Shalom,

Today we read Psalm 4 in our Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan and I want to encourage you with verse 8!

8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust.

I hope that as you meditate on this PROMISE, you will gain much confidence that your GOD cares for you completely and will do what you need Him to do in answer to YOUR FAITH! Here is Brandon Lake with "Count 'Em":

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Today I want to remind and encourage you with THIS TRUTH from the Word of God! 2 Timothy 1:7:

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

HALLELUJAH! FEAR has NO RIGHT to be harassing a born again believer! THIS Verse is YOUR license to KICK IT OUT! receive ONLY those things which come from GOD! SHUT the enemy's mouth bu speaking, singing anf shouting the WORD of the LIVING GOD! They HAVE to BOW THEIR KNEE to HIM! HERE, in THIS SONG is the ONLY 'fear' that we ARE SUPPOSED TO ALLOW IN OUR LIVES! Brooke Ligertwood with "Fear of God":

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

I was really blessed today by Joseph Prince's "Daily Grace Inspirations" devotional! 

The Secret to Great Faith

When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”. . . Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour. Matthew 8:10, 13

Do you know that there were only two people in the Bible whom Jesus said had “great faith”? The first was the Roman centurion whose servant was healed by Jesus’ word (Matthew 8:5–13). The second was the Syro-Phoenician woman, whose demon-possessed daughter was also healed by Jesus (Matthew 15:21–28). I encourage you to take a minute and read both accounts from your Bible right now, before proceeding with the rest of today’s reading.

As I was reading these two accounts one night, the Lord said to me, “Son, look for the common denominator between these two people and you will discover the secret to great faith.”

I had always thought that the secret to the centurion’s great faith was that he understood authority. Because he was a military man of authority, he thus understood the authority of the Lord Jesus. But that does not apply to the woman, who was probably a homemaker. So what’s the common denominator to their great faith?

After I had tried to figure it out for a while, the Lord said to me, “Both were Gentiles. They were not Jews. Neither of them were under the law of Moses, and therefore they did not disqualify themselves. They were not under condemnation by the law, and so they could have great faith to receive from Me.”

Wow, what a powerful revelation! They were both not under the law, which is the opposite of faith, that’s why they could have great faith!

The Bible itself plainly says that “the law is not of faith” (Galatians 3:12). And in another place it says, “For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect” (Romans 4:14).

You see, the law will disqualify people from receiving any blessing from the Lord. It is only faith in His grace that qualifies God’s people and stirs up great faith unconsciously to receive what they need from the Lord. This is the secret to having great faith for any situation in your life!

I see this so clearly in the experience of Naomi who lives in South Africa. She became unemployed and was left with no place to stay, having been rejected by her family. She and her son ended up finding shelter in a village with a poor family in deplorable conditions, sometimes eating food taken out of dustbins. Despite extreme hardship, she wrote:

I truly believed that the Lord was in full control of my life and that things were in the process of changing. Through it all, I chose to put all my faith in God, knowing that He would restore and change my life. I knew that God loved me and that it hurt Him to see me go through all of this. I also knew that He would bring to pass what He had promised in His Word.

During that period, I fed on God’s Word and His grace and chose to focus on the many blessings I was already enjoying— health, joy, peace, and having Jesus in my life. A year later, the Lord blessed me with a good job, a car, a home, and a wonderful man who is also madly in love with Jesus. My son also sleeps peacefully now. We are sold out to Jesus and the gospel of grace, sharing it wherever we go.

Here is the key to Naomi’s faith. She said, “Thank you, Pastor Prince, for revealing the beauty of our Lord Jesus in such a simple but powerful way. It just made me fall in love with Jesus.”

My friend, the more you see Jesus—His beauty and His finished work of grace—the more faith arises in your heart. You will have unconscious faith to believe what God’s Word says about you and to ask boldly of Him. It’s truly all about Jesus, seeing His love, and allowing Him to love you and be gracious to you!

AMEN! I can feel my faith grow as I meditate on these powerul TRUTHS! Here is Brandon Lake with "Tear Off The Roof":

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Today we begin again going through our Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan. Psalm 1 is one of my favorite Psalms! 

1 Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.

2 But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.

3 And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].

4 Not so the wicked [those disobedient and living without God are not so]. But they are like the chaff [worthless, dead, without substance] which the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked [those disobedient and living without God] shall not stand [justified] in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God].

6 For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly [those living outside God’s will] shall perish (end in ruin and come to nought).

I love that this is so CLEAR and simple! Want to be blessed? Then DO the DOs and avoid the DON'Ts! The footnotes on this Psalm say this:

1. Psalm 1:1 This has been called “The Preface Psalm” because in some respects it may be considered “the text upon which the whole of the Psalms make up a divine sermon.” It opens with a benediction, “Blessed,” as does our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3).
2. Psalm 1:5 Charles Haddon Spurgeon (The Treasury of David) said, “Sinners cannot live in heaven. They would be out of their element. Sooner could a fish live upon a tree than the wicked in paradise.” The only way they will ever be able to endure heaven is to be born again and become new creatures with pure hearts able fully to enjoy the presence of God, His holy angels, and the redeemed.

AMEN! Here is Brooke Ligertwood with a favorite song of mine: "Ancient Gates":

Shalom in Him!