Continuing today with the Book of Daniel we witness Daniel continually defeating all the distractions that tried to remove his focus off of God. While the Book of Daniel is filled with distractions I want to bring the key distractions to your attention. · Daniel had to be enduring jealously from some of the children of Judah. (This is not written in the Word but I can imagine this scenario.) There is always someone that becomes jealous of another receiving favor. I can see all the gossiping going on behind David’s by his own people. “He thinks he’s better than us. Won’t eat the King’s food. Who does he think he is?” Can you see that? · Daniel had enemies that were scheming behind his back that were not of the tribe of Judah. (Daniel 6:7) “All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.” · Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den. Daniel 6:10-14, " Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. 11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. 12 Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. 14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.” My God! I see nothing but distractions. But Daniel kept his eyes on God. He refused to look at everything that was going on around him. Once again he refused to compromise! Oh that we would have a spirit like Daniel. Tossed into the lion’s den and still held his focus. No screaming for help from Daniel. He kept his focus and trusted God to save him. Today if you are in the midst of the lion’s den, stay focus and keep all your trust in God, for as He did with Daniel, so shall He do for you. Keep your eyes on God! Evangelist Cheryl Davies (Fear Not Ministries) (www.fearnotministries.com)
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""Shalom" is comprised of four Hebrew letters: "Sheen", "Lamed", "Vav" and "Mem". The letter "Sheen", represented as teeth, illustrates destruction. "Lamed" portrays a staff and illustrates authority. "Vav", illustrated as a nail or a tent peg, carries the ideas of fastening, securing, or establishing. And finally, "Mem" is displayed as water, and illustrates chaos. So the Hebrew word picture for "shalom" communicates this message – "destroying the authority that establishes chaos"! Do you want "shalom" in your life? You will need to deal with the roots and causes of chaos. The one and only successful way to do that is through faith in and identity with Yeshua (Jesus) your Sar Shalom – your prince of Peace – because He has already disarmed the authorities which establish chaos and will soon destroy them completely. He said, These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." [John 16:33]" (Quoted from George Whitton, Worthy Briefs) You can find more of these great Worthy Briefs Devotionals at http://www.worthynetwork.com/sign-up Ask yourself this question: Is God really in control? I hear people say all the time that God is in control and He really do want us to relinquish all control to Him, but the majority of us were not raised to leave everything in His wonderful hands. We were raised hearing that we are the author of our own destiny. And the biggest lie of all is, "God helps those that helps themselves." This in fact is true until we do finally surrender all to God. I'm not talking lip service. I'm talking action. When things go wrong, are you immediately on the phone calling others to help you or do you turn to God first and say, "You do it Lord." I have to be truthful with you. This has not always been the case with me. It takes commitment and time and true faith. It doesn't just happen because you want it to. Know this to be true, if you are asking God to increase your faith He can't just say okay and it's done. It has to be tested over and over again. So when things gets tight or seems to hard, you have to begin to activate your faith. Before we actually give God the control, we'll have to go from faith, to faith, to faith. If your faith becomes stagnant, you open yourself up to persuasion. 1 Timothy 4:1, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;" And I, myself is still not there. But I keep on trusting and believing that each day God will test my faith yet again. That He will test it until it is proven completely true, because it is in the testing only that the truth is revealed. If you really want to get closer and more intimate with the Father, pray that He will increase your faith and then prepare for the tests that are to come, but don't run from the truth once you see it. It is a good thing to see our flaws for then we know what we need to work on. Begin to desire more today and more will be given to you. Isaiah 25:1, "O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth." Be blessed! Evangelist Cheryl Davies www.fearnotministries.com Now is not the time to give in! God is trying to do something in you and that's why it feels so hard. But you can't stop now! Just keep telling yourself, "I got to get there!" There is a testimony waiting to be birth and only you can carry that baby. Many are waiting on you and relying on you to overcome so they to may overcome. Tell yourself, "I won't let them down!' Now go! Complete the mission! The blessing is in your completion! 1 John 5:4, "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." Be blessed and complete the mission! Evangelist Cheryl Davies (Fear Not Ministries) Years back the Lord showed me a place that I would be entering into in the future. Now when He showed me this place I can remember my heart gripping in fear and a desire to run from it so terrifying the vision was. I've recently seen this vision again and the fear was gone. That's how our Father works. He prepares you for what is to come and once you are prepared, all fear will leave. I want to encourage you today if you are still bound in fear. Know that God is preparing you for your future. a future that contains no fear, but He has to show you it now so that He can deal with it now as part of your preparation. Hold on to your faith because I promise you, it is the one major thing that is going to see you through to the other side of that fear. Pay attention to what the Father is saying in these days. He is speaking words of strength to your spirit. Continue to meditate on His Scriptures telling you to 'fear not' and to be not afraid'. He wrote those words for you for this time. They are alive and will strengthen your spirit even as you are reading and speaking them. Deuteronomy 31:6, "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." God has only done a small percentage of what He is planning to do in you in this season of preparation. Be encourage and as always be blessed! Evangelist Cheryl Davies This is so important! It is one of your keys toward walking into your purpose. If they are not going where you are going they will become a distraction and can possible send you towards detours. I love to be with people that look like me, and by me I mean they also are a reflection of Jesus. What kind of reflection do you see in your friends? Evangelist Cheryl Davies Fear Not Ministries Some of you will not want to read this posting, but if you are truly seeking after the truth, then seek it today and be enlightened. Throughout the Bible God has placed great emphasis on names. For example: Genesis 29:34-35, “She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.” (Levi and Judah were the beginning of two tribes, the Levities and the Tribe of Judah. Levi means “attached” and Judah means “praise”. ) Genesis 32:28, “And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”” (His blessing for his struggle. Israel means “God contended”) 2 Samuel 12:24-25, “Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. (His name was changed out of love. Jedidiah means “beloved by God”) Acts 13:9, “Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him.” (His name was changed because of his rebirth. Paul means “humble”.) Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Immanuel means “God is with you”.) Names are very important in the Kingdom of God. Now with that in mind we have to look at one of the most sacred events that is almost here. The resurrection of Jesus. Years back I request the Father to cut out of me everything that was not of Him and that meant I needed to know the truth in everything. All lies had to be revealed so that I could destroy them and they would no longer have dominion over my life. I pray this for you today as the truth is revealed to you. Many Christians have adopted the habits of the secular world and get excited when it is time to celebrate “Easter”. So what does this word “Easter” mean? It was ultimately named for the Germanic spring goddess Eostre. It was traditionally given to children born on Easter, though it is no longer done today. This goddess was the god of fertility, thus you have the egg and the rabbit. She was a sexual god that the pagans committed many sexual rituals to honor her in the belief that they would bear children with her blessing. It is these rituals that the early Christians attempted to remove the pagans from committing. These sexual rituals were the most important thing to stop. It wasn’t so bad that they had idols, but it was really bad what they did for these idols. If they could just stop them from practicing the rituals and teach them to believe in Jesus, maybe, just maybe, they will be converted. In actuality, they still preformed their rituals but in secret. Why? Because they had not been fully changed. These early Christians made compromises not only with faith of the pagans, but also with their own faith. It was a case of give and take, but wait! Are we not taught to take nothing from the world? That everything we desire can be found in God? They placed more emphasis on the conversion than on the lifestyle and this resulted in a bad root. Now this is what the Word says on the root: Hosea 9:16, “Ephraim is stricken, Their root is dried up; They shall bear no fruit. Yes, were they to bear children, I would kill the darlings of their womb.” If the root is bad, then there will be no fruit or bad fruit. This made me see this second scripture in a whole new light. Jude 1:12, “These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;” Easter is a love feast that is feasted on without fear. It does not serve God. It only serves man while implying that it is serving God. When we come to God the Bible tells us to leave behind the things of this world, something the early Christians failed to do or teach when they converted the pagans. It has no association with the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross so that you could have salvation. In fact, it is an attempt of the enemy to remove you from that salvation. It has become a generational curse to man. A curse that only you can break off of your bloodline. Pull it up now and destroy it. I appeal to your desire for the truth. Here is another question: What should you give to someone that gave up his life for you? An egg? Come on people! Time is short and this, like so many other things we need to get free of. Our desire has to be more for God than for man. I refuse to face the Father and have Him say to me, “I don’t know you.” But this choice is yours alone to make. Study and show yourselves approved by seeking out the truth on your own. Look for the root and when it is rotten, rip it out of the ground. Be blessed with the truth. Evangelist Cheryl Davies Today I feel that I need to talk about the power of God that lives in you. This is a power that you can depend on. Inside of each of us is a Prayer Warrior. It is more focused in some of us but we all carry this spirit. How focused you are tells of how you see things. Mark 14:37-38, "Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”" Earlier in this Chapter it says that He took Peter, James, and John with Him. Jesus asked all 4 to watch and pray, yet He rebuked only Peter. Could it be that Peter was a more focused Prayer Warrior and more was expected of him. Nevertheless, Jesus asked them all to pray. Luke 22:39-40, "Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”" If you are in Christ, then you to are called to "Watch and Pray". I now understand why the majority of the time that I am praying I keep my eyes open and am watching what is going on around me and I’m not looking in the natural. As we pray we need to be alert to what is going on around us in the spirit realm, less the enemy creeps in and distract you. Watch and Pray. Yes there is nothing wrong with closing your eyes while you pray but there are times when you need to be watching. The power of prayer forces things to change. To watch the change will allow you to know whether you are praying the right prayers. Here is an example. In one prayer session I began to come against an addiction and I spoke the wrong words trying to kill the thirst for the substance my words became tangled. I immediately saw a change in the atmosphere and stopped praying to see what it was that was wrong. The words were just sitting there waiting for me see my error. I began to pull them back from out of the atmosphere and changed my words to words of life. To watch for some has a different meaning than for others. Some see through their natural eyes and some see through their spirit eyes. This also goes for prayers. You can pray in the natural and you can pray in the spirit. Which is more powerful? The prayers that we pray in the spirit. The reason why is because everything happens in the spirit realm before it happens in the natural. So this isn't a watch in the natural sense. This is a watch in the spiritual sense. Watch and Pray. No matter what level you are at, we all can and should be praying. Even if you don't think you pray very good, keep praying. The more you pray the stronger God becomes in you. Prayer is an activator. We need to be activating things in our lives daily through the power of prayer. Things are moving swiftly right now and this is not the time for us to be distracted. God is moving and Jesus is asking us to, Watch and Pray. Be blessed. Evangelist Cheryl Davies ( Fear Not Ministries ) So we have been through a season of battles. Faint not though because there was purpose in the battle. God sometimes have to tear things down before they can be rebuilt in manner He decreed. The reason for this is that we take on so much of the world that it becomes hard to tell the difference between what is godly and what is worldly. Even though we can’t see the difference sometimes, God always sees. He knows when we make a wrong turn and so in order to get us back on track he has to break some things down and then rebuild them the way He intended them to be. This takes going through a battle because our flesh does not want to let go. Our flesh hates change. Be honest with yourself. If you have a particular way of doing things, and you have always done things that way, you know you don’t want no one coming in and tell you a different way to do it. Now God is telling you, that way was wrong. That’s right. It was all wrong. Now do you think your flesh is going to take that without rebelling? No. 1 Corinthians 15:31, "[I assure you] by the pride which I have in you in [your fellowship and union with] Christ Jesus our Lord, that I die daily [I face death every day and die to self]" (AMP) It is a battle to die to the flesh. Paul says we are to die to the flesh daily. If it’s easy for you then you have not defeated a thing. Just as quickly as you agreed to God’s way of doing things you will go back to what you are use to. And then some ways down the road you will realize that you are back where you started. Wasting time. I don’t want to waste any time going through the same thing over and over again. I need the battle so that I can remember what it took for me to get to this place. Look at history. Even though we ourselves have not fought the past battles how many battles can you name off the top of your head that the World has fought? World War 1, World War 2, Civil War, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War. It’s not easy to forget a war that’s been fought. And when you are the one fighting the war, you know you will remember every mistake you make, because you won’t want to make that mistake again. But you don’t only remember the mistakes – you remember even more the victories and what you did to become triumphant!! That’s why it’s so important to know what season you are in. Are you in a Season of Battle or are you in a Season of Birthing. Because we know that after the flesh has been defeated God births something new in the spirit because now you have made room for what He has. So the battle has been won and now it’s time to get into the birthing position. 1King 18:41-44, “And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not." (KJV) Verse 42 says that Elijah cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees. He got in his birthing position. He was ready to birth some rain upon the earth. What is your birthing position? You’re birthing position may not be the same as mine. My birthing position is prostrate before the Lord. I know some whose position is kneeling and others bent over, and even others who stand or walk during the birthing process. Know your position. This is the birthing season, but what position are you in? Are you prepared to give birth? The baby will struggle to be born if you are not in the proper position to help it make the transition into this world. This world needs what you are carrying so you have got to get into your birthing position. Be blessed! Evangelist Cheryl Davies Fear Not Ministries Let's move forward. 1. Stay on the path! No side-steppin allowed. You are headed in only 1 direction. 2. Be steady! That means no stopping and wavering. Set your mind to go forward and keep going. 3. Pour into your brothers and sisters! Don't think someone is using you. We need to help each other. What God gives you is for sharing and sometimes because we are all at different levels of our walk what your sibling does might hurt you, but if they love Christ you keep on pouring. It helps them to mature when we don't turn away at their faults. Remember the mistakes you made at first? Let's look beyond the mistakes of others and see what God is trying to create in them. It is YOUR actions that Jesus is concerned about. If you retaliate with anger, then the battle is lost AND a life could be lost. As we move forward we want to propel others forward. I can't succeed without you succeeding. One body! Ephesians 4 The Message (MSG) "1-3 In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences." Be blessed! Evangelist Cheryl Davies Fear Not Ministries) Everything in your life does not happen in the same season. I hear people say often that this is their season, but do you understand which season you are in?
The word says in Ecclesiastics 3:1,2,6,7 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; So are you planting or are you plucking? Keeping or casting away? Keeping silent or speaking? These are very important questions. You must know which season you are in if you are going to operate effectively both in the spirit and in the natural. And know this, we are all just as different as our seasons are different, so don't follow someone else's season. To do that has the potential to twist your seasons up. Know your season. When you operate in your rightful season it will become very fruitful both for you and for others. Psalm 145:15 "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season." Be blessed. Evangelist Cheryl Davies Will you be found innocent? Daniel lived a righteous life despite the fact that he was a slave. Everything around him was wrong in the sight of the Lord, but he stayed submitted to God. Today, everything around you is wrong in the sight of our God but like David, we must strive to stay innocent before God so that when we are in the lion's den, we too will have nothing to fear. In the Old Testament bondage was more of a physical thing. You do evil against God then He would let your enemies capture you, imprison you, your family, and generations to come in your bloodline and this caused man to have a fear of the Lord. But there is a bondage that is far worse that physical imprisonment. Spiritual Bondage is more harmful than physical bondage because you sometimes cannot always see it and know that you are in bondage. We can see the results but not know, what, why or who is messing with our head. Did you ever wonder why God tells Isaiah to not have fear so many times? God was trying to strengthen Isaiah. The opposite of fear is boldness, strength. God was telling him that He would give Isaiah these things. He told him to not worry, He would strengthen him. Isaiah 41:10, "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” Fear can cause a person to sin: Exodus 20:20, "And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”" Fear can create stumbling blocks. Fear can cause you to lie. We always hear people saying that Rahab lied to justify their telling a lie, but God never condoned her lie. He never did tell her good job lying. Lying actually removed God from that situation because she trusted in herself more than God. Remember now, Rahab did not know God. She only knew fear because she had been paying attention to how the children of God have been defeating everyone. Joshua 2:4-6, "Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” 6 (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.)" God rewarded her by the words spoken to her by the 2 children of Israel. Not by her lie. Fear will turn you into a liar. Fear can cause you to run away. When David entered into battle with any nation, the nation would flee from the power of God that David and his men moved under. 1 Chronicles 19:14, "So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him." To run away means that you are afraid and it also means that you have already been beaten. Fear will keep you out of the battle. We all know the story of David and Goliath. This story is even circulated around non Christians as a story of strength. 1 Samuel 17:4-11, "And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid." Fear will keep you from engaging the enemy. But God says we have nothing to fear. So today I pray Deuteronomy 28:7 for you. “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. I plead Joshua 10:8, “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.” Be blessed! Evangelist Cheryl Davies You know how we are always saying that Jesus resides inside of us and that gives us power? Well that power is being executed right now. As you read this post God is speaking to you personally. Not me, but Jesus. I don’t know what you need at this moment and unless you tell me I probably never will. Only one person can feel that need without you saying one word to Him or anyone else. That’s God. I’m just a person, no greater or better than you, that allows God to use me by giving Him access to my will. I have given Him totally access and that is how these words have found their way to you at the just the right time. This is why these words become a blessing to you. “Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:42 These were the words of submission to the Father that Jesus spoke even while He was hanging on the cross for our sins. These are the words that I speak daily to the Father. “Nevertheless not my will, but Yours, be done.” It is in my allowing God to have His way in my life that He chooses to use me for you. Today God is asking you a question. “How will you allow me to use you?” Once you have the right answer to this question, God will begin to show you your purpose. Why? Purpose is so life changing that you must be prepared to make the transition. Changing everything about you, (your thoughts, heart, actions and how you speak) takes your total submission to God and God alone. You learn that it’s no longer about you. It becomes only about how God can use you for His glory. A puffed up person becomes that way because he has no knowledge of his purpose. In purpose the words “I” and God become complete opposites. If you are still concerned about “I” then there is no room for God. God is complete and needs the total you in order to complete you and transition you into purpose. I am trying to help you here. God wants you to get to a place where He can reveal much more than your purpose to you. However, there are some things that must go first. These words will keep you from your promotion into your purpose: worry, hate, jealousy, fear, lust, anger, hurt, pride, gluttony, revenge and envy. To reach your purpose you have to cultivate these words into your life: love, hope, humility, forgiveness, trust, peace, and faith. Do you really know yourself? Take a good look right now. If you don’t look now your purpose might slip right on pass you. You have to make a change. James 4:7 “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” What do you look like? Do you look like the things of this world or Christ? It really makes a big difference. I am talking about your spirit here. What does your spirit resemble? Do God need to cut some things out of you. Submit yourself to God and He will do it. Preparation leads to purpose. Be blessed! C. D. I want to show you something today. Last Sunday my Pastor's message was on the same scriptures that God had given to me Friday. I love it when that happens because it is just confirmation that a person is hearing the truth. Same message different wording. He spoke on Saul and this was the revelation God gave him: Only God can take your enemy and turn him into your brother. Acts 9:21-22 "Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ." This is why we cannot judge others. We don't know what God is doing or is planning to do with this precious life. We can't understand what kind of preparation someone is going through to get to his destination. So as we are being prepared, be mindful of how others are also being prepared. No one shares the exact same journey. 2 Corinthians 5:16-18 says, "Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation," I know I've been changed and every person will have that same opportunity eventually. This is the desire of the Father and no man should stand in His way. Be blessed! Evangelist Cheryl Davies Fear Not Ministries Have you ever wondered why God had to go to such extremes to get Saul’s attention? Most people bow down just from the sound of Jesus’ voice, but He blinded Saul. Acts 9:3-4 says, “As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”” (New King James) Talk about being blinded by the light! This is how I see it, Saul was so enamored with this world and the things of the world, money and everything else that tends to excite man, that God had to first take his view of the world away. Saul had a purpose that He didn’t even know he had. Before he was born God had chosen him to lead His people. But he didn’t know this. He wasn’t raised up to believe in the now of Christ. In fact, he believed that Jesus was against everything that he was raised to believe in. He thought He was an imposter to the Word. Saul believed that his purpose in life was to persecute those who believed and he was proud to do it. But that wasn’t his purpose. He had a higher purpose in life and he was chosen to have knowledge of his purpose in a harsh way. You see desire begins in the eyes before it sinks into the heart. And Saul had many desires and at the top of his list was power. Wow! He had no idea of what power really was, but he was about to learn. So Jesus blinded him with a bright light and accused him of sinning against Him. That would have been enough for me to turn around, but apparently it was not enough for Saul. Yet God knew just what he needed to get to the place He wanted him to be in. Direction. Jesus gave Saul specific directions. He told him to go into the city. Yes, God had a plan that would usher Saul into his destiny. Do you know that God also has a plan for you? A plan to get you to your purpose and maybe you don’t see it yet, but know that God does have a plan and a purpose for you. I look back on the days when everyone thought that I had it all, money, nice car and beautiful clothes. But there was no happiness in those things. There was only emptiness that made me think that I needed more. I’m sure Saul had been feeling this same emptiness. But no more! This is why God has to sometimes wait to tell us our purpose, we aren’t ready for it. Purpose is life changing and until you are truly ready to change your life without any regrets you won’t know your purpose. It took time for me to want to change and when I finally did I opened my mouth and declare that my life belonged to God to do whatever He wanted to do with it. Then came the preparation. I still did not know my purpose, but I became oh so thirsty for the Lord and everything about Him. I wanted to know Him intimately. So I began to study the Word and God began to speak to me. And my belly would become full and Season arrived. Once you know your purpose it cannot be denied. For everything there is a Season and until your Season comes eat of the Word of God until your belly becomes full. Keep your focus on God and not the world because until your eyes are fully upon God, it won’t be your time. Everyone needs purpose and everything that you are doing now is to move you closer to yours. You are in a place of preparation even now. Be blessed! |
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