Oh Father God,
While I believe it is healthy to do our best and "take pride" in what we do, as we do all unto You, I know that selfish, prideful ambition is sin. Please never let me fall into Satan's trap of believing that I am the one who is able to accomplish much, that I did it, whatever it may be...in an attitude of boasting and self-pride. Lord God, all things are possible because of YOU. You give me intelligence. You give me wisdom. You give me guidance. You work through me and in me. All that I am and all that I do is because of YOU! I pray that I will ever be mindful of that great truth. And I pray that I will always bring glory and honor to You and Your name. Please forgive me of my failures. Please strengthen me, that I will always think, do, and say what is right. In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen & Amen!

The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked. —Psalm 145:20

How beautifully this principle is illustrated in the lives of Joash and Paul! Little Joash, at only seven years of age, was defenseless against the ruthless Queen Athaliah. “Joash and his nurse remained hidden in the Temple of the Lord for six years while Athaliah ruled over the land” (2 Kings 11:3). Only the Lord could have kept him from crying at the wrong moment or being seen by someone who was friendly to the queen. Athaliah finally met her death, the Lord fulfilling His promise to destroy the wicked. Paul faced great danger from the Jews at Corinth. “One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, ‘Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will harm you because many people here in this city belong to me’ ” (Acts 18:9-10). The Jews’ efforts to bring legal action against Paul ended in their being thrown out of court in one moment of time. Satan makes you think the end is here, the worst has come, and the game is lost. Remember: It’s not over until it’s over. The Lord is watching over you!

Heavenly Father,
Thank You so much for placing special people in my life to guide me and teach me and show me the way to You. Thank You for the Holy Spirit's work in bringing me to that point of salvation and in helping me to grow. Thank You for Your Word that lights the path and gives me so much insight into what Your will is. Thank You that I can come to You in prayer, through Jesus my Intercessor. Thank You for the doctrines of Christianity that bring clarity. And thank You for all the circumstances and faith-shaping experiences that have molded me into what I am today. I pray that I will continue to grow and be more like Jesus. I pray for a sweet spirit, godly thoughts, and to know what Jesus would do...and I hope that my life will bring glory to You. In Jesus' name I pray, dear Father. Amen.

“What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” —2 Kings 4:2

God’s miracles always start with the question, What do you have? The little boy with five loaves and two fish provided the only resource for Jesus to bless and feed the five thousand. The widow who fed Elijah during the famine possessed only a little meal and a little oil as a resource. The common thread in both these miracles is that faith was mixed with a few small things offered to God. If you have a need, you must first put something into God’s hand for Him to work with and multiply back to you. We call this seed sowing, or placing into the soil of faith some object that we “lose” in order that God may multiply it into a harvest. Don’t wait for God to supply your need—use what you have! God asked Moses, “What do you have there in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2), and the rod became the means of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. Give your resources to God, and watch Him multiply them for your deliverance!

Put First the Word

"For skillful and godly Wisdom is the principal thing.... Prize Wisdom highly and exalt her, and she will exalt and promote you; she will bring you to honor when you embrace her." (Proverbs 4:7-8, Amp)

I want to tell you the only real secret to getting ahead in this world. It's simple. Put the Word of God first place in your daily life. "Well," you may be saying, "I've heard that before. It's no secret." But when you understand what I mean, it could be a revelation to you. You see, the Bible is not just a textbook, a storybook, or a history book. It's a handbook for living. It's the wisdom of Almighty God written down so that you can apply it to your everyday circumstances. God says that wisdom is the "principal thing." Principal means "first in importance." That means the Word of God needs to occupy the place of highest importance in all of your activities. I know from experience what an impact that can have on your life. Twenty years ago I decided to read the gospels and the book of Acts three times in 30 days. It seemed an impossible task at the time. With two small children and my house turned upside down from a recent move, I couldn't see how I could possibly spend that much time reading the Word and still get everything done. But I set myself to put other things aside and do it anyway. Surprisingly enough, at the end of the first day I had accomplished more than I would have under normal circumstances. And by the end of that 30 days, I'd not only read the gospels and Acts three times, I'd kept all my housework done, taken care of my children, and refinished several pieces of furniture to boot! I was amazed. You'll be amazed at what happens in your life too, if you give God's Word priority. But let me warn you, don't wait until you think you have the time. Satan will see to it that you never do. Just do like I did and set other things aside. Invest your time in the Word first and that investment will soon be paying off in every area of your life.

When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor. James 4:10

I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. Philippians 3:13

Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. There is a widow there who will feed you. I have given her my instructions.” —1 Kings 17:8-9

Someone has called Elijah’s journey the place called there. During the three and one-half years of drought, God always directed him to go there. God commanded a widow to feed him there (1 Kings 17:9). There is an exact place where God wants us to be so He can sustain and bless us. Peter found the place called there when he was obedient and went to the house of Cornelius. Peter, like Elijah, was instructed to go to the home of a Gentile. This was the opposite of what they had been taught in their Jewish upbringing. The place called there may not be the place we would naturally choose. However, it is the place where there is the greatest hunger. A desperately hungry widow and a spiritually hungry centurion both received the blessing from a man of God directed to their homes. As someone once said, “Where God guides, He provides.” We must endeavor to always remain in the place called there.

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (James 5:15-16)

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.(2 Corinthians 12:7)

The devil has used the traditional teaching of Paul's thorn in the flesh to talk believers out of the blessings of God for years, to try to convince us to settle for everything from sickness to sin--and to do it of our own free will. It is perhaps the most destructive and the most widely accepted misinterpretation of Scripture that exists in the Body of Christ today. I've gone into countries to preach to people who hardly had any knowledge of the Word at all and still I have found that somehow they'd been taught about Paul's thorn. And most of them have been taught wrongly. Tradition says that God gave Paul the thorn in the flesh. What's more, tradition makes the thorn into some great mystery. But the Scripture doesn't say that at all! It says that the thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan. Not God-- Satan! The thorn was quite literally just what Paul says it was--a "messenger sent from Satan." You see, everywhere Paul went, he preached the gospel and every time he preached, he destroyed a little more of Satan's kingdom. So, Satan sent a messenger, an evil spirit, to stop him. When Paul sought the Lord concerning this thorn (look at 2 Corinthians 12:8-10), God didn't answer Paul in the negative. God said, "My grace (or, My favor) is enough. It is sufficient for you. For My strength is made perfect in your weakness (inability to produce results)" (W.E. Vine's Expository Dictionary). In other words, when Paul didn't have enough human strength to overcome, God's miracle-working power was sufficient for him. It enabled him to be an overcomer in spite of his weakness. Don't allow the devil to talk you out of your victory. Throw tradition aside and dare to believe the Word of God. Fight the fight of faith, and just like the Apostle Paul, you will see the salvation of the Lord!

Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness! Ecclesiastes 5:10

Everyone wants to know the key to happiness. Many of us look for it in the wrong places. The only pursuit that brings contentment is the pursuit of Jesus. Pursue your Creator, the one who holds the key to true happiness!

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but wateresth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall njot return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. [Isaiah 55:10-11]

The prophet Isaiah gives us an insight into the "Dominion Principle" that God has for man. Though God gave man dominion over all the works of His Hands on this earth, Satan "stole" control from man by the sin of Adam; however, man through the Covenant power of God and His Word can still apply the dominion principle. But man must force the good to come from his seed. Remember the Bible speaks of God's Word as being both seed and water. You must have both to produce a harvest or the resulting dominion. This principle goes with God's seedtime and harvest Word, as He decreed to Noah, While the earth remaineth, seetime adn harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. [Genesis 8:22]. You sow a seed, you reap a harvest. Every seed sown will produce a harvest, either good or bad. A good seed sown produces a good, productive harvest; a bad seed, a bad, destructive harvest. In other words, through the kingdom principle that Isaiah referred to, the Word of God is as the rain and snow that comes down from heaven and returns not void but accomplishes the thing which God sent it. God's Word sown on this earth by man accomplishes the harvest of souls, the deliverance, the healing, the restoration, all that which God has decreed. The Word spoken becomes a seed. It may be small at first, but it just keeps growing, and it keeps putting pressure against the "soil" the evil of this eath. That constant pressure of the seed, the spoken Word of God, makes its demand thereby bringing a harvest. The seed, not the soil, determines the production! Jesus said faith works like a seed, and the way you plant it is to say it. The dominion principle puts pressure on circumstances with the Word of God. If you will hold fast to God's Word and continue to plant the seed, it will eventually change what harvests you
experience in life.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)