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A sharing of Christian video sermons delivered globally by Archbishop Foley Beach
Episodes
Friday Mar 08, 2024
Friday Mar 08, 2024
How Does God Say I Love You, Part 4: Violation of the Covenant
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
“Rejecting the Covenant and the God of the Covenant will eventually lead a person to a place of stubbornness, hardness of heart, and then their destruction.”
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 Moses. 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.
We begin by looking at Israel’s current king in 2 Chronicles 36, King Zedekiah, who was successor descendant of King David and a Godly father, King Josiah. We need to remember that King David had built the kingdom and the nation of Israel into a great nation through a foundation of a commitment to God and the Covenant God had given to His people – King David made God His priority, and David made God’s priorities his priorities. God is interested in those who seek first His kingdom. Also, from King David’s life, we know that God expects one who sins to repent and return to Him. David’s son, Solomon, tells us to “fear God and keep His commandments”.
After King Solomon, God’s people experienced a series of Kings – some who kept God’s Covenant and some who do not keep God’s Covenant. Subsequently, David’s single Kingdom, that brought together the Twelve Tribes, is divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Zedekiah is in deep trouble and in an impossible situation with Babylon laying siege to Jerusalem. Rather than calling on God for help, Zedekiah sends an envoy to Egypt. Zedekiah has rejected God and God’s Covenant (2 Chronicles 36:12-14): “He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem.". In desperation, Zedekiah now appeals to the Prophet Jeremiah for a miracle from God, whom he had rejected, to save his kingdom from the attack by Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar (Jerimiah 21). God answers Zedekiah’s plea for salvation through Jerimiah in Jerimiah 21:5-7: “’I {God} myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. Afterward’, declares the LORD, ‘I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives.’".
Our God is a Covenant God, and He keeps His Covenants. When the people of God obeyed their Covenant with God they were blessed; but when they disobeyed, they were cursed – just like the people under King Zedekiah.
The significance of the Scripture from 2 Chronicles 36 and Jerimiah 21 for us today: 1) God is a Covenant God; 2) as recipients of the New Covenant through Jesus, we are assured of God’s forgiveness; 3) rejecting the Covenant and the God of the Covenant will eventually lead us to a place of stubbornness, hardness of heart, and then to our destruction; 4) God will try again and again to draw us back to Himself, but if we are hardened we don’t hear God; and 5) our relationship with God is based solely on our relationship with God and not God’s relationship with others – Zedekiah’s father was a Godly man who did great things for his people, but Zedekiah’s unfaithful relationship with God and God’s Covenant brought destruction to Zedekiah and his kingdom.
God desires a personal relationship with each of us, and God has given us His Covenants upon which to build our relationship with Him. Have you asked Jesus into your life so that your sin is atoned? If not, then there is a blot between you and God. Remember, the God who made Covenant with Moses is Jesus of our Trinitarian God.
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 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): 2 Chronicles 36:11-23; Jerimiah 21:1-10; Hebrews 3:12-15; Psalms 49:1-20.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers Have a Personal Relationship with the Creator of the Universe So Pray, Listen, and Be Patient for God’s Call”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Friday Mar 01, 2024
Friday Mar 01, 2024
How God Says He Loves Us: Part 3 -- The Covenant with Moses
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 Moses. 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.
After God’s Covenant with Abraham, his son Isaac became the recipient of God’s blessings. Subsequently, Isaac had two sons. One of Isaac’s sons was Jacob, and God changed Jacobs name to Israel. Jacob had twelve sons, and they evolved into the “Twelve Tribes of Israel”. In Genesis 37, the focus begins upon Isaac’s son Joseph; and Genesis ends, in Genesis 50, with Joseph’s death in Egypt.
In Exodus 1, two hundred and fifty years have passed since the death of Joseph. During this time, God’s people and the people of Egypt forgot about Joseph. God’s people became fruitful and multiplied, but they forgot about God and God’s Covenant with Abraham; and the people began to worship idols. Exodus 2 presents the birth of Moses., and Exodus 3 includes God’s call to Moses and God’s appearance to Moses through the burning bush. Since God had a blood covenant with His people, He sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people leave Egypt. Pharaoh said “no”, so God sent nine plagues on the people of Egypt – nine chances for their Repentance. Since Pharaoh continued to say “no”, God sent the tenth plague on the people of Egypt – a plague of Judgement on the people of Egypt. After the Passover for His people in the Plague of Judgement, Pharaoh relented and let God’s people leave Egypt.
In Exodus 19, God’s people wound up on Mount Sini, and God made the “Sini Covenant” with Moses in Exodus 19:4-6: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”. In prior covenants, God did everything; but in this “Sini Covenant”, the people had obligations. God gives His Law, the Ten Commandments, to His people as God speaks directly to them in Exodus 20. The Glory of God, when He was speaking directly to His people, was too much for the people; and they feared a direct personal relationship with God, and they wanted Moses or an intermediary to speak to them for God – they rejected a personal relationship with God just has humans have been doing ever since.
In Exodus 21, Exodus 22, and Exodus 23 (“The Book of the Covenant”), God takes His Ten Commandments and He applies the Ten Commandments to our everyday living. In Exodus 24:3,7-8, Moses takes God’s Book of the Covenant to the people: “Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.’ Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.’ And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.’”.
Deuteronomy 28 presents the “blessings” for the people if they adhere to their promises to God in the “Book of the Covenant”. On the other hand, Deuteronomy 28 lays out the “curses” for non-adherence to the Covenant. Within six weeks, God’s people, who had said “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do”, had disobeyed and broken their Covenant with God. The disobedience of God’s people is significant to us today because “it shows us what sin is”. “God is unconditional love” (1 John 4:16); and in this Covenant, God made plain to all of us “what sin is”. “We are made by God to be perfect mirrors of God’s Agape love.” Our sin is our failure to act as the God of Agape love acts. Sin is our self-centeredness. “The opposite of love is not hate; sin is me.” The Ten Commandments are not negative; they are God’s Agape love because they show us what a life of love and without sin and death does not include. Jesus tells us the most important Commandment in Mark 12:28-30: “’. . . Which commandment is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.’”.
The people of Israel continued to mess up and sin, but they continued to sacrifice a lamb for their sin thinking that their sacrifice brought their lives of sin back into adherence with their Covenant. However, in both God’s impatience with our sin and in His Agape love and His adherence to this Covenant, God sent the perfect Lamb as His and our sacrifice for our sin – Jesus the Christ. This old Covenant points to God’s New Covenant – Jesus’ death on the cross and His Resurrection.
Have you asked Jesus into your life so that your sin is atoned? If not, then there is a blot between you and God. Remember, the God who made Covenant with Moses is Jesus of our Trinitarian God.
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 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): Genesis 3:15; Genesis 37:1-36; Genesis 39:1-23; Genesis 41:1-57; Genesis 42:1-38; Genesis 43:1-34; Genesis 44:1-34; Genesis 45:1-28; Genesis 46:1-34; Genesis 47:1-31; Genesis 50:1-26; Exodus 1:1-22; Exodus 2:1-25; Exodus 3:1-22; Exodus 19:3-11; Exodus 24:1-18; Deuteronomy 28:1-68; 1 John 4:16; Mark 12:29-30;
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/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Friday Feb 23, 2024
Friday Feb 23, 2024
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 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): 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 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/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
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: 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): 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 – “Our Relationship with God Is Based Solely on Our Relationship with God, and He Desires to Have a Relationship with Each of Us”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Thursday Feb 08, 2024
Thursday Feb 08, 2024
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 – “As a Jesus Follower, the Greatest Witness for the Gospel that You Can Give Is for Others to See Jesus IN You”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Friday Feb 02, 2024
Friday Feb 02, 2024
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 – “Is Your Faith Yours, or Is Your Faith a Faith Derivative of the Faith of Others”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
A WORDFROM THE LORD WEBSITE LINK: www.awordfromthelord.org
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Friday Jan 26, 2024
Friday Jan 26, 2024
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.).
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/
A WORDFROM THE LORD WEBSITE LINK: www.awordfromthelord.org
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
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 – Jesus Followers Have Eternal Life, Even Before their Earthly Death, Because Whoever “believes him {God} who sent me {Jesus}””: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
A WORDFROM THE LORD WEBSITE LINK: www.awordfromthelord.org
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Friday Jan 12, 2024
Friday Jan 12, 2024
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 live’s 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 – “For Jesus Followers, Fasting, with Food, Will Symbolize a Victory Over Oneself and Solidify a Personal Relationship with God”: 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
Friday Jan 05, 2024
Friday Jan 05, 2024
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 – “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 WORDFROM THE LORD WEBSITE LINK: www.awordfromthelord.org
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB