June 30, 2006

The Word June 30, 2006
The Widow and The Pot of Oil

Lesson Four:
Our obedience to God will lead us to a blessing.

2 Kings 4: 1-7 (King James Version)
“Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.”

-Yesterday, we talked about how the widow was blessed exceedingly and abundantly above what she asked for. We said that today we would address why she was blessed above what she was asking for. It was in her obedience. To better explain this, I would like to look at a verse from the Amplified Bible. I love the way that this bible breaks it down.
“Do you know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)?” Romans 6:16
King James Version reads like this:
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Romans 6:16
Our obedience to God leads us to his righteousness. God will take care of his righteous people.
-There are many things that the widow could have done. She could have questioned why she had to get so many vessels. She could have questioned pouring the little bit of oil she had in the vessels. However, she didn’t, she just obeyed and God rewarded her for her faith and her obedience. Her blessing could not have come if she did not obey the words of the man of God. “Lord, please bless me with a spirit of obedience.”

June 29, 2006

The Word June 29, 2006
The Widow and The Pot of Oil

Lesson Three:
God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).

2 Kings 4: 1-7 (King James Version)
“Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.”

-When the widow went to Elisha, she just wanted him to help her with her debt. However, God blessed her “exceedingly and abundantly more” then what she was asking for. After she poured all the oil into the empty vessels, Elisha told her to “sell the oil, pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.” That means that there was enough for her and her sons to live off on for the rest of their lives. Am sure she was not expecting to be set financially for the rest of her life. The reason why God blessed the widow above her need is an answer that we will address tomorrow. “Lord, please keep me mindful that you are able to bless me exceedingly and aboudently above all that I could think or ask.”

June 28, 2006

The Word June 28, 2006
The Widow and The Pot of Oil

Lesson Two:
We need to spend one on one, personal time with God.

2 Kings 4: 1-7 (King James Version)
“Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.”

-In this story, Elisha tells the widow to shut the door on her and her sons. She could not start the process until she closed herself off from the world. Think about it, she was about to take a little bit of oil and pour it into many empty vessels. If there were outside people around, they would have been asking to many questions about what she was doing. They would have told her that what she was doing did not make any sense. This could have caused her to doubt what she was told to do.
-God wants us to take some time out and shut to door so that we can allow Him fill our empty vessels. If we allow to many people in during this time, we might be subjecting ourselves to haters. People who don’t want to see us come out on top.
-God wants us to shut the door so we can develop a personal relationship with Him. Regardless of all of the wonderful works that we may do for God, at the end of it all I believe that he wants a personal relationship with each and everyone of us. Which is why, in Luke 13:27, Jesus said, “But he shall say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.” He was talking to people who claimed to do works in the name of the Lord. They may have done the works, however, they never had a personal relationship with him; “I know not whence ye are.” However, we don’t want to isolate our self from the rest of the world, totally. We still need to fellowship with other like-minded Christians.
“Lord, please establish a personal relationship between us and bless me with the wisdom to maintain my part.”

June 27, 2006

The Word June 27, 2006
The Widow and The Pot of Oil

Lesson One:
We need to be emptied out, so God can fill us up.

2 Kings 4: 1-7 (King James Version)
“Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.”

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Matthew 6:24

-After the widow came to Elisha and asked for his help, he told her to collect as many empty vessels as she could. The key word is “empty.” She could not fill up vessels that already had something in them. That is what God has to do with us. He has to take out all of the bad stuff before He can fill us up with the good stuff.
-The above verse adds further explanation. It states that no man can serve two masters; you are either serving God or Satan. God has to take out all of the bad stuff because that is what is causing us to serve Satan. Once he puts the good stuff in, we can now serve him.
-One important thing to remember, is that God will only remove the bad stuff when we come to Him and ask Him. He will replace that with His goodness. However, in the replacement process we need to do our part. This is done by praying, studying our word, and fellowshipping with other Christians. Once we are filled with God’s goodness, we need to maintain it. The maintenance process is the same as what we did to receive His goodness: praying, studying the word, and fellowshipping with other Christians. “Lord, please empty out all of the bad stuff in me and replace it with Your goodness.”

June 26, 2006

The Word June 26, 2006
The Widow and The Pot of Oil

2 Kings 4: 1-7 (King James Version)
“Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.”

-Just like last week, there are lessons that can be learned from this story as well. Elisha was a prophet of God and one of his servants died leaving behind a wife and two boys. The widow comes to Elisha and tells him that the creditors were going to take her sons away and sell them into slavery. She brings to Elisha’s remembrance that her husband was a God fearing man. He ask her what it is that she has in her house. She says that all she has is a pot of oil. He instructs her to go and borrow as many empty vessels as she can from her neighbors. Then to go into her house and shut the door on her and her sons. Next, she was to start pouring the oil she had into the empty vessels. She poured until she had not more vessels to pour oil into, “and the oil stayed.” Elisha then tells her to sell the oil, pay off her debt, and for her and her children to live off of the rest.
This week the Holy Spirit gave me four lessons:
1. We need to be emptied out, so God can fill us up.
2. We need to spend one on one, personal time with God.
3. God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).
4. Our obedience to God will lead us to a blessing.

June 23, 2006

The Word June 23, 2006
Faith Defined

Hebrews 11: 1-3 (King James Version)
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seem. For by it the elders obtained a good report, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

-During the course of this week, we have been talking a lot about faith and the power that having faith has. Today we will address, how to stand on your faith. Genesis 1: 2-3 states, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” When God wanted there it be light on earth, he did not say, “Wow, the earth is so dark, void, and without form. Some light right now would be good.” No, He simply said, “Let there be light: and there was light.” Since Genesis 1:27, tells us that we were created in the image of God, He wants us to operate our faith in the same manner. He does not want us to speak what the current situation is. He wants to speak light into the situation.

-To get a better understanding lets look at II Corinthians 4: 18:
“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
God, did not look at the darkness. He saw light and now that light is eternal. God has given us a tool to use against the negative situations that may come up; His word. For example, if I get sick. I should not go around telling everyone that I am sick and feed into the lie. Yes, it is a lie. Why, because anything that comes against the word of God is a lie. His word, in 1 Peter 2:24, states that by his stripes we are healed. So instead of speaking about how sick I am, I will speak that by his strips I am healed. Faith is not only believing God will, it is seeing his promises done before they are manifested, and not acting or speaking against them. “Lord, please help me to know that you will do what you said and cause me to not act or speak against your promises.”

June 22, 2006

The Word June 22, 2006
Lessons Learned From
The Women with the Issue of Blood

Lesson Three
Many were Present; Only One was Delivered

Mark 5: 25-34 (King James Version)
“And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”


“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Matthew 7: 13-14


-When the woman with the issue of blood was healed, the word tells us that there were many people present. With all of those people around, it is safe to assume that she was not the only one who had a problem. There had to be many other people that day that needed to be delivered from something. Why were they not delivered? Why was she the only one that was healed in the mist of all of those people? Yesterday, we were given one answer to that question, because of her faith she was healed. Matthew 7 tells us, “narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
-When we look around us, in our church, on our job, and among our friends and we see others being blessed we start to question God about where our blessing is. We say, “God, I’m coming to church, I’m praying, I’m following your commandments. I am in your mist. How come I’m not receiving my blessings?” The Lord’s answer to that is, “Yes, you are, but where is your faith.” You can’t expect God to move in your life without faith. We have already learned that with out faith it is impossible to please God. The woman with the issue of blood got her blessing because she came with her faith. If we want our blessing, we need to come to God with our faith. “Lord, please do not allow me to come before You expecting anything without having faith.”

June 21, 2006

The Word June 21, 2006
Lessons Learned From
The Women with the Issue of Blood

Lesson Two
A Strong Faith in God will Get His Attention

Mark 5: 25-34 (King James Version)
“And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

-When we have faith in God, it pleases him. How can God not recognize what pleases him? When the women touched Jesus He felt her touch. Her touch of faith got His attention, despite the fact that there were many people around Him all touching him. There was a difference in her touch and that difference was faith. Jesus stated that He felt “virtue had gone out of him.” The faith that came with the touch was so powerful that it healed the women and “the fountain of her blood was dried up.”



-Matthew 17:20 states that if you have the faith of a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible to you. The women came with that kind of faith and God had to honor his word. If we have that kind of faith in God, He will honor it. “Lord, please increase my faith in you.”

“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
Matthew 17:20

June 20, 2006

The Word June 20, 2006
Lessons Learned From
The Women with the Issue of Blood

Lesson One
Tried of being tried and sick of being sick.

Mark 5: 25-34 (King James Version)
“And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”

-To get the best understanding of how this women might have felt we need to look deeper into her situation and at the history of that time. The text does not go into detail about the exact problem the women had. What it does tell us, however, is that she had an issue of blood for 12 years. Since she was a women, if would be safe to assume that she was experiencing continuous vaginal bleeding. Women in that condition were declared legally unclean and were isolated . Even women who were experiencing their monthly menstrual cycle, were not seen in public until that time was over. The text also tells us that she spend all she had on doctors who only made her condition worse. God only knows what those doctors did to her during that time.
-After 12 long years of being mutilated by doctors, spending all of her finances to be healed, and labeled as an outcast, she had to be tried of being tired and sick of being sick. That is what caused her to get up and seek out the man of God. It was very bold of her, in those days, to go before a man of God in her condition. However, when you are tried of being tried and sick of being sick you are not concerned with such dilemmas. All you what is to be deliver from that situation and you will do whatever it takes.
-There are many times in our lives were we say we are tried of a situation but until we are tried enough to do something about it, we will not progress. All God wants us to do is humble ourselves before him, repent, and have faith that he can deliver us. That is what the women did. When she came to Jesus, she didn’t ask him to heal her. All she wanted was to just touch is clothing. That was humbling because she did not feel worthy enough to talk to him. She was afraid to even admit she touched Him when He asked, “Who touched me?” She further humbled herself, when she repented and “told Him all the truth.” We know that when she came to Jesus it was in faith because He told her, “thy faith hath made thee whole.”
-The question is how bad do we what our deliverance. Are we tried of being tried and sick of being sick? When we get to that point we will humble ourselves, repent before the Lord, and do what is ask of us. “Lord, please give me a hunger to seek you before my situations gets to the point where I am tried of being tried and sick of being sick.”

June 19, 2006

The Word June 19, 2006
Lessons Learned From
The Women with the Issue of Blood

Mark 5: 25-34 (King James Version)
“And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”

-The story of the women with the issue of blood is a very popularly story and there are many lessons that can be learned from her. Upon my studying of this story, the Holy Spirit gave me three different revelations/lessons. However, we can never put limits on God and I pray that as you learn more about this story the Holy Spirit will give you divine revelations of your own. Before we address the lessons learned, I will briefly recap the story.
-Jesus was on his way to heal Jarius’ daughter from her illness and it states that “much people followed him,” (Mark 5: 21-24). With everyone who was present around him there was in the mist a women who had an issue of blood for 12 years. She had been to many doctors to be healed and it only made her condition worse. She said within herself, if I could just touch his clothing and upon touching HisiHIHH garment she was healed. Then Jesus questioned who had touched Him because he felt virtue go out of Him. His disciples rebuked Him by saying, Lord there are some many people around how can you say who touched me. The woman confessed that she touched Jesus and he told her because of her faith she was healed.
-The three lessons that the Holy Spirit reveled to me are as followed:
1. Tried of being tried and sick of being sick.
2. A strong faith in God will get his attention.
3. Many were present; only one was delivered.

This week we will address each one of these lessons. “Lord, please open up my heart to receive the lessons learned and give me new revelations as I read.”

The Word June 16, 2006
The Will of God

II Peter 3:9 (King James Version)
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

-The above verse is anther one of God’s will for us. He wills that none of us should perish and that all should come to repentance. The first part of that verse states that the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises. Even though some men think that God might be moving slow according to their standards. It tells us that God is long suffering toward us. He waits a long time for us and gives us time after time to repent and come to him.
-He reaches out to us through the testimony of others and our own trials and tribulations. It is up to us to reach out to him and repent to ensure that his will for us to not perished is fulfilled. His promises are based on ifs. If we do our part, then He will fulfill His part (the promises). The word “if” is in the bible 1,522 times. That is a lot of stipulations. “Lord, please allow your will for me not to perish to become my will as well. Show and help me to do my part for your will to be fulfilled in my life.”

June 15, 2006

The Word June 15, 2006
The Will of God

I Thessalonians 5:18 (King James Version)
“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

-On Monday, we talked about the will of God for our lives concerning our purpose. We discussed that God’s purpose for our lives will prevail. We did not discuss, exactly, what God’s will is for us. The above verse explains what His will for us is; to give God thanks “in everything.” It did not say some things, only the good things, not when it is not too bad, but “all things.”
-In Romans, it tells us that all things are working together for our good. If we truly believe that, then it should be easy for us to give thanks for all things. Even when we don’t understand; even when we can’t see our way out; even with tears in our eyes, we count it all joy and give God thanks.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28

“Lord, please help me to give you thanks for all things and at all times.”

June 9, 2006

The Word June 9, 2006
The Resurrection of Christ

Mark 16: 2-7 (King James Version)
“And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here; behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.”

-It seems that this week the Holy Spirit has been directing us to the topic of suffering. Yesterday we addressed, why we suffer. Today we will discuss, the end result of suffering for Christ.
-As we all know, Jesus died for our sins. However, before he even reached death he suffered through many persecutions. The end result to all of his suffering is that he was resurrected three days after he was killed. God brought Him back and caused Him to overcome all of the torment and persecution they put on Him.
-Well like Jesus, if we choose to follow God we all have our cross to bear (And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27). Also like Jesus, when we have bared our cross, we too will be resurrected with him as well (And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Romans 8:17). So we endure our momentary, light afflictions, knowing, that this to shall pass and at the end of it all we will be glorified together with Christ.

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” 2 Corinthians 4: 16-17

“Lord, please keep me mindful that at the end of all of my suffering I will be glorified together with Christ Jesus.”

June 8, 2006

The Word June 8, 2006


Acts 7: 54-60 (King James Version)
“When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

-Yesterday we talked about Peter and his persecution and how he rejoiced because he suffered for Jesus Christ’s sake. Why all of the suffering? For what? The story above about Stephen gives us answers to those questions.
-Once again, like Peter, Stephen was arrested for preaching about Jesus Christ. As the people persecuted Stephen, the Holy Spirit came upon him and he saw “the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God,” (Acts 7:55). Then the people cast him out of the city and stoned him. As he we dying he cried out for the Lord to receive his spirit. Then he said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge,” (Acts 7:60).
-Image going through your worse moment and you see Jesus standing on the right hand side of God and then you are taken up to spend eternity with God. There is nothing more amazing then to be with Jesus. This world is just a test to get us ready to spend eternity with Jesus. So as we are going through our trails, we need to be mindful of the purpose of it all; to get to spend eternity with Jesus. “Lord, as I am going through my trials please keep me mindful that spending eternity with you is the overall goal.”

June 7, 2006

The Word June 7, 2006
What others went through so we don’t have to.

Acts 5:40-42 (King James Version)
“And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”

-The above verses are about Peter; he was arrested for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Pharisees were trying to figure out what to do with them. They agreed the let them go because it was determined among them that “if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God,” (Acts 5: 38-39). This, however, did not change the fact that they still beat the men. After the beating, they send the men on their way.
This is where I am just amazed at the response of these men. After they were beat, they walked away feeling worthy to suffer for the name of God. Then they went on their way still preaching about Jesus Christ. How often have we been glad to suffer because of Jesus’ name sake?

“But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 1 Peter 4:13

Just take a moment and think about being beat for trying to preach the word of God and then rejoicing in that. It really causes us to be thankful for what we have and for what we did not have to go through. “Lord, thank you for your continued blessings on my life.”

June 6, 2006

The Word June 6, 2006
A Greek woman’s faith

Mark 7: 24-30 (King James Version)
“And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.”

-Yesterday we talked about the faith of the Greek women and how she diligently sought out God. Today we will address the measure of faith that she had. When Jesus told her that the children’s bread is not to be cast to the dogs, her response was yes, but even the dogs wait under the table for the children’s crumbs. When she came to Jesus her attitude was, “If I could just get a little piece of his blessings.”
-Think about how we are when we come to God. We come with our list. Lord, I need this, that, and the other. We take his blessings for granted. How often do we come to him and just thank him? Asking him for nothing or just simply asking him to just keep us. I did not understand how much I asked God for until I did this exercise. For a week, I did not ask God for anything. I just thanked him for the blessings that I had received and the ones yet to come. So, if you are up to it, I challenge you to a week of only asking God to keep you and just send forth the power of praise and thanksgiving. “Lord, please give me a mind to accept this challenge.”

June 5, 2006

The Word June 5, 2006
A Greek woman’s faith

Mark 7: 24-30 (King James Version)
“And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.”

-The first time I read this story I did not understand it. What I had a hard time understanding was how could Jesus tell this women that the children need to be feed first and the children’s bread should not be cast to the dogs. After praying for understanding and doing some research on this, I learned that when Jesus came he came to save the Jews first. However, most of them did not believe in him. He found more faith in the Gentiles then he did in the people that he came to save. So although the women was not a Jew, Jesus blessed her because of her faith.

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

-The Greek women had to seek hard to find Jesus. She diligently sought out the man of God because in verse 24 it states that Jesus “entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.” For her to seek out Jesus she had to believe that he was the child of God. God was pleased with her faith and because she diligently sought him He rewarded her by healing her child. “Lord, please give me a spirit of faith and a will to seek you diligently like the Greek women.”