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[Jesus said] "The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful." Matthew 13:22
All sorts of things can distract us from Kingdom matters. The wear and tear of everyday life can make it hard to keep our spiritual focus. In an affluent society, our desire for riches, our pursuit of material things, and our selfishness with wealth can entangle us in worry. Worry can stifle our faith. Eventually the fruitfulness of the Gospel is choked out and we lose our spiritual vitality. Our greatest riches are found in Jesus. If He is our priceless treasure and the Kingdom is our highest priority, only then we can handle the other things which He brings our way. In His Love, Do All You Can, While You Can, As Long As You Can, To All You Can….Have a Beautifully Blessed Day! For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
Second Corinthians 10:4–5 teaches us that casting down imaginations, thoughts, reasoning, and theories not in agreement with God's Word requires us to use our spiritual weapons, not physical. When we speak the Word of God out of our mouths, it becomes a two-edged sword, defeating the enemy with one edge and opening the blessings of heaven with the other. There are many other defensive weapons protecting us from attack, but the Word is offensive, it defeats the enemy. Like any other principle in God's Word, this will not work if it is not applied. Just knowing this information doesn't change anything. Faith needs to be active. It must be released. We can release God's Word through prayer, confessing His Word out loud, and taking God-inspired action. “You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” 1 Peter 1:23 HCSB
Christ sacrificed His life so that we might be born again. This gift, freely given from God’s only begotten Son, is the priceless possession of everyone who accepts Him as Lord and Savior. Let us claim Christ’s gift today; let us walk with the Savior; let us love Him, praise Him and share His message of salvation with all those who cross our paths. May we, who have been given so much, praise Him for the gift of salvation and share the joyous news of His limitless love with our families, our friends and the world. “For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his life? What can a man give in exchange for his life?” Mark 8:36-37 HCSB
In our society we need money to live. As Christians, we must never make the acquisition of money the central focus of our lives. Money is a tool, but it should never overwhelm our sensibilities. The focus of life must be squarely on things spiritual, not material things. Whenever we place our love for material possessions above our love for God, or when we yield to the countless other temptations of everyday living, we find ourselves engaged in a struggle between good and evil. Let’s respond to this struggle by freeing ourselves from the temptation to love the world more than we love God. “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.” Psalm 50:23
God doesn’t need our thanks, praise, or adoration. He doesn’t need an ego boost or validation. God asks for us to express our gratefulness because of what it means to our own soul. It’s in those moments of thanksgiving when we realize that He’s the source of all our blessings, and they are not given because of our worthiness but because of His love for us. As our words echo back into our ears, God is the great Provider, His power fills us, and our heart is transformed! Thank Him for His goodness to us! Let’s sing out our gratefulness to Him! The one who’ll be most blessed…us! Amen! In His Love, Do All You Can, While You Can, As Long As You Can, To All You Can….Have a Beautifully Blessed Day! “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Being quiet before God requires us to get away from the distractions of life and allow Him to speak to our soul. Work, family, television, even the cares of the day can intrude on our reflective time and interfere with how well we can hear what God is saying. Stop, listen, and reflect on what God says to each of us. Many times, we hear God the loudest in the quiet. Shhhh…… In His Love, Do All You Can, While You Can, As Long As You Can, To All You Can….Have a Beautifully Blessed Day! “But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Galatians 6:14 HCSB
As we consider Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we should be greatly humbled. Today, as we come to Him in prayer, we should do so in a spirit of humble devotion. Christ humbled Himself on a cross for us. He shed His blood, for us. He has offered to walk with us through this life and throughout all eternity. As we approach Him today in prayer, think about His sacrifice and His grace, and be humble. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” Isaiah 55:6
In truth, God is always close to us when we genuinely seek after Him! The real problem is, we drift away from God, we lose interest in God, and we leave God’s presence. As a child, we long to know Him, as a tender Father knows his child. We have to seek His nearness to know His presence. Let’s seek God and receive His grace and His help while we recognize He alone is the one who truly saves Us! In His Love, Do All You Can, While You Can, As Long As You Can, To All You Can….Have a Beautifully Blessed Day! Praise be to the Lord for He has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.” Psalm 28:6-7
Despite the cynicism of our age, God can still perform miracles! Every time someone is healed in answer to prayer, God has performed a miracle! Every time we experience peace in our hearts after a time of tension and suffering, or when our grief finally becomes bearable, a miracle has occurred! We can hand our problems over to God in prayer today and wait on Him in faith. If there is something we need to do, do it without delay. We will not let despair overwhelm us. In the right time and in the right way, God will answer our prayers and we will be astounded by the results! In His Love, Do All You Can, While You Can, As Long As You Can, To All You Can….Have a Beautifully Blessed Day! “You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.” -
True prayer is to personally experience the presence of the living Christ in our quiet times and throughout the day. It is the joyous assurance the Lord keeps His promises and He lives in us and we in Him. Such prayer becomes a faith exercise which teaches us, as we lay our requests before Him, He will give us what we need according to His wisdom, and we will recognize and accept His answers! In His Love, Do All You Can, While You Can, As Long As You Can, To All You Can….Have a Beautifully Blessed Day! |
Pastor Derrick RichardsonPastor of Community Abundant Life Church Archives
November 2022
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Community Abundant Life Church
1701 NW 7th St, Oklahoma City, OK 73106 (405) 557-7822 Pastor Derrick Richardson |
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“Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Romans 15:7
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