weekly words of encouragement

God Rules All Governments – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.” (Psalms 47:8, ESV). It is easy to forget that God rules all governments; he really does reign over the earth. We are heavily influenced by our natural eyes which see all the actions of humans, all the power of governments, and all the force of armies. We elect Presidents and Prime Ministers and we pray they will wisely rule us; and this is good. But “the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). He is unseen but God rules all governments. He allows people to harm and destroy one another and so it seems that God is inactive. But in this age he is only letting us choose to love him or reject him. Yet he still has ultimate control and so we do not need to fear. If Continue Reading →

prophecy

The Marriage Of Prophecy And Discernment

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May of us have experienced disappointments with those who give prophecies. We know that Scripture gives high honor to prophecy. When someone prophesies this means they are speaking spontaneous words from God. This reflects God’s desire to communicate with his children and give them encouragement and instruction (1 Cor. 14:31). God values prophecy and instructs us to “be eager to prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:39 ESV). Yet, prophecy and discernment must be combined if believers want to edify others. In practice it is common to find many problems with the exercise of the gift of prophecy. The one receiving the prophecy often adds their own interpretation when they express it which damages what God is trying to say. Also, in their zeal to be supportive of prophecy many leaders do not apply the principles of discernment which leads to “prophets” giving advice about others’ futures which ends up taking people down Continue Reading →

weekly words of encouragement

God Gives Us Victory Over Enemies – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob. Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes.” (Psalms 44:4-5 (NIV). The Psalmist needed military victory over enemies because he was a leader. And God gives us victory over enemies of our spiritual lives. God is our King so who will defeat him? He makes decrees for his people, “Jacob”, so that we will have victory. When our enemy is our circumstances then God gives us victory by making all things work together for good because we love him (Rom. 8:28). When our enemy is our own flesh, God gives us victory as we walk in the Spirit and defeat the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). When our enemy is other people, God gives us victory as we love our enemies (Matt. 5:11-12). When our enemy is Satan then we stand Continue Reading →

gifts

The Kingdom Of God Flows Through Our Spiritual Gifts

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“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other” (1 Cor. 12:7 NLT). God wants us to be channels of His power to restore His people so he infuses gifts into us so we can use our spiritual gifts to build up one another. He gives gifts of hearing words from Him to edify believers (prophecy, words of knowledge, words of wisdom) he gives gifts that alter the physical world (healing, miracles) gifts that connect directly to the world of the Spirit (discernment of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues) and gifts that are not manifestly supernatural (helping, administration, service, encouragement, mercy, giving). This generous endowment from God is rooted in the kingdom of God that Jesus brought to earth. When Jesus came he did more than just teach us how to live and then die for our sins. He also came to inaugurate the Continue Reading →

weekly words of encouragement

God’s Song Of Love Is With Us – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, (Psalms 42:8, ESV). God’s song of love is about us, even when we can’t hear it. God doesn’t just love us, he commands his love for us. It is his decree for the universe that he loves us and his love is unshakable, it is steadfast. God’s song of love is the anchor for our lives because no one can cancel a command of God. It will remain forever. We suffer for a little while here, but in his New Society in the next age we will soak in his love, forever free of all sin and suffering. What else would he do for us if he loves us? When the night comes God’s song of love is the sense of his love in our hearts. His promises in Scripture and the love we Continue Reading →