Topic: Rose-Colored Glasses and Magnifying Glasses [Friday January 5, 2018]

For if anyone thinks he is something [special] when [in fact] he is nothing [special except in his own eyes], he deceives himself. — Galatians 6:3

When we think and talk about what is wrong with everyone else, we are usually deceived about our own conduct. Jesus commanded that we not concern ourselves with what is wrong with others when we have so much wrong with ourselves (see Matthew 7:3-5).

The Bible clearly tells us that when we judge others, we often judge them for things that we also do!

I once asked God why we would do something ourselves and think it was perfectly alright but judge someone else who does it. The Lord spoke to my heart, saying, “Joyce, you look at yourself through rose-colored glasses, but you look at everyone else through a magnifying glass.”

It’s true! We make excuses for our own behavior, but when someone else does the same thing we do, we are often merciless.

I encourage you to reverse the process—assume the best in others, but keep your own life under the magnifying glass. Allow God to deal with you first, and then you will learn the scriptural way of helping others grow.

Prayer Starter: Holy Spirit, instead of examining the lives of others, I want You to help me examine my own life. I know that with Your help, I can correct the issues I have and find positive, healthy ways to help others grow as well.

From Joyce Meyer’s Ministries.

Topic: Understanding Vision [Friday December 5, 2018]

Scripture: And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. Habakkuk 2:2

Thought For The Day: If you do not know where to go, you will not leave where you are.

Yesterday, we saw the necessity of conceiving vision for the year 2018. We noted that without a clear definition of destination, stagnation and frustration in life are inevitable. Hence, there is a need to conceive vision for the year, 2018.

Now, the question is, what is vision? Take note the following three definitions:
1. Vision is a clear definition of life’s destination. Vision implies understanding where one wants to go in life or knowing what one wants to achieve.

2. Vision is a clear picture of a preferred future. It is picturing the kind of future you prefer for 2018 as well as for the rest of your life. This is because to live by chance is to end by chance.

3. Vision is the direction of life’s motion. It is knowing the direction you would like your life to move. As a pastor or a businessman, it is vision that determines the direction your life is going per time.

Having defined vision, we will consider one impact of vision:
The fuel for motion!

Vision is the fuel for motion. Motion is never possible without vision. The point is, if you do not know where to go, you will not leave where you are. This is why the absence of vision is the abundance of stagnation.

My counsel is, refuse the life of stagnation by conceiving a solid and achievable vision for your life.

Remember This: If you do not know where to go, you will not leave where you are.

Assignments:

1. Ask God to give you a solid and achievable vision for 2018.

2. Endeavour to work towards actualizing your vision.

Prayer: O Lord, I ask for a clear revelation of what You want me to do this year, 2018, so that my life can move forward in Jesus’ Name.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THE MESSAGE: THE LIFE OF VISION.

Amazing Fact: Our brain’s connected neurons look similar to the structure of the universe. In a way, our brains are modelled after the universe.

Today In History: 05/01/2005 – Eris, the most massive and second-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System was discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.

Daily Reading: Genesis 11:1 to 13:4, Matthew 5:1 to 26, Psalm 5:1 to 12, Proverbs 1:24 to 28

Quote: Vision is the insight into God’s plan for a man’s life. Culled from 10 PRINCIPAL SECRETS OF PRINCIPAL PEOPLE by Dr Paul Enenche.

Today’s devotional was written by Pastor Paul Enenche of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC), headquartered at Abuja, Nigeria, with Pastor Paul and Becky Enenche, as the Senior Pastors. It is a power-packed arena where God’s Presence, Principles and Power are at work for the salvation, healing and restoration of human destinies and dignities.

Topic: We Love Because He First Loved Us — Friday January 5, 2018.

“We love him, because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 KJV

Our capacity to love is not of ourselves. Yesterday, I said the world cannot love because they do not have the capacity to love. Some of you may be wondering how possible that is. The question is “what is the love of God”? Do you understand His love? If you do, you will realize that the world does not have the capacity to exhibit that kind of love.

What is the love of God? The love of God loves, not because of who you are or what you have done; the love of God loves you IN SPITE of you. The love of the world loves you when you are doing the right things. The world loves you when you favour them, but that is not the love of God. The love of God loves you even when you are dead in sin and totally far from Him. His love reaches out to you in the pit and pulls you out of the pit (that is what the pulpit is all about). The love of God keeps reaching out to you despite your response to Him in hope that someday, you will accept His love. So, when we love Him, we are simply reciprocating His love.

The love of God is reaching out to you today. Are you held down by guilt? The love of God is reaching out to you. Is your past haunting you? I encourage you to forgive yourself because the love of God is reaching out to you. Accept His love today and walk in boldness of the freedom that He has made available to you.

Further Reading: 1 John 4:11-21

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Gen. 13,14 / Evening-Matt.5:1-26

Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.