Episodes
Saturday Jun 26, 2021
Saturday Jun 26, 2021
Today’s World Is Fertile Ground for a Spiritual Awakening that Calls Jesus Followers to Obey and be “Strong and Courageous” – God Is with Us and In Us
MESSAGE SUMMARY: We have been equipped, as God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29:11-12, for God’s purposes in our lives: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.". In Joshua 1:9, God commands us to be strong and courageous because He is with us. Also, God gave Joshua truths that would confirm God’s support in His command of Joshua: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”.
Often the Lord has called or commanded us to do something in His service, but tough decisions for us arise for us when we are not fully committed to obey God; and we fall into disobedience. When we obey God’s commands, He steps into lives with support for us to achieve His command. Also, God instructed Joshua, in Joshua 1:6, to be “strong and courageous”: “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.". We must be “strong and courageous” to do the will of God when we are called. Additionally, God commanded Joshua to be committed to the Word of God.
Courage is acting and speaking even though you are afraid. If you follow God’s call and seek His will to live and act in His Word, there is no reason to be overcome by fear because “your God is with you wherever you go”. After God’s grace through Jesus, God is in us through His gift to us of the Holy Spirit. You get strong by exercising the “muscles” of your faith and commitment to God’s will and His word – often pushing your “commitment to God” beyond levels you thought possible. Spiritual strength comes from having God with you and in you.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Lord, grant me wisdom and prudence to see the larger picture, to wait, and to discern the seasons in my life with you. Forgive me for fighting the “deaths” you send into my life in order to plant something new. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 107). 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): Jeremiah 29:11-12; Joshua 1:9; Joshua 1:6; Joshua 1:7; James 1:22; Hebrews 10:23; Joshua 1:8: 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Matthew 28:16-20. Ephesians 6:10-12.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “To Be a Jesus Follower, You Must First Enter the Only Door to God’s Kingdom and that Door is Jesus – the Door to Eternal Life”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
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Saturday Jun 19, 2021
The Ultimate Call of a Father -- Where Are the Faithful Fathers?
Saturday Jun 19, 2021
Saturday Jun 19, 2021
The Ultimate Call of a Father -- Where Are the Faithful Fathers?
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Special Message: The Five Needs of Fathers: On Father's Day, we need to understand God's expectations of Fathers. Dads are to bring up their children in "the way they should go" (their calling). The Five Needs of Dads: 1) Companionship; 2) Respect; 3) Know How to Face Temptation; 4) Not to Be Foolish; and 5) and Remember that God Expects You to Be a dad. Discipline, wisely administered by fathers, is an important attribute and need for fathers, as the author of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 12:9-11: “. . . we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”.
Sermon for Today: Where are the faithful fathers? More and more couples are coming into marriage having not been raised by a father. God is an incredible example for us to look to for guidance in being a father. One of God's characteristics, as a father, is His faithfulness. Faithfulness, as dads, includes faithfulness in our relationships with: 1) God – daily communion in our personal relationship with God and our corporate worship; 2) our wives -- no relationship for a man, other than his relationship with God, is as important as his relationship with his wife; 3) our children – be present physically and engage with our children emotionally and spiritually; and 4) our finances – when finances are sound and in order, God’s peace surrounds the family.
We can begin practicing our faithfulness in our lives through our focus on: 1) the little things in our lives – like our words and acts of kindness; 2) watching out for the secret things – who we are when no one is watching is who we are; and 3) asking God to help and fill you with the Holy Spirit.
There is a void of faithful men and fathers today; therefore, Dads, ask God to help you to be faithful as a father. Fathers should hope that, when we are judged by God, He tells us: “Well done good and faithful servant!”.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Lord, may your will, not my will, be done in my life. You know how easy it is to call myself a Christian but then become busy, forgetting about your will and desires. Forgive me for this sin. Help me listen to you, and grant me the courage to faithfully surrender to you. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 25). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, 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): Hebrews 12:9-11; Ephesians 6:4; Lamentations 3:22; 1 John 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, 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).
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “God Sees Jesus Followers as “In Christ”: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
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Saturday Jun 12, 2021
Saturday Jun 12, 2021
Are You Being Led by the Holy Spirit, or Are YOU DOING WHAT YOU THINK IS BEST? Be filled with the Holy Spirit
MESSAGE SUMMARY: On Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, the Holy Spirit, the third entity of the Trinity, was poured out; therefore, everyone is entitled to have a personal relationship with God through prayer and the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Luke, in Acts 2:38, tells us of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to Christians: “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’". Pentecost changed the previous limited and temporary inclusion of the Holy Spirit into human life relationships with God to a gift from God, as a part of His Grace of Salvation through Jesus, to the Holy Spirit’s availability to all that believe and are Jesus Followers.
In 1900, the world-wide awakening with the Holy Spirit began when a humble Roman Catholic Nun obeyed the voice of the Lord and wrote to Pope Leo encouraging him to pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Based on his concerns with all that was going on in the world, Pope Leo responded to the letter by calling an assembly of the College of Cardinals to a prayer vigil at the Vatican on New Year’s Eve. This beginning spread the same night to Topeka Kansas; and the Holy Spirit descended over the world during the next six years with one revival in California lasting twenty-four hours a day for three years; and the world received a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Today, we and the world need to be refreshed by the Holy Spirit -- this is what Pentecost is all about. The Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus among us. Our being filled with the Holy Spirit is normal Christianity. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to commune with God and to have a personal relationship with Him -- the Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus among us. You cannot live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. Pentecost reminds us that we are given Spiritual Gifts so that we might be a witness to the Lord.
You will be filled with the Holy Spirit every day that you surrender your life to the Holy Spirit. You cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit if you are consumed by sin and the desires of your flesh.
Are You being led by the Holy Spirit, or are you just doing what you think is best? Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, 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): Acts 2:38; Genesis 1:2; 1 Corinthians 2:1-11; Acts 2:1-13; Ephesians 5:18; 2 Peter 1:20; Galatians 5:16-20; Philippians 4:13-20; Acts 1:8.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Father, teach me to trust you even when I feel like I am alone and that you are asleep in the boat with storms raging all around me. Awaken me to the treasures that can only be found in darkness. Grant me the grace to follow you into the next place you have for me in this journey called life. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 82). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Your Sin Is Never Too Great so that You Are Lost to God’s Salvation – ‘Return to Me {God}, and I Will Return to You’”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Saturday Jun 05, 2021
Saturday Jun 05, 2021
Jesus Followers’ Personal Pentecost Characterizes Life Positively Through the Holy Spirit and a Personal Relationship with God
MESSAGE SUMMARY: On Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, the Holy Spirit, the third entity of the Trinity, was poured out; therefore, Jesus Followers entitled to have a personal relationship with God through prayer and the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Luke, in Acts 2:38, tells us of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to Christians: “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’". Pentecost changed the previous limited and temporary inclusion of the Holy Spirit into human life relationships with God to a gift from God, as a part of His Grace of Salvation through Jesus, to the Holy Spirit’s availability to all that believe and follow Jesus.
How would you characterize your life in terms of peace vs. anxiety and God’s presence vs. emptiness? If you cannot characterize your life in a positive context vis-à-vis your personal relationship with God through the Holy Spirit, then you need a Personal Pentecost in your life.
Characteristics of the Holy Spirit include: 1) is the divine indweller – we can participate in the divine nature of God through the Holy Spirit; and 2) produces the divine character – manifests in us the graces of Jesus, and we need to learn to live in the power of a Personal Pentecost,
What is entailed in our living in the “Power of Pentecost”? A Personal Pentecost includes: 1) receiving Jesus, on a personal basis, into your life and by asking: “Does the Holy Spirit have me?”; and 2) regular and daily confession of your sin with regular repentance – allowing the will of God to be manifest in your life.
By following Jesus, the Holy Spirit is indwelling in you like the pilot light in a furnace which burns but without real heat being produced unless the Pilot Light is permitted to light the furnace. Therefore, you need to ignite the furnace to use the power of the pilot light (i.e. Holy Spirit) to produce the power available from the Holy Spirit in your life and in the lives of those people that God is asking you to touch. This ignition of the furnace in your life is your Personal Pentecost.
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): Acts 2:38; Genesis 1:2; John 7:38; 2 Peter 1:3-4; John 14:16; Galatians 5:22; Romans 14:17; Romans 15:13; Romans 5:5; Romans 4:29-30; 1 Thessalonians 5:16.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “As a Jesus Follower, the Greatest Witness for the Gospel that You Can Give Is for Others to See Jesus IN You”: www.AWFTL.org/watch
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB