GOD CHOOSES THE UNLIKELY Joyce Meyer
When you feel discouraged, remember that God chose you for His very own purpose, however unlikely a candidate you feel. By doing so, He has placed before you a wide open door to show you His boundless grace, mercy, and power to change your life.
When God uses any one of us, though we may all feel inadequate and unworthy,we realize that our source is not in ourselves but in Him alone: “This is because the foolish thing (that has its source in) God is wiser than men, and the weak thing (that springs) from God is stronger than men” I Corinthians 1:25.
Each of us has a destiny, and there is absolutely no excuse not to fulfill it. We cannot use our weakness as an excuse because
God says that His strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor. 12:9). We cannot use the past as an excuse because God tells us through the apostle Paul that if any person is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away, and all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17).
Each of us can succeed at being everything God intends us to be!
“…for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame.
And God also selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are,
So that no mortal man should (have pretense for glorying and) boast in the presence of God.
I CORINTHIANS 1:27-29
Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. Hebrews 11:1
This verse tells us that faith is a conviction that we have that regards something that allows us to be able to act on it as if it were assured of happening. This assurance where does it come from. We read in Hebrews 12:2 that Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith. Romans 12:3 tells us that God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Faith is a gift from God according to Ephesians 2:9. As we read these scriptures we see that God faith is a free gift from God and comes to us at our salvation. Jesus is the author (the originator) and the perfecter of faith (the one who perfects it in us). We have been given faith so it is not something that we make happen. It is developed as we give ourselves more and more to the Word. Romans 10:17…and faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God.
We have already have faith and we don’t have to white knuckled (so to speak) to make the Word work in our lives. Just believe. Faith is what causes us to believe that God’s Word is true. Even when we don’t see any evidence of it yet. The assurance we have is that God is faithful to His Word.
Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Why doesn’t the scripture just read, “and faith comes by hearing by the word of God.” Before a person can believe, there must be something presented to them for them to believe. That something is the Word of God.
In Romans 10:16 Isaiah says, “Lord who has believed our report.” The word for “report” in Romans 10:16, and for “hearing” in Romans 10:17 comes from the same word but with just a slight difference of meaning. In the first part of Romans 10:17, “so then faith cometh by hearing or faith comes by report. This would involve the presenter of the word and those that hear which is reported by the one that presents the word.
What if we read Romans 10:17 ”so faith comes by report and hearing that report by the word of God.
We sing a song whose report are you going to believe. So I challenged you with this today, “whose report are you believing.”
Choose to believe the report of the Lord which is his Word!!
THE POWER OF REJOICING Joyce Meyer
“But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God… Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s shackles were unfastened.” Acts 16:25-26
“Rejoice in the Lord always (delight, gladden yourselves in Him) again I say, Rejoice!” Phil. 4:4
Throughout the Bible, God instructs His people to be filled with joy and rejoice. The apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, instructed the Philippians twice to rejoice. Any time the Lord tells us twice to do something, we need to pay careful attention to what He is saying.
Many times people see or hear the word “rejoice” and say, “That sounds nice, but how do I do that?” They would like to rejoice but don’t know how.
Paul and Silas, who had been beaten, thrown into prison, and their feet put in stocks, rejoiced by simply singing praises to God. They chose to rejoice, despite their circumstances.
The same power that opened the doors and broke the shackles off Paul and Silas and those imprisoned with them is available to people today who are imprisoned and shackled with depression.
Joy can be anything from calm delight to extreme hilarity. Joy improves our countenance, our health, and the quality of our lives. It strengthens our witness to others and makes some of the less desirable circumstances in life more bearable.
Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Why doesn’t the scripture just read, “and faith comes by hearing the word of God.” Before a person can believe, there must be something presented to them for them to believe. That something is the word of God.
In Romans 10:16 Isaiah says, “Lord who has believed our report.” The word for “report” in Romans 10:16, and for “hearing” in Romans 10:17, comes from the same word but with just a slight difference of meaning. In the first part of Romans 10:17, “so then faith cometh by hearing or faith comes by report. This would involve the presenter of the word and those that hear which is reported by the presenter of the word.
What if we read Romans 10:17 like this-”so faith comes by report and hearing that report by the word of God.
We sing a song whose report are you going to believe. So I challenged you with this today, “whose report are you believing.”
Choose to believe the report of the Lord which is his Word!!
From Pastor Shirley
It is your move. God has already made his moved and now it is time for the sons and daughters of God to arise and advance. The word move means to go in a specified direction or manner, to proceed progress or advance.
Romans 12:3 says, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Since God is no respecter of person he has dealt to every man the measure of faith. According to Ephesians 2:8 it is a gift.“For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” This is a supernatural faith imparted to you for you to live in this life as an overcomer. God has already given us everything we need to bring his Kingdom into the earth. We access the the promises of God through faith. Faith moves us not God.
That measure of faith grows as we hear the Word over and over again. Grace is what God has done and faith is what we do to bring the spiritual realm into the physical realm.
We do not have to work faith up. It is there living in our spirit man. Faith grows according to how much you expose yourself to the Word.
Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. You have got it just began to exercise what you have already.
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