Sunday 9 March 2014
Prayer for You, and happy new week!
I will loved you with an everlasting love; I will show you unfailing kindness.
I will build you up again. I will bring you from the land of the north and
gather you from the ends of the earth. I will lead you beside streams of water
on a level path where you will not stumble,
The same brothers who sold Joseph
to slavery had to come bow down to him to get food! God will cause all the
enemies in your life to bow down to you in the name of Jesus! Just as the
enemies of Israel worked to preserve the promise land for them, your enemies
are working for you and all the wealth of the wicked shall be transferred to
you because you are the righteousness of God!
Happy New Week from us ASB-World.
OBEDIENCE IS WISDOM
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his
precepts have good understanding. Psalm 111:10
Education is a high priority in any society that wants to advance.
Education should be sought after by every believer in Jesus Christ to better
understand God's ways.
However, education that is not mixed with faith
and obedience will result in apostasy.
In the early Hebraic church, wisdom was gained by obedience. Hebrews
learned that wisdom was gained by knowing and doing the will of God and that it
often did not line up with logic.
However, as the church became impacted by the Greek culture through the
influence of scholars like Socrates and Aristotle, knowledge-based systems
became more influential in the way education was taught and applied.
Greeks believed that the way to gain knowledge was based on reason and
analysis. When Joshua walked around the city of Jericho seven times blowing his
trumpets, he was exhibiting a
Hebraic model of decision-making - pure obedience.
Hebraic model of decision-making - pure obedience.
Logic and reason played no part in this decision. When Elisha
instructed the army general to go wash in a lake in order to be healed of
leprosy, it confronted his intellect. This was Hebraic thought rooted in
obedience.
The Church has moved into a more knowledge-based and programmatic
system of operation over the centuries, rather than obedience-based methods
that are motivated by a heart fully devoted to following God.
We've replaced obedience with reason and logic. Ultimately, God desires
us to take the Hebraic approach when making decisions. He wants us to make
decisions based on our heart's desire to follow Him.
Prayer: Ask the Lord to teach you wisdom in your inner being.
Scriptural Reading: Psalms 111:1-10
How To Protect Your Child From Bad Dreams
Your
child needs to know what to do when he has nightmares or bad
dreams. I taught my daughters and
You can teach them to say, “In the name of Jesus, I will not be afraid!”
and “Jesus is my Lord.” But more importantly, we must become aware of the
television programming, video games, and all other forms of
entertainment available to children today. An enormous amount of
children’s TV programs and electronic games are either overtly or subtly
inundated with witchcraft, magic, and spells. Today there seems to
be an obsession among our young people for everything that has to do
with vampires, wizards, zombies, and the occult.Many parents become numb and passive, telling themselves that as long as they go to church on Sunday, their children will know the difference and will be all right. We rationalize that the child is wise enough or old enough to know that what he is watching is not real but fantasy.
This belief system is very erroneous. Young children become conditioned at a very young age. They are gullible and believe everything they see and hear. Even if you tell them, “Don’t be afraid; that spider is not real—it’s a robot and will never harm you,” when the spirit of fear makes entry into the child’s heart, nothing you say will make a difference. The child will always feel fear grip his heart and cause it to palpitate within every time he sees a spider, whether real or in a movie.
If a child has constant nightmares, I suggest you leave a tape recorder on all night in his room with praise and worship music at a very low volume. Praise music has a tremendous effect on the atmosphere. Evil spirits dislike praise and worship music.
Find out
if there is anything evil your child plays with, such as toys or games,
videos, movies, or music. Anything with demonic content has the ability to
attract the influence of demons.
In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust. —Psalm 4:8, amp
In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust. —Psalm 4:8, amp
-By IrisDelgado
The God's Majesty and Glory
TEXT: PSALM 19:1-6
Key verse: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament
sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1).
God has not left anyone in doubt as to the revelation of Himself. The
inspired writer invites us to look up at the vast sky and behold the mighty sun
that adorns the day with its magnificent light, the beautiful moon and the
innumerable stars that litter and glitter in the expansive night sky! The sun
in the day, in its unalterable course and constancy utters undeniable words,
assuring all that the Almighty God sits in the heavenly Control Tower,
engineering its motion. The moon and the stars that enter into their
bedchambers during the day and show forth their light in the night from time
immemorial can never be the handiwork of chance. How could chance have been so
ordered and so constant?
“There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard” (Psalm
19:3). When the sun, like a bridegroom, comes out of its chamber, its
magnificent glory setting the vast sky aglow; which language could be more
comprehensible to the creatures of God? The blue sea hears it and rejoices. The
birds hear it and sing, their clasped wings are spread and they swiftly roam
the sky. The game in the woods awake to its splendour to seek after their daily
portion. At the rising of the sun, man, the crown of God’s creation, wakes up
to his daily toil. We all hear the distinct speech of the sun when it rings its
closing bell at the dusk of the day. When it withdraws into its chamber, we too
seek repose on our beds! The glittering stars and the moon take their turn. The
oscillating swing of life’s pendulum day-night, day-night, day-night...
continues unabated.
These inanimate sojourners in the heavens above tell of the reality,
presence and power of God, a supremely intelligent Creator who controls the
course of nature. The heavens declare the glory of God and the entire firmament
shows His handiwork. God is alive! “Be wise now therefore... be instructed...
serve the Lord with fear, kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from
the way...” (Psalm 2:10-12).
Thought for the day: This rhythmic heartbeat of man speaks assuredly
that God is alive.
Universal Language of Love
Love is
the universal language understood by all. All humanity longs to find true
acceptance for who they are as a person even when their bent is
not mainstream, popular, politically correct or as varied as the candies
made by Russell Stover. The one language that is never foreign or
misunderstood is love, and it often is best spoken without any words.
Love is
communicated and shown with actions of respect, acceptance, kindness and
tolerance. Yet, this true example of love is lacking in our world today. Tolerance is both the most “in
fashion” word of the day and the most hated. It is loved and despised by
us all – even if we don’t choose to admit it. We stand for it when it
benefits us and shoot at it when it is not.
We want
to put a silencer on any barrel that is firing a different bullet than
our preferred caliber. Yet isolating others with differing perspectives
than our own only shrinks our ability for education and growth.
Few of
us would admit to being intolerant and there is no other moniker we
would more hate to be given. However, the guilt is obvious and on display
in every facet of our culture. Politics, sports, television and religion
have a window shop of such concrete-minded poster boys.
By
definition the meaning of intolerance is defined as the inability to
accept others views, convictions or opinions because they oppose your own.
However, many who are the most outspoken about tolerance of others are the
ones speaking with a forked tongue. They want others opinion’s heard as
long as they are rowing in the same boat. When there is a different stance
the fault line is often exposed and verbal volcanoes erupt.
Just
recently we saw how the Olympic games become a battlefield of
intolerance as the Russian government seeks to muzzle the LGTB community
from having a voice. Gag policies never cultivate understanding or
peace in any relationships whether personal or corporate. Silencing others
or trying to get a louder bullhorn is never a bridge to peace. Sadly,
protests may be looming at the singular worldwide sporting event designed
as a congregation of world unity. And while like everyone, the LGTB
community deserves a platform, so do those on the other side of the coin.
Phil
Robertson of Duck Dynasty is a classic case. He became embroiled in
a firestorm after comments in a recent media interview. Regardless of his
opinions he should have the right to state them and drive a stake in the
ground without being marginalized as an intolerant redneck.
Cannot understanding and compassion be learned from both
camps without putting a stereotypical label on either as a sinner, saint
or psycho? If the last 10 years of traveling the world have taught me
anything it’s the need to release my pious attitude and embrace those with
whom I don’t share much real estate. I have often learned the most from
those I understand the least.
I have a
family member who I love dearly who has a different sexual
orientation from me. Our relationship has enabled me to grow in
understanding and taught me how to relate to her community of friends.
This person’s influence has taught me more about compassion and patience than
probably any other relationship I’ve ever had.
This
week I spent time with a person whose beliefs about God were
the antithesis of my own. One hour later we shook hands and planned our
next meeting. We are scheduled for lunch tomorrow. In our meeting, there
was no jockeying for position of higher ground but an approach to
understand beliefs neither of us had ever possessed. By conversation’s
end, we were both forced to examine what we believed and why we believed
it.
One of
the strongest evidences of character and personal impact is
the relationship one has with his fellow man. Maybe the recognition that I
am not always right is the best process of growth and can equip me to listen
to others whose opinions or convictions I may not like. Agreement and
surrender are not mandatory but compassion, respect and openness must be.
By JayLowder
Saturday 8 March 2014
It's Payback Time
I went on my usual trip to Abuja Nigeria, and stayed at my
usual hotel. Everything seemed fine that night until I heard a light rap on my
door the following morning. I looked at the time – it was 5:13am! I quickly
jumped out of bed and ran to the door, which by that time was being opened! I
shouted immediately, “who is that?” and pushed the door back. There were 2 guys
and they immediately shut the door and stammered “Sorry ma. We thought the room
was empty. It was a mistake”. Mistake??????!!!!!! Who makes such mistake at 5am
in the morning?! Boy, was I glad for once that I’m a light sleeper. But quickly
Psalms 127 verse 1 comes to mind, light sleeper or not!"Unless the LORD builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain"
As soon as it was bright enough and I was ready to leave for my meeting, I went downstairs to the reception to lay my case and ’make some noise’. The front desk staff could only apologise and they reiterated the “room check” story. I wasn’t satisfied in the least, coupled with the fact that I was already grumpy and cranky since I found it difficult to get back to sleep after the misdeed. But as I was running late for my meeting, I had to leave.
Later that morning, I remembered I had the Manager’s number (remember it’s my usual hotel?) and pronto, I called her. She was appalled and ashamed at the same time. She couldn’t believe such ‘mistake’ happened at her hotel. She was so apologetic and assured me she would deal with the situation. I insisted I was moving out that evening when I returned cos no way I would be able to sleep in that room without imagining someone breaking in!
When I returned to the hotel that evening, I asked to see her immediately. She apologised again and again, telling me they had fished out the culprits and given them queries. So I asked “What, then, is my compensation?” You know what? She gave me a room upgrade to an executive room and 50% off my bill! Boy, was I ecstatic!!!!! Of course I slept like a baby that night…*ROTFL*
However, I learnt a few things from this incident…
- Psalm 127:1 - God surely protects us, regardless of what the devil plans/
- Matthew 13:25 When men slept, the enemy came to sow tares. Even in your ‘rest’ period, do not rest or be too deep asleep. The enemy could capitalise on that and try a break-in.
- When some things happen to disturb your routine in life, feel free to complain about it but not to everyone! You need to go to the appropriate channel who can do something about it! Get it? Go to God with your complaints!
- Always insist on not just getting things resolved, but getting compensation!!! I could have left with the many apologies that day but I didn’t. I got something better. Why? Cos I dared to insist!
Have you lost your job? Don’t just ask God for another job, ask Him for a better one than you lost!
Health issues? Don’t just ask for healing, ask for wholeness!
Whatever it is, God is merciful to restore and compensate. You get the picture now? It’s biblical!
Proverbs 6:30-31
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
Joel 2:25
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten-
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm -
my great army that I sent among you
By sis Deby
A Just and Loving God
TEXT: PSALM 18:20-28
Key verse: “With the
merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew
thyself upright” (Psalm 18:25).
Every man, at his best, is
an outcrop of God’s benevolence and mercy. Were it not for the undeserved and
unmerited acts of God’s mercy, humanity would have remained in the bowels of
sin and death!
The injunction in this
Psalm presents a timeless pattern for the contemporary man caught in the web of
life’s adversities. David was to write this song after God had given him
victory over his enemies, particularly Saul. David was a man much endeared to
God. It was his delight to obey God in all things. The few times he fell foul
of God’s laws, he repented deeply and spontaneously. It was like him to place
God’s laws sorely before his face, so that he might not sin against his
Creator. He had ample chances to deal ruthlessly and decisively against his
foes, especially Saul. In a way, he would have been justified. He had done
nothing to Saul to warrant his being hunted by the backslidden king. But David
avoided every available opportunity to destroy Saul. Had he done so, he would
have breached God’s commandment that says, ‘touch not my anointed’, for Saul,
in spite of his backslidden state, was indeed God’s anointed. Furthermore,
David would have resorted to self-management and repudiated God’s promise of
rescuing the weak.
The credentials of David
before God were his mercy, uprightness, righteousness and cleanness of hands.
“Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness ...” It
is what a man sows that he will reap. David was merciful to his archenemy. God
likewise showed mercy to him.
The measure of what we
mete out to others, foe or friend, is the measure God will recompense us with.
If we are unmerciful, unrighteous and froward, we will not be privileged to
enjoy God’s intervention in our hour of need. The scripture enjoins us to love
our enemies and bless them that curse us. We are to repay evil with good, pray
for those who persecute and despitefully use us. Uprightness, righteousness and
mercy will bring us into favour with God, for He loveth righteousness and
judgment.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Only
a heart made perfect can love perfectly!
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