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Walk in Wisdom to Stay SafeGet wisdom! Get understanding!… Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Proverbs 4:5,7It gives me such assurance to know that the Lord can deliver us from trouble. But do you know what’s better than being delivered from trouble?Not getting into trouble in the first place.My friend, don’t just seek miracles and protection from God without seeking the wisdom from Him to stay protected and out of trouble. There are times when the challenges we face are beyond our control.But I’ve found that often, we experience His protection when we follow the Holy Spirit and lean on His wisdom when making decisions. Every day, we need His wisdom, just as we need His protection. After all, Proverbs 4:7 tells that “wisdom is the principal thing.” and in all our getting, we need to get wisdom.The Bible tells us that Christ has become for us wisdom from God (I Cor. 1:30). So what we really need is the Lord Jesus. We need to lean on Him and draw close to Him daily. He is our wisdom and only He can cause us to always be at the right place at the right time. I believe that many troubles and dangerous situations can be completely avoided when we don’t depend on our own wisdom and planning, but involve the Lord in all that we do (Pro. 3:6).Oftentimes, wisdom and divine protection work hand in hand. Knowing that we can trust God for His protection certainly does not mean that we should willfully put ourselves in precarious situations.We need to apply wisdom and heed the Lord’s leading through the wise counsel of the people around us, such as our leaders in the local church and our spouses. Proverbs 11:14 tells us, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” For instance, If your spouse has been telling you that you have a problem with speeding, please take heed.While there can be divine protection, do not be foolish and think that you can do whatever you want and nothing untoward will ever happen to you. I pray that as you involve the Lord and learn to walk in wisdom, you’ll begin to walk in a greater measure of peace, protection, and good success.Joseph PrinceA Very Present HelpGod is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1If God wants us to be healthy, and Jesus’ body was broken for us, why are there Christians who are sick? I personally know believers who are battling severe illnesses; and I am sure you do too. You or your loved one might even be facing a health challenge right now.If you are fighting a medical condition, please know that it is okay for you to have doubts and questions. The Lord knows the confusion and pain you feel, and He wants you to know He is with you through it all.I know it can be hard to keep trusting Him when you are going through a fiery trial. But Keep trusting Him, my friend. He is, right now, your very present help. Keep fixing your eyes on Him. He is faithful, and He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deut. 31:6). Joseph Prince.THE COST OF LIVING FOR CHRISTLuke 10:29 “But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?”This question of who is my neighbor can be used by Satan to deceive us in more than one way. Not only can he deceive men into thinking they have fulfilled the command to love thy neighbor as thyself when they haven’t, but he will also try to apply this command in a way that condemns those who are seeking to fulfill it, by making them think they are not doing enough.We cannot meet the needs of every single person in the world. Jesus wasn’t teaching that. This wounded man was directly in the path of these three men. The priest and the Levite had to walk around him. Jesus is simply teaching that we should take advantage of the opportunities we have. The fact that we can’t help everyone is no excuse not to help anyone.Jesus, through this parable, defined a neighbor as any fellow human being who crosses our path and is in need of our assistance. The Samaritan went to the full extent of his ability and beyond to help the man. The priest and Levite did nothing.There was a racial and religious hatred between Jews and Samaritans. Devout Jews would not associate with or even talk to a Samaritan. The priest and the Levite that passed by this wounded man were his fellow-countrymen, and yet they didn’t help him. This Samaritan, who was considered by religious Jews to be of another nationality, was the true neighbor. Jesus made it clear that you could not define ‘neighbor’ on the basis of geographic origin or your familiarity with someone. A neighbor is anyone that God puts in your path.Andrew WommackLOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SINS“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (I Pete 2 4:8).Come with me to a third-grade classroom… There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It’s never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they’ll never speak to him again as long as he lives.The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, ‘Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I’m dead meat.’ He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered. As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Suzie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Suzie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water on the boy’s lap.The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, ‘Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!’Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else–Suzie.She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. ‘You’ve done enough, you klutz!’ Finally at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Suzie and whispers, ‘You did that on purpose, didn’t you?’ Suzie whispers back, ‘I wet my pants once too.’May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good. Remember–Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. Author unknownEvery day, we have tremendous opportunities to show people the same love and forgiveness we have experienced from Jesus. All of us identify with people who have sinned or failed in life. It isn’t pointing out their sins or failures that will help them; they already know what they have done wrong. They need to know the One who has already forgiven them and that He took their sins upon Himself and paid a price we couldn’t. It is this truth that restores people. Be the “Suzie” to those whom you meet daily who feel condemned because of their past. If Jesus didn’t come to condemn them, we shouldn’t either. We can help them escape their condemnation by unveiling God’s love and forgiveness to them.Ed ElliotMYSTERY OF THE TRINITY‘ Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, ‘Ye neither know me, nor my Father; if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.’John 8:19The scriptures teach Jesus’ oneness with the Father. This oneness is more than singleness of purpose and actually denotes ‘a single one to the exclusion of others’ as in the statement, ‘There is one God’ ( 1 Tim. 2:5).The truth is so well established in scripture that some people make no distinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but believe they are simply one God expressing Himself in three different ways. However, Jesus makes a distinction between Himself and His Father here and uses Himself and His Father as two different witnesses to fulfill the requirement of Deuteronomy 17:6. Jesus would have been deceiving these Jews if there was no distinction between His Father and Himself; and yet, they are one (Jn. 10:30; 1 John 5:7). This is a great mystery and yet a very well established fact in scripture.One of the great statements of the Old Testament from Deuteronomy 6:4 says, ‘The Lord our God is one Lord.’ We do not have three Gods, but one God, clearly identifiable as three persons. This is a great mystery, which has not been adequately explained. Scriptures reveal the truth of the Trinity, but makes no attempt to explain it. We simply accept this revelation as it is, until we know all things, even as we are known (I Cor. 13:12).Jesus said the witness of His Father was the greatest testimony of who He was. Everyone can hear His testimony of Jesus through the scriptures.Moses and all the Old Testament prophets spoke of the coming of Jesus, and Peter said the written word of God was a more sure word of prophecy than the audible voice of God. READ THE WORD TODAY.Andrew WommackSTAND STILL“Listen, all you of Judah and you inhibitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehospaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. . . .You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” 2 Chronicles 20:15, 17Faced with a troubling report of an impending war, King Jehoshaphat set himself to seek the Lord and pray with hope before all the assembly of Judah. It was then that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, who spoke the words of the Lord that we read in 2 Chronicles 20:15,17. On hearing these words of hope, all Judah humbled themselves before the Lord, bowing before Him and worshiping Him.Today the Lord is saying the same words to you in your situation. Hope in Him for He loves you! You don’t have to live in fear and discouragement when you know that the battle is not yours, but the Lord’s.Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. The battle is His, and you will not need to fight in it.What do you do when you don’t know what to do? The best thing you can do is to stand still. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord in your situation.But Pastor Prince, if I stand still, nothing will happen!My friend, standing still is not inactivity or doing nothing. It’s a posture of hope, and it involves keeping your hope anchored on the person of Jesus and having a sure and confident expectation of good.When the marauding armies of Pharaoh were charging toward the children of Israel, hell-bent on annihilating them, Moses simply declared to the terrified Israelites, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord” (Exodus 14:13). The Hebrew word for salvation is yeshua, which is actually the name of Jesus. So salvation is the person of Jesus, and He is with you.When you are caught in a hopeless situation, learn to position yourself–stand still and see the saving power of Jesus work on your behalf. He will never leave you nor forsake you (Heb. 13:5).As you center yourself, your thoughts, your beliefs, and your hopes on Him, He will lead you concerning what to do, just as He led Jehoshaphat to a triumphant victory over his enemies.Joseph PrincePosition Yourself–Stand Still!HIS WILL IS IN THE WORD“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17In this prayer, Jesus prayed twice that the Father would keep His disciples from evil. Then He reveals the way that God will accomplish this–through His Word. the holy scriptures. Anyone who desires to live for God, reject the devil, and reject the world’s system, must know God’s Word.We must study the scriptures, for they reveal the will of God for our actions and attitudes. To be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, we must be filled with God’s Word. God’s Word is His will! Those who are ignorant of God’s Word will be ignorant of God’s will.Knowledge of God’s will is foundational in developing Christian conduct and character. There is no way we can fulfill God’s will if we don’t know what it is. The starting point for any Christian is understanding God’s will for his life. How can a person obtain such knowledge? The first step is to desire it. Jeremiah 29:13 says, ‘And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ People ask the Lord for knowledge of His will but don’t receive it because they aren’t seeking with ALL THEIR HEART. No one who has ever sought the Lord with all his heart has ever been disappointed.The Holy Spirit is the dispenser of God’s wisdom. It is through Him that we know the things God has revealed to us. One of the primary ministries of the Holy Spirit is to reveal God’s will to us.There is no way we can walk worthy of the Lord and please Him if we don’t know His will. Furthermore, we can’t be fruitful without the knowledge of His will. God has provided all that we need to be successful and victorious in this life. Believe His Word. Andrew WommackJesus–the One Who Always Believes Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23 Mark 9:23 has been traditionally taught to mean that you can have your miracle if YOU can believe. If you can’t believe, then Jesus isn’t going to give you your miracle. But if you study the Greek structure of the verse, it’s actually saying, “Can you believe that all things are possible to Him (Jesus) who is always believing?”That makes a world of difference! It’s not about how well or how much you can believe, but WHO you believe. Jesus is the only one whose faith is always constant and never wavers. His faith never fails! And if you can believe that all things are possible for Jesus who never doubts, never wavers, then you are on your way to receiving your miracle! Beloved, have faith not in your faith, but in Him who always believes and always wants to do good to you! Joseph Prince Eight Words that Will Forever Change Your Life!The eight words in I John 4:19 forever changed my life over 40 years ago: “We love God because He first loved us.”In a few short words, the apostle John reveals to believers the truth that eluded the Pharisees and Bible scholars in Jesus’ day. Sadly, it is still a mystery to many today. The cry of every religion around the world is all the same, “You must love God!” but the gospel declares that God loves us and He loved us first! What an awesome thought that we are the object of His amazing love and continue to be because His is love (I John 4:8).If God loved us first, then that means we did nothing to earn or deserve His love. To believe that God does not love you is to accuse Him of not being truthful. Don’t allow your emotions or past failures and history to make you feel disqualified from knowing and experiencing the love God has for you. God used a murderer to write most of the New Testament and another to give us the law.God doesn’t demand we love Him first; the truth is, we really can’t love God the way He deserves to be loved until we know and believe in the love He has for us. Our ability to love God doesn’t come from our own human effort or even praying and asking Him to help us love Him. We should pray that he will help us to understand how much He loves us as this will cause our love for Him to increase.Let’s turn 1 John 4:19 around and make it personal: “Because God first loved me, I now can love Him!”If you believe God loves you just the way you are at this very moment, you are perfectly capable of loving Him.Ed ElliotSelf Seeking Not God Seeking“Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”John 6:26Jesus knew the hearts of men and therefore, He did not commit Himself to this crowd. Just the day before, these same people tried to take Him by force and make Him their king, but He withdrew and spent the night in prayer.This crowd looked like they were seeking Jesus, but they were actually trying to use Jesus to seek their own end. It is true that there are many personal benefits to be reaped through serving the Lord, but the benefits are never to become our object. In all things, Christ must have the preeminence (Col. 1:18).Jesus exposed the true intentions of the people’s hearts by preaching a strong message of commitment. Those who were self-centered were offended and left while those who were willing to lay down their lives to experience God’s abundant life remained. Commitment to God Himself (not what He can produce) is what always separates the true worshippers of God from the false.As Jesus began to explain in these verses that He was the only way to the Father (Jn. 14:6) and that they would have to come through Him, the people grew angry. It always angers the flesh to think that all our righteous acts can’t save us, but Jesus makes it clear that our only part in salvation is to believe. Believe what? Believe on Jesus and His sacrifice–not ours. Salvation is a gift and cannot be purchased (Rom. 10:2-3).Many times, we get so intent on seeking God in one area that we forget the greatest miracle of all, which is the love and redemption given to us from God through His Son.
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