Overcoming All Odds

Overcoming All Odds

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman

Tuesday, August 19 2014

..."Because you have prayed to Me...." Isaiah 37:21

Have you ever had your back against the wall so badly that if something didn't happen to change your situation, you were sunk? King Hezekiah was one of Israel's greatest godly kings. One of the greatest challenges to his reign came when the king of Assyria threatened to attack Israel and wipe them out. The Assyrians were the local bullies of the region and had wiped out all other enemies in their region.

They mocked the idea of having a God who could save them.

Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, "The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria" (Isaiah 36:14b-15).

The workplace is full of "Assyrian kings" who mock the idea of a living God who delivers. Without God's help, Israel would not overcome. Their backs were against the wall. They would be destroyed.

King Hezekiah saved Israel because of one act. He prayed; and because he prayed, God moved on his behalf. In fact, God moved so powerfully that Hezekiah did not even have to fight the battle.

Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies! (Isaiah 37:36)

The king of Assyria was even murdered by his own sons. Imagine seeing your enemy totally destroyed without one hand raised in battle!

God wants to act on behalf of His children if they will call on Him. One of the motives Hezekiah had in seeking God's help was "so that all kingdoms on earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God" (Is. 37:20). This is what happened. God was glorified.

God wants to let your workplace know that God is a living God. He can deliver. Seek Him today for the crisis in your life. Keep your motive pure and God will surely answer. 

Media Reviews: Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer

Battlefield of the Mind - Joyce Meyer

Battlefield of the Mind[1] was an awesome book.  Meyer speaks of a prayer used for warding off negative thoughts and getting them out of your realm of thinking and influence.  She calls the thought generators "mind-binding" spirits.  In my own walk I’ve found the phrase "don’t believe everything you think" to be useful.  Unhelpful voices come out of the mouths of others and sometimes they come out of your own doubting thoughts.  Most of the doubting thoughts that we have are generated out of fear that is based on falsehood.  Our identity in Christ is secure.  By doubting our Christian identity we strengthen the lies of the evil one.  If we believe the lies of the evil one, that maybe our salvation is in question, we distance ourselves from God.  Therefore, one of the devil’s favorite tricks is to get us to doubt our salvation, faith or God.  We need to remember that God is an awesome God.  He can deal with our imperfections because He’s greater than us.  If He couldn’t He wouldn’t have been able to obliterate death and sin after He rose from the grave.  Christ said "It is finished," on the cross because it was over - right then and there.  The battle was won.  Christ has won the battle of our salvation.  The devil can’t snatch God’s children out of His hand.  If he could, there would be no salvation because no one is righteous and we are unable to save ourselves.  So, we rely on God.  We trust Him and do not doubt. .  Don’t believe everything you think.  You can think your way into confusion and doubt but your heart can stay pure as long as you continue to trust in God’s almighty saving grace.  When you have doubts ask for freedom from the "mind binding spirits" as Joyce calls them and ask for an extra measure of faith so that God can carry on with the good work He started in you. Praise be to God! [1] Meyer, Joyce. Battelfield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind. New York: Time Warner Book Group, 1995.  Link: http://www.truthcannotbesilent.org/Journal.asp?JID=13&TID=3 Joyce Meyer on "You can win the battle of your mind." http://www.joycemeyer.org/EverydayAnswers/teachings/teachingbotm.aspx?article=battlefield

God's Key To Successful Living

20 June, 2014 Today's Free Devotional from Ellel Ministries International  God’s Key To Successful Living "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8, NIV More or less every person alive enjoys being prosperous and successful. In today’s scripture God shows Joshua the pathway to genuine success. He’s to keep the book of the Law in the forefront of his mind at all times. The Law, of course, was the only portion of God’s written word available to God’s people at the time. We now have the awesome privilege of being able to expose ourselves to the whole of the Scriptures: the whole counsel of God as expressed in both the Old and the New Testament.  As a ministry seeking to help people in their journey of life we passionately believe in the paramount importance of ‘feeding’ on God’s word. The Bible is the No.1 thing God has given us to spiritually nourish us. We need to read it, ponder it, take it in, and digest it. There’s no better way known to man to receive solid spiritual nurture, which causes us to be firmly ‘rooted and established’ in life. It’s true that traumas and other forms of damage can, and do, hugely impact us as persons. But it’s also true that the truth of the written word of God makes us strong on the inside, so we’re equipped to deal with what lives brings us - whether it be good or bad. Part of our course material consists of learning how to ‘meditate’ in a right way - God’s way - on His word, just as He commanded Joshua. Part of the help we seek to extend to God’s people is teaching them how to absorb the truth of Scripture. Today I want to really encourage you to ask God to help you with taking in His Word. We don’t want to ‘hit ourselves over the head’ with the Bible. We do, however, want to get the truth embedded into the depths of our hearts, and the Spirit of God is the One who can do this. What is required of us is to spend time in attentively reading that which was written by inspiration of His Holy Spirit. Prayer: Father, I thank You for giving us Your Word. Please help me to be able to read it in such a way that Your truth goes down into the depth of my heart. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Today's Writer : Peter Brokaar Peter Brokaar and his American wife, Liz, left the Netherlands in 2005 to join the team at Ellel Scotland. He is now Assistant Director and House Manager and finds much pleasure in teaching. He has three children, Emma, Samuel and Benjamin, all born on Scottish soil. When there is any free time he enjoys reading, cooking, surfing and hiking. Related Links Click here to try a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

Losing Focus

15 August, 2014 Today's Free Devotional from Ellel Ministries International  Losing focus “The priest replied, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one." David said, "There is none like it; give it to me." 1 Samuel 21:9, NIV David is now on the run from King Saul. He heads to a town called Nob and makes up a pack of lies to the priest there. David is only focused on three things. Firstly, he has to escape Saul. Secondly, he needs food, so the previous days consecrated bread would do nicely. And lastly, he wants something to protect himself with. David is fearful, and when we become fearful we very easily lose focus on God and concentrate on our problems. The dramatic change in David from giant-slayer (Goliath in chapter 17) to desperate runaway in chapter 21, is quite startling. When faced with Goliath David is totally God-focused. He particularly disparages what Goliath had to protect himself saying.“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come in the name of the Lord God Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel” – 1 Sam 21:45. The result is a resounding defeat of the ‘invincible’ Goliath. Now, in the verse we are considering, Goliath’s sword is the protection David seeks because “there is none like it.”  What was different between Goliath and Saul? Goliath was over and done with in a very short time, but Saul’s hatred for David went on for years. I think it wore away at David and turned his attention from God’s provision. How about you? Have you successfully faced your Goliath, only to be bogged down with your Saul? Who is your Saul? The belligerent boss at work, the antagonistic relative, the bullying partner, the inappropriate colleague at work. Saul’s are everywhere.  In the day-to-day grind our focus starts to shift. We become problem-focused instead of God-focused. Last thing at night and first thing in the morning, and through the day – a sense of dread. We look to what we can do to protect ourselves. God is subtly moved out of our focus, which is what the enemy wants. That change can also affect our actions, and we can find ourselves doing and saying things we would never have done or said before. All because we are trying to sort the problem out ourselves. Where is God in all this? Well, we can’t really expect God to intervene because we have taken full responsibility for sorting things out ourselves. From personal experience this seems to always end in failure, and I find myself coming back to the One I should have gone to in the first place – Almighty God. When I bring Him my Saul (or whatever problem it is) He does one of two things. Either He removes the problem. Or He gives me the grace to face the problem knowing He is on my side. He will do the same for you. Losing focus? Go to God! Prayer: Father God. I find myself becoming so focused on my problem(s). They are with me when I go to bed at night, and there when I wake in the morning. They occupy so much of my time and in the process I am losing sight of You. I realize that I can’t resolve them on my own. I need You. So, now, I refocus my attention away from the problem(s) and turn to you. Please help me. Give me the strength for each day and the peace for each night. For you alone are my Helper in times of trouble. The One who has promised never to leave me nor forsake me. So, whom have I to fear! Amen. Today's Writer : Philip Asselin Philip Asselin is on the associate ministry and teaching teams with Glyndley Manor. He, and his wife Gillian, attended the second Healing Retreat at Glyndley Manor in 1992, and were greatly helped. They have two grown up children and one grandson, plus a step-granddaughter (both in Canada). Related Links Click here to try a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

Book Review: Bait of Satan by John Bevere

Bait of Satan by John Bevere

Unforgiveness is one of the single most important things to deal with in our lives if we want to experience spiritual freedom! Holding bitterness in our hearts opens us up to the demonic and is the root to more problems then I care to list. Many times when demons refuse to come out because they have legal rights in that person, and it is often because there is unforgiveness that needs to be dealt with. Unforgiveness is a big tool that the enemy uses to block deliverances. Maybe that person doesn't deserve our forgiveness, but we certainly don't deserve God's forgiveness, and Jesus said that if we don't forgive others, He wouldn't forgive us! Unforgiveness BLOCKS God's forgiveness toward us!

This book does an unbelievable job at exposing bitterness and unforgiveness in our lives, and how the devil purposely tries to get us worked up over things. His bait is deadly, and when counseling people who are struggling in the area of bitterness or unforgiveness, I like to recommend this book. I doubt it's possible to read it from cover to cover and not be affected, even if you don't struggle with bitterness or become easily offended. John Bevere is an anointed man of God and you can feel it in the pages of his book!

After reading, I'm sure you will agree with me that The Bait of Satan by John Bevere is something every believer should read. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anybody who's been offended, hurt, becomes offended easily, struggles with bitterness or unforgiveness. It is nothing short of life changing!

Robert L.

Video: John Bevere preaches a message based on his book, "The Bait Of Satan".

Experiencing God in Your Business

Experiencing God in Your Business

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman

Friday, July 25 2014

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

The CEO walked into the president's office after reviewing his new marketing plan for the next year. It was a well-prepared, thoughtful plan.

"This will not do!" exclaimed the CEO. "This plan describes how you will achieve these objectives through your own planning. I am certain you can achieve these objectives through normal business operations; however, you have allowed no room for faith in your plan. Now you must determine what God wants us to trust Him to accomplish through this business. You must go beyond what you can naturally achieve." What was this CEO saying? If you and I want to experience God in business at the practical level, we must be willing to trust Him for more than what our natural abilities can accomplish. God likes to show Himself in the midst of unlikely circumstances. This is the place that God receives the glory. God always forced Israel to trust Him for the supernatural. This is how glory was brought to the Father. It is no different in our lives.

The world is looking for real faith. Perhaps you are the instrument that He wants to use to demonstrate real faith to the unbelieving business world. It will require courage, faith, and action; also, it will require risk. You may risk finances, reputation, and being misunderstood. This was the risk of all leaders in the Bible. It was a risk worth taking. Are you willing to see God move in your business life? Ask Him what this might mean for you. 

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