“For who hath despised the day of small things?” ~ Zechariah 4:10 (King James Version)
Small starts, short steps, little fruit, not much evidence, hard work
but little reward. Words like those tend to get on our nerves, we never
want to do a lot of things and reap no benefits or at least a little
evidence. Yet, God within His Word tells us not to despise the day of
small things or small and humble beginnings. Anyone serving in the
Kingdom of God by helping others find Christ in their own unique ways
knows that God doesn’t start us off “big,” He starts us off small. If
God started us off “big” He would have to take it all away because of
pride. Pride is the number one ministry/Pastor killer that will ever
come to be, near that is the opposite sex and money. The Lord loves to
see us with a humble beginning, even to the point where we wonder “is
this even worth it?” The answer is: Yes it is, KEEP GOING! Those very
moments are what prepare us to do bigger things and in the season of
time that God has desired, He will elevate you and promote you to do
more.
The Lord chooses to bless us by small things in the
beginning, that’s just how He is, we can’t get around it. If you find
yourself doing something “small” for God now, don’t worry, that’s God
sharpening you to be a greater asset and tool in His hand. If you can’t
handle and appreciate doing small things for God (Colossians 3:17),
what makes you think you will be faithful with big things? It’s the
small things you do for God now that prepare you for the big things you
will do for God in the future. It may seem annoying not to see the
fruit you desire to see or at least reap something, but there’s a reason
behind the seasons of your life. Don’t neglect the day of small and
humble beginnings. God says not to do it, so don’t!
Father in
Jesus Name, I come to You thankful that I have Your Words assurance that
I should not despise small beginnings. Lord, speak to my heart and help
me to be fruitful and faithful where I am. Lord, teach me not to desire
more, more prominence, more position, more gain, more funds, Lord teach
me to be content with where I am. Father, make me fruitful when You see
fit. I surrender my life, my will, my ministry, my desires to You in
order that in Your time You can fulfill Your purpose in my life and
through my life to bless the Body of Christ and those coming. Lord, help
me serve You where I am so I can grow into other places. I thank You
for now, right now in Jesus Name! AMEN!
“Do everything without complaining and arguing.” ~ Philippians 2:14 (New Living Translation)
For around ten years now, gas prices have been the center of
controversy. They have also become a source for criticism and
“rightfully so,” yet isn’t criticism most of the time a more educated
and honorable way of saying “complaining?” Life comes with plenty of
doors of opportunities to complain, yet
God doesn’t desire that from us. The Children of Israel were wandering
in the wilderness for forty years and one of their sins that God has
pointed out to us was “complaining” or “murmuring.” The Bible tells us
to do everything without complaining, so how is that even possible,
there has to be some sort of trick to this. Complaining always will
have a hidden word within it, “perception.”
The truth is,
every day you have something to be grateful about or complain about.
Instead of complaining that the phone isn’t working or having signal
where you work, pray for the people IN your phone book. Instead of
complaining about how slow a train is, ask The LORD to use that time to
calm you and produce generally the LEAST coveted fruit of the Spirit,
patience. When it’s time to complain in the flesh, think of something
to do in the Spirit. Every day we have opportunities and even the best
of days can be ruined by starting it off with “oh, I have to go to work
today, great, I hate this!!” When we introduce our days with
negativity, it’s almost certain that seed will sprout, grow and flourish
throughout the day. Negativity and complaining go hand in hand, but
gratitude and spiritual power walk together. Use that power from the
Holy Spirit that YOU were given from Christ’s death to have victory over
complaining.
Father in Jesus Name, I come to You thankful
that I do have the opportunity to grow and learn how to not complain.
Lord, I pray that Your Spirit will teach my mind how to react to things
in a different way. Lord, change my perspective on the things that
irritate me. Lord, help me to not only see the good in all things, but
also in people and do good to them to help them see the good in all
people. Lord, use me for Your glory and give me the Spiritual victory
from the Holy Spirit over complaining. Father, speak to my heart
throughout the day and help me recognize the value of patience and
gratefulness please. I ask this in Your Son Jesus’ Name! AMEN!
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” ~ 2 Timothy 2:15
The picture you see is a Bible program called “E-Sword.” It has and
will continue to add spiritual enrichment into my life anytime I use it.
It has tons of things that are free, commentaries, dictionaries, maps,
guides, Bibles and it has various
languages. It is a successful tool for God’s Word to be used and
studied. This application will make scripture come alive, it’s free,
easy to download and not large in file size. The Bible is a timeless
piece of work, it’s divine, but it needs to be learned, without
accepting that God wants YOU to know HIM, the Bible is pointless to the
believer. The Bible was given to us as a roadmap to God, not just to
life. God has a plan and a purpose behind His Word, it’s for you to get
to know Him and in time, as you grow and learn about God, you will
naturally become a stronger Christian, you will naturally or should I
say supernaturally become more like Jesus Christ.
I placed
the picture above because this is a must have for ANY Christian, to miss
this valuable resource is crazy! I wish I had it years ago, but the
truth is, years ago I thought I couldn’t be taught by any man, I didn’t
understand the ways of God and how God anointed “some to be Pastors and
Teachers” as the fourth chapter of Ephesians says. Take a look at it,
download it, support it, pray for it and please invest your time and
mind into it, it’s well worth it. If you have an iPad, it’s there for
you too. This has and will be used BIG TIME for the Kingdom of God!
God Bless! www.E-Sword.net
Father in Jesus Name, Lord I come to You so grateful that You would
even give me the Word of God. Lord, I pray for the Holy Spirit to create
a desire and hunger for Your Word and to know more of You. Lord, teach
me about You and guide me to the right Bible teachers. Lord, please
bless E-Sword with godly success, funds, language translations and free
materials. Lord, I pray for the Holy Spirit to use E-sword to save souls
all around the world. Father, use me to send the Gospel all around the
world. Lord, show me what I have right now in my life that I can use
for Your glory and to get Your Word out, it can just be one scripture a
day on Facebook and it can make an eternal difference, Lord, let this
happen. Save souls through me and guide my family and friends to You in
Jesus Name! AMEN!
"But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon." ~ Acts 27:14
When you see this coming into your life, this is what makes you realize
who you are in Christ. When life brings trouble, you have choices.
Your choices determine where you are with God and your faith. We are
always tempted to go back to old ways when storms come, but you have to
stand firm and planted in the truth that God wouldn't allow it if it
was for your bad, but remembering that your decisions can make it "for
your bad" instead of "for your good (when God does it)."
The
truth is, when you see something like "that" coming into your life, you
are going to look at self first, you may blame, ridicule yourself about
your mistakes or problems or perhaps even think of suicide but those
aren't the answers. Perhaps the next thing is to look to the devil or
blame others for the storm. Yet, the wise choice is to look to God and
accept that your life is on a sea, you are the boat and sometimes you
can't steer the proper way and don't know what direction to go, yet the
winds of life and the storms of trouble direct you to your purpose in
life. God has a way to direct you in the greatest storms of your life.
Paul the Apostle was destined to go to Rome, yet without the storm in
Acts 27 that literally could have killed him, he wouldn't have made it.
You too, will make it to your "Rome" (destiny) but God sometimes has to
direct you by the most ferocious, violent and craziest storm of your
life. If you are in that season, perhaps you are closer to Rome, maybe
your focus shouldn't be on the storm, but on the BY PRODUCT of it, your
God given destiny. God Bless you and I love you.
Father in
Jesus Name, I come to You thankful that You are moving the storm to
where I need to be. I am drifting and sometimes it seems hopeless but
You are steering and You have a plan, a great one at that. Lord, I pray
that my heart is totally surrendered to You and that You work Your work
in me while I am living here. Lord, fulfill Your purpose and will in my
life and reveal that purpose and will to me. Clear up any confusion,
chaos or doubt that is taking place in my mind and make me more like
You, please and thank You in Jesus Name! AMEN!
