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Here is a quick and simple devotion of the day!
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Monthly Archives: August 2012
How To Interpret Dreams And Visions: Understanding God’s Warnings And Guidance
I for one have always been amazed when I read the word of God, especially the parts that are tied into dreams. In this book Perry Stone discusses the dreams that we know of in the bible, as well as his explanations on how to begin to understand some of the dreams that we all have. There are some wonderful testimonies of his as well as others that talk about the way God has used dreams in their lives. If you are a dreamer and want to begin to have a better understanding of dreams that are from God (and those that are not), then you need to grab a copy of this today!
And always remember when you are done with one, pass it on or recommend! That helps the ones who work so hard to write them!
Check out: How To Interpret Dreams And Visions: Understanding God’s Warnings And Guidance – ISBN 978-1616383503
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What To Do When Everyone Stops Listening? Pray! God Hears!
There is a specific phase of life that we all go through at some point; for this specific case I will call it the “no one listens to me” phase. I have been in this place before and have some thoughts I would like to share in relevance to this topic.
You may be one out there that cannot get anyone to hear you out when you are attempting to actively convey your feelings. Not only do you feel like your words fall on deaf ears but what was heard is heard is often misunderstood. Others out there may be looking for someone to volunteer to listen (like a friend or family member) but they are too busy or are never available for devoting attention. In this type of behavior people without being aware will begin to prolong their troubles, having no place to deal with the issues, resulting in an attempt to bottle everything up inside. This is not only a cut off an outlet for expression but oftentimes leads to a decline in joy, peace and rest.
There have been other moments in life where people would talk to me about getting upset that no one else asks about their well-being (especially in hard times) and how it would cause them to value their friendship/kinship to them. I have asked back before, “well, have you tried asking first” but am often cut off with “they should ask me first!” Needless to say its amazing at the type of behavior that can not only produce a lack of care but a receive-only attitude.
It would be impossible for me to list every scenario, but what is important is that in some way we all arrive to a feeling or notion that we are alone and not heard. I write this to you today for you to be made aware of one of the most vulnerable and used moments that the enemy takes advantage of you to draw you from God.
So the question is, What to do when everyone stops listening? Pray of course!
I am confident in these words: God hears you when you pray! By Christ’s sacrifice for our sins we can and do have access for asking on behalf of our troubles! What a wonderful pleasure that is found when you talk to God! Surrender your heart to the Lord and begin to communicate in prayer and this will be the beginning of change through faith and obedience. Trust me, when you feel the power of the comfort of God you will begin to understand that you do not need anyone to understand other than God. This will not only comfort you but will allow you to be the leader to someone else to help them deal with their cares of life.
I also want to add this: Being social is not the same as being concerned. Being social will not involve additional effort other than that which promotes the popularity of an individual. Being concerned does not care about social status or popularity and allows a venue to demonstrate the love of God towards another person.
Somebody ‘Oughta’ Testify! Wait, We Did!!!
Be sure to check out our updated and complete testimonies on our About Us page!
Celebrating 100 Messages! More New Stuff, And Stuff That’s New :)
I am happy to announce that I just finished editing my 100th message last night! When I first started working in the audio editing of messages it proved to be difficult as I had never worked on editing just speaking/preaching before. What did I conclude overall? That I’m long-winded (just kidding lol)! Seriously speaking however, I can only conclude that I am so thankful for the body of people that support me in my ministry and at our local church.
If you have ever been to our messages page, you know that there is the ability to organize by series. Having this many messages and them categorized by series got me to thinking, “Why not instead of just cds of preaching that we begin to offer DVDs of messages by series?” With this special idea at hand, it inspired me to get it in the works! You will soon have the ability to acquire the Heart of Grace DVD video testimonials as well as messages by series. We are also happy to announce that with the expansion of our music and message ministry is creating a higher demand for music and speaking. I’m very VERY excited to announce that we will finally be offering messages and books in our upcoming merchandise section!
Stay tuned for what God has in store, it’s gonna be great! God Bless You ~ Jared
Where Do You Find Yourself In Meditation To God?
With life increasing its pace and decreasing the amount of time we have to accomplish all of our goals, there has never been a more dramatic attempt to work tirelessly to meet every expectation. And as we all know, finding this sort of situation for all of us is pretty easy to find: falling asleep at your laptop close to midnight pushing a deadline, hearing the alarm go off and getting up when you know you only slept a couple hours, continuing to perform hard labor even though you are in dire straits of pain, etc. These sorts of visual descriptions should indicate the extremes that you can find yourself in most of the time.
My question for you to think about today: Where Do You Find Yourself In Meditation To God?
My answer? I heard a person a while back preach about finding a secret place early in the day, so I thought I would try it out and dedicate more time for God. The Results? For my own personal life today, one of the few moments I have now to be in silence and open up my mind for God is when I am driving to work in the morning. It is truly a perfect setting for me; for it’s early and light is just breaking on the day. I have no distractions and have not had the weight of an entire day attempting to hinder me. For me there is definitely something special about seeking God early.
The word of God makes reference to being separate and stealing away to a secret place (aka like a closet) to accomplish 2 goals: producing a calming environment for your mind and creating a place where you will not be pulled by temptation or distraction. These factors create an opportunity for you to not only be comfortable in prayer but to present a chance to hear God without all the noise of life!
So where do you find yourself? Where is a place you have dedicated to steal away?
The Honor Code: Part 2 – Honor Brings Divine Favor and Abundant Love
In the first part of “The Honor Code” we discussed the definition of honor and how that is represented in everyday life and to God. I know that in deep evaluations of where honor is shown in my life helped me to conclude that there is far more work to do! The second part of this that I want us to consider is the actual actions and after-effects that genuine honor brings to any situation. As an example, let us say that I tell a colleague that works in the same field at my employer that they do great work and are very talented at what they do. When I make this statement it first does something to me: it acknowledges that there are other people around me who are capable of doing great things. This in principle is a very humbling thing to do as this takes away from a persons agenda at being the best or ‘above’ others. One of the worst attitudes that a person can attempt to live in is a perspective that “I can do everything just fine on my own”. This is an honor-less attitude. The sad fact is that we often dwell in this attitude without being completely aware of it showing up on us.
Here is a nugget that speaks of in part to brotherly love: you will want to prefer someone over yourself and will not have to give yourself credit to find favor or honor.
Trust me, if you do a honoring thing in obedience to loving your neighbor, God will not fail in giving you all the credit you deserve by the blessings you receive.
Let us consider one more example in Gods word: Jacob and Laban. In the first agreement that Jacob and Laban had there was a person Jacob wanted to be with: Seven years for Leah and seven for Rachel. Jacob was with Laban twenty years in all. Can you begin to imagine working fourteen years for something and not receiving all of what should be honored to you? This sounds absurd before the end of the story, but the part that speaks to me is the honor that was shown by staying there and continuing to work for what he was aiming for. For the last six years Jacob was with Laban his request was for the speckled and spotted among the goats and all the black sheep as his own. He did so, and his own flocks grew very large. In Laban’s honor-less attitude he began to move the spotted and speckled to their own area so the flocks would not continue to grow. In hearing this I am glad to know that even when the enemy begins to work against you that God begins to continue your love by giving favor in situations with impossible odds! You see it did not matter what Laban attempted to do to hinder the prosperity of Jacob because God had come on the scene.
I encourage you to receive with gladness is: when living a life of honor you are strengthened by God’s love and are prospered by God’s favor that exceeds all laws and physics of man.