that prayer is life changing and fundamental to a life in Jesus: “the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.".
Pray specific prayers, in the Holy Spirit and in Scripture, for ourselves and for others -- be persistent.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM A FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Jeremiah 33:3; Luke 11:1-13; Luke 18:1-8; Luke 22:44; Ephesians 3:20. (Click the blue below to read the full Bible text for these scripture references in BOLD.).
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “For Jesus Followers, Fasting, with Food, Will Symbolize a Victory Over Oneself and Solidify a Personal Relationship with God”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Saturday Feb 01, 2025
Saturday Feb 01, 2025
Beginnings In Prayer - Part 4: Listening to God Because He Desires to Speak to Us
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Prayer is: 1) spending time with God – acknowledging God’s presence in all our lives’ activities; and 2) conversation with God – listening to and talking with God. Prayer reflects on our relationship with God. Why don’t we pray. The Apostle James, in James 4:2-3, provides a perspective regarding Prayer Life: “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
In praying, we should know the difference between prayers of "petition" (praying for one's own needs) and prayers of "intercession" (praying for the needs of others). God wants prayers of "petition" from us -- all our needs and concerns should be brought to Him in prayer because He loves and cares for us. However, God want us to, also, focus on others and their needs (intercession) -- physical and spiritual. "Intercessory prayer” is fundamental to deepening our prayer life and our personal relationship with God.
We need to consider "how we listen" to and for God. Usually, God speaks through the Holy Spirit like He spoke to Mary. Jesus tells us about the Holy Spirit and “listening” through the Apostle John in John 16:13-15: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.". God, mostly but not always, uses that "still small voice" in our minds. We need to seek out places and times so that we can listen for and to God. Listening validates relationships in our secular lives -- why would it be different in our relationship with God? God wants to speak to us because we have a relationship with Him -- He loves us and wants to be with us.
God's "Counselor", the Holy Spirit, is His primary communication bridge to us. God speaks to us, through the Holy Spirit, as He promised. God guides us to all truth -- to His direction for our lives. When God speaks to you, write it down, as God tells us through the prophet Habakkuk in Habakkuk 2:2-3: “And the LORD answered me: ‘Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end — it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.’".
God, often, speaks to us through the Bible, through other people, and through our circumstances. As we listen for God, we need to respond to God as Samuel did in Samuel 3:10b: "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.".
Pray specific prayers, in the Holy Spirit and in Scripture, for ourselves and for others -- be persistent.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM A CHILD OF GOD. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:12f).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Jeremiah 33:3; John 16:7-14; John 10:1-25; Habakkuk 2:1-3; 1 Samuel 3:1-18. (Click the blue below to read the full Bible text for these scripture references in BOLD.).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Daniel’s Prayer Was “seeking him {God} by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting . . . ‘O Lord, the great and awesome God . . . we have sinned and done wrong’””: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE LINK: www.awordfromthelord.org
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
Beginnings of Prayer -- Part 3: Prayer is Not About Us, It Is About Others
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Prayer is: 1) spending time with God – acknowledging God’s presence in all our lives’ activities; and 2) conversation with God – listening to and talking with God. Prayer reflects on our relationship with God. Why don’t we pray. The Apostle James, in James 4:2-3, provides a perspective regarding Prayer Life: “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
In praying, we should know the difference between prayers of "petition" (praying for one's own needs) and prayers of "intercession" (praying for the needs of others). God wants prayers of "petition" from us -- all our needs and concerns should be brought to Him in prayer because He loves and cares for us. However, God want us to, also, focus on others and their needs (intercession) -- physical and spiritual. "Intercessory" prayer is fundamental to deepening our prayer life. "Intercessory Prayer" is one of the most important, if not THE MOST important, ministries of the Church. Living our own abundant life is first about our focus on others before we focus on ourselves. Pray specific prayers, in the Holy Spirit and in Scripture, for others -- be persistent.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM RIGHTEOUS IN GOD’S EYES. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Ezekiel 22:29; Isaiah 53:12; Romans 8:24; 1 Samuel 12:23. (Click the blue below to read the full Bible text for these scripture references in BOLD.).
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE LINK: www.awordfromthelord.org
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Do You Struggle with Your “Prayer Life”? Find a Quiet Place for Your Personal Relationship with God and Pray to the Universe’s Creator”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Thursday Jan 16, 2025
Thursday Jan 16, 2025
Beginnings in Prayer -- Part 2: Faith, a Gift of the Spirit, Is a Key Element in Our Relationship with God Through Prayer
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Part I -- INTRODUCTION: We are told in the New testament that there is a Spiritual Gift of faith that God imparts, but most of us don't use our Spiritual Gift of faith. Faith is like a muscle; if we don't use it, like a muscle, faith atrophies. You cannot live on yesterday's faith -- you must use your faith, or you will become weak in your faith!
Part II -- PRAYER - 2: Prayer is: 1) spending time with God – acknowledging God’s presence in all our lives’ activities; and 2) conversation with God – listening to and talking with God. Prayer reflects on our relationship with God. Why don’t we pray. The Apostle James, in James 4:2-3, provides a perspective regarding Prayer Life: “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
We are trying to encounter God as He wants us to through prayer. Prayer is an incredible Spiritual Gift that the Lord has given us; a gift so that we might know Him and to accomplish His purpose for us. When discussing prayer, the attribute of prayer, that is often left out, is faith. As Jesus tells us about the importance of faith in Matthew 15:25-28: “But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ And he answered, ‘It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.”. It does not take much faith to have great faith. The writer Hebrews, in Hebrews 11:1-3, defines faith: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.".
In order to create and sustain our prayer life, we must: 1) have faith and believe that God exists; 2) believe that God will honor your seeking Him – start by praying as you are; and 3) exercise your faith – stretch your prayers for God.
If you have a prayer life, how do you approach your prayer life? Do you enter your God relationship through prayer with a faith expectation and confident that God hears you and will respond? Just remember that Jesus taught us that it does not take much faith to have "great faith". Faith is what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Prayer exercise for this week: 1) pick some issue for which you need direction; 2) ask god, by faith, to give you an answer; and 3) all week long, come to God asking for an answer until you get an answer. Faith is the power behind your prayers.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Lord, Sabbath rest is truly an unbelievable gift! Thank you that there is nothing I can do to earn your love; it comes without any strings attached. As I close my eyes for these few minutes before you, all I can say is, thank you! In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 133). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 8:10; Matthew 15:25-28; Matthew 8:26; Matthew 14:31; Matthew 17:20-21; Hebrews 11:1-3; Hebrews 11:6. (Click the blue below to read the full Bible text for these scripture references in BOLD.).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “The Old Testament Law of “an eye for an eye” Was Reversed by Jesus in His “Great Commandment” in which Jesus Followers Are “to Love””: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
A WORDFROM THE LORD WEBSITE LINK: www.awordfromthelord.org
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Friday Jan 10, 2025
Friday Jan 10, 2025
Beginnings in Prayer – Part 1: How is Your Prayer Life; Is Anything in Your Life More Important than Prayer?
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Part I: Be ready for the Lord and pay attention to and for His second coming. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” We, as believers, should be aware of God’s signs as they arise.
Part II: Prayer is: 1) spending time with God – acknowledging God’s presence in all our lives' activities; and 2) conversation with God – listening to and talking with God. Prayer reflects on our relationship with God. Why don’t we pray. The Apostle James, in James 4:2-3, provides a perspective regarding Prayer Life: “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
Relationships, especially your personal relationship with God, are two-way -- listening and speaking. Sometimes, in our prayers, it is more important to listen for and to God than to speak and ask. Spending time with God, in sweet fellowship and in conversation, happens when we make prayer an important priority in a life filled with faith, repentance, and trust. God wants us to “pray without ceasing” and as a part of all our life activities.
If prayer is so essential to a Christian way of life, why is our Prayer Life so insufficient? We don’t have a sufficient Prayer Life because: 1) we don’t know that prayer is important -- ignorance; 2) we don’t know how to pray -- knowledge; 3) we are too busy to pray -- priority; 4) we don’t really believe prayer will help or prayer will be effective -- faith; 5) we don’t want to face the sin in our lives – repentance; 6) we may be afraid to pray – trust; and 7) our past history with prayer – experience,.
To recharge our Prayer Life this week, perform this exercise: for five minutes each day, pray about a – 1) situation, 2) circumstance, and a 3) person or relationship.
Imagine what our lives and the lives of our community and country would be like if we were a people of prayer with a sufficient Prayer Life!
TODAY’S PRAYER: Lord, Sabbath rest is truly an unbelievable gift! Thank you that there is nothing I can do to earn your love; it comes without any strings attached. As I close my eyes for these few minutes before you, all I can say is, thank you! In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 133). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): 1 John 2:1-6; James 4:2-3; Matthew 7:7-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-17. (Click the blue below to read the full Bible text for these scripture references in BOLD.).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers Should Fear, Respect, and Praise God’s Power, Sovereignty, and Holiness; but in Life’s Trials They Should “fear not for I {Jesus} am with you always””: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE LINK: www.awordfromthelord.org
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Saturday Jan 04, 2025
Saturday Jan 04, 2025
The Struggle with Time -- Until I Determine How I Want to Use My Time, Others Will Determine How My Time Is Used
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Life will never settle down until we chose to settle down in living our lives. Life is a choice more than we realize. We are given twenty-four hours in a day, and if God had wanted us to have thirty-six hours in our day, He would have given us a thirty-six-hour day. Therefore, if we don’t have enough clock in our day, we are doing some things we should not be doing. We can determine some of the time traps that keep us from serving the Lord and how we can address the traps to better serve ourselves and the Lord. Is the clock our dictator; do we allocate time to serve the Lord, our families, and our work? How do we delegate?
Life will never settle down until we choose to settle down; life is a choice. To manage our time as God would have us manage our lives: 1) Work is important and necessary, but working is not living; 2) Time is life first and then money; 3) More life productivity means more time; 4) How we use our time significantly effects our self-esteem, identity, and our fulfillment; and 5) We cannot control time, but we can control how we use time.
We must get control of the time issues in our lives. The simple formula for managing our time: Pray, Prioritize, and Plan. Managing our time better is a fundamental question as we end a year and begin a new year. We must learn to honor the Lord by "honoring our time".
TODAY’S PRAYER: Lord, Sabbath rest is truly an unbelievable gift! Thank you that there is nothing I can do to earn your love; it comes without any strings attached. As I close my eyes for these few minutes before you, all I can say is, thank you! In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 133). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM A CHILD OF GOD. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:12f).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; Ecclesiastes 9:11-17; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Romans 8:18. (Click the blue below to read the full Bible text for these scripture references in BOLD.).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “At Jesus’ Crucifixion and Death, the “Temple Veil” Was Torn; After Jesus Easter Resurrection, You Now Pray Directly with God”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE LINK: www.awordfromthelord.org
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Wednesday Dec 25, 2024
Wednesday Dec 25, 2024
A Christmas Message
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
The real meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ – the Messiah, who is the Savior of the World. Christians emphasize Christmas and Jesus’ birth because His birth: 1) fulfills many Biblical prophesies, especially n terms of the time and location of Jesus’ birth; 2) points the fact that Jesus was more than just a man; 3) and life saw Jesus claim the right to forgive sins; 4) led Jesus to call God His “Father”, which indicated that Jesus was God; 5) resulted in Jesus’ Resurrection, which validated Jesus’ claims and made Him different; and 6) was God, through Jesus’ birth, still trying to get our attention.
God, through His Grace and through the birth of Jesus, did for us what we could not do for ourselves – save ourselves from our sins and our death that would result from our sins. God, through the birth of Jesus -- the God-Man, entered into our earthly mess to save us because, after God’s Grace and Jesus’ birth, all our sin now resides on Jesus. God’s Grace through the birth of Jesus, demonstrates God’s love for us.
God wants us to know that Jesus was born for us out of His love for us. Therefore, we need to consider that God, the Creator of the Universe, entered the world, through the baby Jesus for us so that we might have a personal relationship with Him.
Have you yielded to God so that your mind’s consideration of God’s Grace, love, and Jesus’ birth can move from your mind into a commitment of both your mind and your heart to your faith in Jesus as your Savior and into God’s service? Until we yield to God’s lordship over our lives, we are saying to God that “we don’t need your love”.
Is Jesus your Lord and, therefore, your Savior? God has given you the greatest Christmas gift that you will ever receive. Have you accepted His Gift and opened His gift into your life? If not, then why not? With your hands open, you can accept God’s Christmas gift by saying: “I am sorry; thank you; and please”.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM RIGHTEOUS IN GOD’S EYES. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Luke 2:9-11; Matthew 1:21; Isaiah 53:4-6; Colossians 1:15-19; Hebrews 1-3; John 1:4; John10:30; John 14:8-11; John 3:16-17. (Click the blue below to read the full Bible text for these scripture references in BOLD.).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “When Jesus Asked You: “Whom do you say that I am?”, Did You Answer Jesus: “You are my God and the Lord of my Life!”?”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
A WORDFROM THE LORD WEBSITE LINK: www.awordfromthelord.org
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Sunday Dec 22, 2024
Sunday Dec 22, 2024
Why We Do Christmas
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Introduction: We are still in the season of Advent, which means “coming” or “arrival”. The Church begins this season of “arrival” or Advent as the time we recognize and celebrate the “arrival” of Jesus – both Jesus’ “first coming” and His “second coming”. We celebrate Jesus’ “first coming” on Christmas Eve. The season of Advent is, also, a season of hope; and Advent is the beginning of our Church’s “New Year”.
Message: What does Christmas mean to you? “Could we be missing the point of what Christmas is all about”? Irrespective of all the personal, social and cultural noise we encounter around the Christmas season, we must not lose sight of the fact that Christmas is all and only about Jesus. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of the most important person that ever lived – the God and man Jesus.
Is this birth and life of the Incarnate and unique Son of God, as both the Creator of the Universe and the Savior of humankind, true? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” because Jesus birth and life are based upon historical evidence. Also, the birth of Jesus is God coming among us in a desire to have a personal relationship with us and with all people. If God is so desirous of a personal relationship with us, why did God go to so much trouble to bring Jesus to us? Because, every time we sin, we are building a barrier between us and God – God is Holy, and He cannot relate to sin. Therefore, God’s Grace provided Jesus as both the means of our Salvation and as an intermediary (i.e. Jesus is both God and a human without sin) from which we can have God’s desired personal relationship with us. However, when Jesus died on the cross, He took on all sin and became the required and once offered sacrificial payment for all sin. Jesus birth, life, death and Resurrection became the doorway for our personal relationship with God. As Jesus tells us in Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man {Jesus}came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”. “God loves us because of who God is.”
Why do so few of us accept God’s offered gift of Salvation through His Grace? When those not yet believing look at the lives of those of us that believe, they, often, they see us living by the fruit of the flesh rather than by the fruit of the Spirit – our hypocrisy. Also, God’s offer is rejected because He may require us to give up some sin that we enjoy. Additionally, some believe that the cost of becoming a Christian is too great; however, the cost of not becoming a Christian is far greater than the cost of becoming a Christian and accepting God’s offer. Many refuse God’s gift because they believe that they are not worthy or good enough for God and His gift. They are correct; none of us are worthy of God’s gift, but that is the point – Jesus’ birth, life, death and Resurrection provide us with the means a path to be worthy of God’s gift.
Is Jesus your Savior? God has given you the greatest Christmas gift that you will ever receive. Have you accepted His Gift and opened His gift into your life? If not, then why not? With your hands open, you can accept God’s Christmas gift by saying: “I am sorry; thank you; and please”.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Lord, Sabbath rest is truly an unbelievable gift! Thank you that there is nothing I can do to earn your love; it comes without any strings attached. As I close my eyes for these few minutes before you, all I can say is, thank you! In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 133). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mark 10:45; John 15:13; John 3:16-17; Galatians 5:18-25. (Click the blue below to read the full Bible text for these scripture references in BOLD.).
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE LINK: www.awordfromthelord.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Letting God Be Lord Over Your Finances, which Are His but He Entrusted to You, Will Liberate Your Life!”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB