Increase Your Faith

Treasure In…Treasure Out! By Billy Joe Daugherty

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)

When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the life of God comes into your heart, or spirit being, and you become a new creature in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:17.) Your head, however, is still full of the same old thoughts you had before giving your life to Christ.

When you think the wrong, or sinful, thoughts, your body will follow in that direction. To continue living in sin when your heart is filled with the life of God only brings guilt, condemnation, and frustration.

Unfortunately, this is where many Christians are today. They know what is right, but their unrenewed thinking leads them in a wrong direction.

The mind is a battlefield for many. Whatever you think about constantly will eventually be acted out in your life. You cannot put garbage in your mind and expect something good to come out. If you want a different output, then you have to change the input.

If the life you are experiencing is not what you want, then you must increase the amount of time you spend reading, hearing, studying, and meditating on God’s Word. The light of God’s Word will drive darkness out of your life.

Some people try to quit sinning—lying, stealing, lusting, and getting angry, to name a few areas of challenge of the old nature. Sometimes they ask their pastor to pray their old sinful nature out of them, but no amount of praying will work. If their minds aren’t renewed with God’s Word, they’ll still think wrong thoughts and act out what they are thinking. It’s only by putting so much of the Word inside of you that sin will quit you. This is the only way to overcome your old, sinful nature.

DECLARATION OF FAITH

I am filling myself up with the Word of God so sin will quit me. The light of God’s Word is driving all darkness out of me. I put God’s Word in my eyes, ears, mind, and heart and speak it from my lips. Anger, fear, loneliness, and all of my old nature are all removed by the power of Jesus inside of me.

Bookmark to:

Begin to Praise 
By Gloria Copeland 
 
“Rejoice in the Lord, O you uncompromisingly righteous; you upright, in right standing with God; for praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright in heart” (Ps. 33:1). 

Praise. According to the Word of God, that’s the most appropriate, becoming thing that you as a believer can do. 

Let me warn you though, God’s idea of “appropriate” praise and your idea of appropriate praise may well be two very different things. The praise He calls for is joyous and uninhibited. And, at times, it’s just plain loud! 

If you don’t believe it, look in the Bible and see the kind of praise that goes on in heaven. Read Isaiah 6 and find out how they act in the throne room. The seraphim shout in there until the doorposts shake! And when they do, the glory of the Lord fills the house. 

When you get to heaven, you’re going to be praising like that, too. You’re going to be leaping and praising God with every part of your being. But don’t wait until then to start. Begin now. 

Decide today that instead of praising God the way you like, you are going to start doing it the way He likes. Begin to release those praises joyously, uninhibitedly. Don’t wait until you get to heaven to praise God with all your being. Do it now. He deserves it! 

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8 

Bookmark to:

Universal Principles of Growth And Increase By Mac Hammond

Few people start a new venture with the goal of staying small and ineffective. No, God made us with the desire for growth. He constructed us with a desire to achieve and with a powerful inward need to go higher.

According to the book of Genesis, the very first marching orders mankind received was a mandate to generate increase. That’s why we examine the Bible’s keys to leadership and increase at this time each day. Although many people want to prosper, few understand God’s keys to making it happen.

My question of the day for you is, “Are you merely hoping for increase, or are you taking steps to make it happen?”

Source: Winner’s Way Broadcast produced by Mac Hammond Ministries

Bookmark to:

Extraordinary By Jerry Savelle

Today’s Confession: I expect the extraordinary in my life in 2012. I dare to believe that God can do it in my life.

I am expecting God’s best this year. Are you? Today, I want to talk to you about extraordinary. Did you know that God wants to do extraordinary things in your life? He does.

Let me share with you a word that God gave me back in October 1998. Although this was a few years ago, I believe it is still relevant to what God wants to do in our lives today.

In October 1998, I heard the Spirit of God say this: “Beginning in 1999, I will do for you what you’ve tried to do yourself but could not do. I will cause to come to pass those things which you’ve strived for and tried to accomplish in your own strength and in your own might but just could not make it happen. I will bring them to pass for you. Extraordinary things will become the norm in your life. Things that never happened to most people in a lifetime will happen to you in one year’s time. It’s time to expect the extraordinary.”

I believe that is a word from God for all of us. God is saying that we need to begin to look for the extraordinary.

Since God said that extraordinary things would become the norm, I decided that I’d look up the word extraordinary in my dictionary. Here’s what I found. It means “beyond the common order, beyond the common method, and beyond the common course of things.” The second definition I found was “unremarkable, uncommon, and rare.” To me that meant that God was saying, what once was rare is going to become the norm.

God was telling me that breakthroughs in prayer, in finances, in healing, and in restoration of relationships that were once rare, were going to become common – not only in my life, but in the lives of the entire Body of Christ who would dare to believe for them.

Habakkuk 1:5 says, “Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously; for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told to you.” God was saying that He was going to do a work so marvelous, so wonderful, so extraordinary that some people would not be able to believe it.

Acts 13:41 says, “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.” The Amplified Bible says it this way, “even if some clearly describing it in detail declares it to you.” The fact that God said this both in Habakkuk’s day and in Paul’s day leads me to believe that God is saying this to every generation.

When God makes statements like this, we need to realize that it’s time for us to stretch our faith, stretch our imaginations, and think bigger than we’ve ever thought before. God wants the extraordinary to become the norm in your life!

Bookmark to:

In Good and Bad Times by Gloria Copeland

Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. Psalm 91:14-15

God is called by many names. He is the Lord, our Healer, our Provider, our Banner, and our Righteousness. He also promises to be our Deliverer. In this troubled world that may very well be what we need Him to be most often.

But there are many believers who never experience God’s mighty delivering power because, instead of walking closely with Him day by day, they wait until danger strikes to call upon Him. That just doesn’t work. If you want God to rescue you in the bad times, you have to fellowship with Him in the good times. Why? Because God responds to faith. Our faith, not our need, is what causes Him to act on our behalf. And we’ll never be able to develop that kind of faith, that kind of trust and confidence in Him, if we don’t spend enough time with Him to get to know Him.

First John 3:20-22 tells us that we have confidence toward God when we do the things that are pleasing in His sight. If we only serve God half-heartedly, then we will not have confidence in Him to deliver us from trouble. When danger surrounds us, instead of being filled with faith, we’ll find ourselves paralyzed with fear.

Love and serve God with your whole heart. Walk closely with Him in the good times. Then, when you need Him to be your Deliverer, you’ll know without a doubt you can trust Him to care for you.

Bookmark to:

The Key to Confidence By Gloria Copeland

“Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1 John 3:21-22).

You can never “get away with” disobeying God.

Some people think you can. They think that if nobody finds out about it, it won’t hurt anything. After all, God is merciful. He’s not going to hold it against them, right? And if no one else knows…what’s the difference?

What they don’t realize is that their own heart will start giving them problems. Their own heart will start to condemn them. Everyone else may think they’re great. They may be spouting faith talk all over the place, but when they come before God in prayer, they’ll be filled with doubts and fears that keep their prayers from being answered.

That’s one of the reasons why it’s so important to live in obedience to the Lord. A life of obedience will give you a spiritual boldness you’ve never had before. It will give you a boldness in prayer, a boldness in faith. It will give you a confidence toward God, as the Apostle John says, that those who are trying to get away with sin don’t have.

I’m not saying that you have to be perfect. That you should never make a mistake. Just that you should walk in obedience to the light you have. Take the time to listen and be responsive to the Spirit of God. When He tells you to do something, do it.

As you do, that confidence will rise up within you. It won’t be something you mentally drummed up or talked yourself into. It will just be there. Instead of being consumed with doubts and feelings that the Word of God isn’t going to work for you, you’ll find yourself filled with faith that it will. You’ll begin to trust God and to flow with Him. You’ll come to a place the Bible calls “rest in the Lord.”

Remember this: Even though the eternal price for your sins has been paid, a life of disobedience will still cost you dearly. It will cost you the boldness that is rightfully yours in Jesus. It will rob you of faith and rock you with fear.

Don’t let the condemnation of your heart cut your confidence short. Do the things that are pleasing in God’s sight and walk tall in the kingdom of God.

Source: From Faith to Faith Devotional by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Bookmark to:

Faith Is Not of the Head; It’s of the Heart By Kenneth E. Hagin

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Rom. 10:10)

Something that hinders many people is that they mentally try to believe they receive. They are just imitating someone else. With their mind, they say, “Yes, I believe.”

You can usually tell when people are talking out of their mind or when they are talking out of their spirit. You see, your heart is your spirit, and your spirit is your heart.

With the heart, man believeth. There will be a lack of conviction—a lack of assurance—when a person is speaking out of his or her mind. There will be hesitancy.

When I lay hands on people to be healed, I sometimes say to them, “Will you be healed now when I lay hands on you?”

Some people say, “Well, uh, yes, I believe.” But I know they’re not in faith.

I’ve had other people say, “I sure will! Just lay your hands on me and watch it! I’ll be healed right now!” That’s assurance. You can tell that right away. When I lay hands on them, it’s like I am holding a live wire.

The power of God just rushes out of me into them. Their faith becomes active. Their faith was at the place where they believed they received. Faith is not of the head; it’s of the heart.

Confession: Faith is of the heart. I believe I receive healing when hands are laid on me. I believe from my heart.

Source: Health Food Devotions by Kenneth E. Hagin.

Bookmark to:

Food for Your Faith January 5, 2011

Happy New Year! By Terri Copeland Pearsons

Happy New Year!

There’s a hopeful ring to that phrase. The idea of new beginnings, second chances, and forgotten pasts is inspiring.

Priorities. Now, that’s as scary as the new year is hopeful! The thought of actually squaring off and facing our lives with the serious intention of judging our own productivity is often intimidating at best!

We feel that if we can somehow harness the hope of the new year, we’ll be able to wrestle all the ingredients of our busy lives to the ground and get control.

Control. That’s what everyone longs for. There must be a way to control the balance between home, children, work and play. But there are so many demands from everyone and everything.

After all, aren’t good Christians who walk in love supposed to “be there” for those who need them? Spouses, parents, children, employers, employees, the church, friends, neighbors and so on? Even those who live quietly alone are often faced with the pressure of needing to make changes in their not-busy-enough lives.

There are just more demands on each of us than we care to count, and each one is screaming to claim the title of Number One Priority. The hope of the new year fades quickly as we get swallowed once again by our complicated lives.

I’m sure you identify with this overwhelming picture, but you also know I won’t leave you in that condition!

The truth is there is a way. The sense of hope the new year brings is of God. He designed the seasons, the calendar and time itself. He planned so that we are always moving toward the end of one thing and the beginning of another.

With every year’s end, we should experience a satisfaction because of our accomplishments, and with each new year have hope for correcting our mistakes, gaining new vision and having an even more productive year.

It’s a great plan, but how do we tap into it? With all the elements of our lives, it would seem that the answer must be complicated. But leave it to Jesus to make it simple. He understands us so well. In Luke 10:45, Jesus said to Martha, “Only one thing is needful.”

One? Just one?

Just one. And that one thing is to seat yourself at the Lord’s feet (v. 39). That’s what Mary did and the Lord called that the “good part.”

It Begins At His Feet Everything the Lord requires of us begins at His feet.

It’s actually very simple, but often not so easy. We’re so compelled to go and do, even in the things God requires of us. We think we aren’t pleasing Him or anyone else unless we are doing.

But the doing becomes confusing when we do not take the time to sit at the feet of Jesus. He is the Alpha and Omega. We must begin and end everything with Him—each new year and each new day.

One reason the new year becomes just another old year is that we try to change everything at once. Then if by February it’s not all different, we give up and fall back to the same ol’, same ol’.

But each year is made up of each day. Sit at the feet of Jesus each day. Let Him speak to you through His Word. Let His Spirit imprint you so that you daily take on more of His nature, wisdom, and ability.

Bring Him the issues of your life and let Him prioritize them by what He speaks to your heart first. Let each day be a building block toward the year’s end, and each year a building block toward the coming of the Lord.

In Philippians 1:10, Paul prayed, “…that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value.”

One thing is needful. One thing is vital. That is the time you spend with Jesus. The sitting at His feet. That is what is of real value-not just in the morning, but all during the day.

With every new demand, with each decision we face, we must reflect back to Him. What has He told us? If we are uncertain, then we must run back to His feet until we’ve heard what the Master has to say.

It may seem that this just isn’t enough to bring you the control of your life that you so long for. But it is. After all, He is God. And, after all, you are not. He will not compete with you or chase you. But He will wait for you.

Begin now, before another year slips by. Get your Bible and note pad, find your secret place and do the one needful thing. Sit at the feet of Jesus.

Bookmark to: