Faith Versus Presumption

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."1

Some time ago I read how, when Norman and Melissa "C" stopped making payments on their Hartford, Connecticut house, the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) began foreclosure proceedings.

The Camerons contacted FNMA officials to explain why they had stopped making payments on their $54,000 mortgage: God told them they could. "It was our desire to be free from this mortgage debt," the Camerons told the court overseeing the foreclosure. "Therefore we asked God our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. He heard us and He freed us from this mortgage bondage."

According to this report, the FNMA officials made it clear that they would continue with foreclosure proceedings until they, too, are contacted by God.

This illustration is certainly extreme but I have heard others claim "God" had told them to do such and such, and before long "God" was telling them the opposite. Sometimes some people justify what they want to do by claiming "God" told them this was the right thing to do. This is not faith. It is presumption. Faith only applies to prayer that is in harmony with God's will.

Suggested prayer: Dear God, please give me sense enough to know the difference between faith and presumption, and to always ensure that my prayers are in harmony with your will. Thank you that when I pray this way, you always hear and answer my prayers. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV).

Credit: Daily Encounter

The Thrill of Temptation

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men [and women] of courage; be strong."1

Kent Edwards wrote how the tuna fish "were running for the first time in forty-seven years only thirty miles off Cape Cod."2 They were apparently biting furiously so many would-be tuna fishermen in their excitement to catch a large tuna ignored Coast Guard warnings. What they didn't realize was that the problem didn't lie in hooking a tuna but landing it in the boat.

One boat, the Christi Anne, capsized while battling with a large tuna. The same day another boat, Basic Instinct, met with the same fate. And Official Business was swamped when trying to land its catch. The tuna pulled the boat below the surface of the water.

What these fishermen didn't realize was the power of large tuna fish. That's pretty much like what temptation does to us. At first it can seem very exciting and enticing but once we take the bait, we're the ones that get hooked and it can quickly overpower us and pull us under.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to be always on guard so that I will avoid the lure of temptation and not get hooked or entrapped by it. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV).2. Kent Edwards. Cited in Encounter magazine (ACTS Australia), January 2007.

Credit: Daily Encounter

The Why of Materialism

"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."1

Many years ago Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929) said: "While sitting on the bank of a river one day, I picked up a solid round stone from the water and broke it open. It was perfectly dry in spite of the fact that it had been immersed in water for centuries. The same is true of many people in the Western world. For centuries they have been surrounded by Christianity; they live immersed in the waters of its benefits. And yet it has not penetrated their hearts; they do not love it. The fault is not in Christianity, but in men's hearts, which have been hardened by materialism and intellectualism."

Intellectualism (this does not mean being intellectual) can be and often is a defense against facing one's reality, and used as a means to rationalize the belief system we want and choose to believe. If we intellectualize or rationalize away God, then we can deceive ourselves into believing that we are ultimately only responsible to ourselves. In so doing we harden our hearts against truth and reality.

Materialism is often a symptom of buried emotions, especially the emotion of wonder. Instead of finding fulfillment in the wonder and beauty of creation and nature, we get wrapped up in things. As the saying goes, instead of loving people and using things we end up unhappily loving things and using people. Another way to harden our hearts and a dangerous way to live.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to be totally honest with myself and with you and learn how to enjoy the beauty of your creation and the simple things of life and therein protect my heart from becoming hardened. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Jesus (Luke 12:15, NIV).

Credit: Daily Encounter

God of the Ordinary

Hey morning guys, I am truly blessed to share this message with you today. When I saw this it brought tears to my eyes and joy in my heart because almost on a daily basis I too fell like I am unworthy of God's mercies and blessings. I am unworthy of his call on my life and because of this thinking I have limited God's work in my life just like the eagle who thought that he was a chicken.

So guys any-time the devil comes around reminding you of where you were, what you have done, and making you feel like you are unworthy, remind him of who your God is and what he has done for you on Calvary and continues to do and how special and precious you are to the Great King of Kings.

I really hope that this will bless you. I love you all and God Bless.

"For many are called, but few are chosen."1

"There are many reasons why God wouldn't want to use many of us, but don't worry. We're in good company! As another has shared:

• Moses stuttered;


• David's armor didn't fit;


• John Mark was rejected by Paul;


• Hosea's wife was a prostitute;


• Amos' only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning;


• Jacob was a liar;


• David had an affair;


• Solomon was too rich;


• Abraham was too old;


• David was too young;


• Timothy had ulcers;


• Peter was afraid of death;


• Lazarus was dead;


• John was self-righteous;


• Jesus was too poor;


• Naomi was a widow;


• Paul was a murderer;


• So was Moses;


• Jonah ran from God;


• Miriam was a gossip;


• Gideon and Thomas both doubted;


• Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal;


• Elijah was burned out;


• John the Baptist was a loudmouth;


• Martha was a worrywart;


• Samson had long hair;


• Noah got drunk;


• Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse? So did Peter, Paul—well, lots of folks did.

Satan says, "You're not worthy." Jesus says, "So what? I AM."

Satan looks back and sees our mistakes. God looks back and sees the cross.

He doesn't calculate what you did last year. Sure, there are lots of reasons why God shouldn't have called us. But if we are magically in love with Him, if we hunger for Him more than our next breath, He'll use us in spite of who we are, where we've been, or what we look like."2

Perhaps today's Scripture could be interpreted as follows:

"For many are called, but few prove themselves to be chosen." In fact, God calls every one of us to follow and serve him. If he waited until we were fully mature, whole and complete, he wouldn't get anything done. He will use us exactly as we are as long as we are available and willing to be used. In so doing we will then prove ourselves to be chosen ones.

Suggested prayer: "Heavenly Father God, I'm available—warts and all—please use me to be a part of what you are doing in the world today. Help me to keep growing so I can, with your help, become more usable. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Jesus (Matthew 22:14).

2. Author Unknown.

Credit: Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Daily Encounter

What You Think—You Are

"For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."1

There's an old fable that talks about a man who found an eagle's egg and put it in a nest of a barnyard hen. The eagle hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them. All his life, the eagle did what the barnyard chicks did, thinking he was a barnyard chicken.
He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would thrash his wings and fly a few feet in the air.

Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among powerful wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings. The old eagle looked up in awe. "Who's that?" he asked. "That's the eagle, the king of the birds," said his neighbor. "He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth—we're chickens."

So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that's what he thought he was.

How sad when we who are children of the King live as chickens when we could fly with the eagles.

As the old saying goes, "You are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are."

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to wait upon and hope in you and see realized in my life all that you have for me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV).

2. Anthony DeMello from A 4th Course of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Copyright 1997 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Hanoch McCarty and Meladee McCarty.

" Never Too Old "

A blessed good morning to all of you my brothers and sisters in the Lord, this is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.

OK as you guys know Sunday was my birthday, I am a year older and a lot wiser too. I went to church service and things were revealed to me in more than one way that I never knew before. People (including myself) were also delivered from sins that easily beset us and deter us from our walk with and the work of the Lord.

So here I am (again) ready and rearing to go, LOL!!! I stumbled upon an article from the Daily Encounter, I hope it will be a blessing to you as it has been to me.

GOD BLESS.

Oh and to all my readers thank you!!!!

So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."1

We are never too old to serve the Lord. Caleb, forty-five years earlier, was one of the twelve spies Moses sent to spy out the Promised Land and one of the two who came back with a glowing report. At age eighty-five he still wants to serve the Lord.
Admittedly, folks lived much older back then but no matter how old we are (except for extenuating circumstances), we are never too old to serve the Lord—even if all we can do is pray.

According to Today in the Word, "Cervantes completed Don Quixote when he was nearing 70. Clara Barton, at 59, founded the American Red Cross. Goethe finished the dramatic poem 'Faust' at 82. Verdi composed 'Othello' at 73, 'Falstaff' in his late seventies. Benjamin Disraeli became Prime Minister of England for the second time at 70."
When it comes to achieving anything worthwhile (especially serving God), it is availability—not age-ability—that counts.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, I'm available, please make me usable and use me every day in some way to be a part of what you are doing in the world today. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Caleb (Joshua 14:10-12, NIV).

Credit: Daily Encounter

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Me, happy birthday to me!!!! YEAH!!!!

OK I know today is the 11th and my birthday is the 14th but hey..... I am in celebration mode and very grateful to the heavenly father for allowing me to live to see another year (thank you Lord).

So I don't know what my family has planned for me BUT I know its going to be FANTASTIC!!!! I hope that it entails me jumping on a plane and going Tobago or Salybia (lol, I hope). Anywayz.... whatever it is I know its going to be special cause I will be sharing my special day with people that I deeply love.

God Bless!!!!

Hey check me out backk in the day when I was like 3 or 4yrs and don't laugh you hear? LOL I have truly come a long way (thank you God).