Topic: Dare to Take Your Place [Sunday December 17, 2017]

But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared…which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs. – Titus 3:4,6-7

A covenant of grace. That’s what you and I have with Almighty God. If you could truly grasp the significance of that, you’d never be the same again.

What exactly is a covenant of grace? It’s a relationship of favor that gives you access to someone else’s power.

An illustration of a covenant of grace is the covenant the old Sicilian “family” members have with the “godfather” of the “family.”

In that group, a weak person might come in and ask the Don for a favor. The Don would say, “I will grant this favor and I will ask a favor of you, and when that time comes, I will collect it.”

Once that was said, the weak person would become excited. Suddenly he knew he would no longer have this problem because anyone who tried to rough him up would now have to face the godfather, the one with all the power. Suddenly, that little guy’s attitude would change. He would leave the presence of the head of the family in the full assurance that he didn’t have a thing to worry about. He was no longer small and powerless in his own mind. He had gained favor (grace) with the powerful.

He’d walk out thinking, Everything is handled. All I have to do now is whatever the Don asks me to do—and the Don knows I don’t have anything, so whatever he asks me to do, he’ll provide the wherewithal to do it.

That’s grace. God’s willingness to enter in to blood covenant with you and give you everything He has in exchange for everything you have.

He took your sin to give you His righteousness. He took your sickness to give you His health. He took your poverty in order to meet all your needs according to His riches in glory. Whenever He asks you to do something, He provides everything you need to carry it out.

The great Jehovah, God of heaven and earth, is your Father God. Can you understand that? If you’re under the blood of Jesus, you’ve been made a covenant child of the most powerful being in the universe.

Dare to take your place in the family!

Scripture Reading: Luke 4:14-21

This message was written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, the leader of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries (www.KCM.org) that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith – prayer, healing, salvation and other biblical topics.

Topic: Gentleness — Sunday December 17, 2017.

Read: Ephesians 4:1–6, Bible in a Year: Amos 7–9; Revelation 8

Be completely humble and gentle. Ephesians 4:2

The troubles of life can make us cranky and out of sorts, but we should never excuse these bouts of bad behavior, for they can wither the hearts of those we love and spread misery all around us. We have not fulfilled our duty to others until we have learned to be pleasant.

The New Testament has a word for the virtue that corrects our unpleasantness—gentleness, a term that suggests a kind and gracious soul. Ephesians 4:2 reminds us, “Be completely humble and gentle.”

Gentleness is a willingness to accept limitations and ailments without taking out our aggravation on others. It shows gratitude for the smallest service rendered and tolerance for those who do not serve us well. It puts up with bothersome people—especially noisy, boisterous little people; for kindness to children is a crowning mark of a good and gentle person. It speaks softly in the face of provocation. It can be silent; for calm, unruffled silence is often the most eloquent response to unkind words.

Jesus is “gentle and humble in heart” (Matt. 11:29). If we ask Him, He will, in time, recreate us in His image. Scottish author George MacDonald says, “[God] would not hear from [us] a tone to jar the heart of another, a word to make it ache . . . . From such, as from all other sins, Jesus was born to deliver us.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, I want to be a gentle person. Please help me to be kind and gracious to others today.

Humility toward God will make us gentle toward others.

Insight:

The apostle Paul had a lot to say about gentleness. Paul was the founding pastor of the church at Corinth and taught there for eighteen months (Acts 18:1–11). Yet, soon after he left the city, the believers rejected him as a true apostle. Paul had every reason and every right to come down hard on these believers, but he didn’t. Instead, he appealed to them “by the humility and gentleness of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:1). In his letter to another church, Paul urged two feuding sisters to reconcile. Paul asked that their “gentleness be evident to all” (Phil. 4:5). In dealing with people who are not sympathetic to the Christian faith and are antagonistic towards us, Peter urged us to be ready “to give an answer to everyone who asks [us] to give the reason for the hope that [we] have.” But we are to do so “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).

The Scriptures show us how we should relate to everyone—we are to be kind, gracious, respectful, and gentle.

Why is it so important to demonstrate gentleness in our interaction with others if we claim to be a follower of Christ? Sim Kay Tee

This message was written By David H. Roper [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

Topic: Our Merciful God — Sunday December 17, 2017.

Text: 2 Kings 13:1-9

Key Verse: “And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them” (2 Kings 13:4).

An evangelist of repute once yielded to temptation and fell into the sin of immorality. It became a scandal and he was devastated. His ministry was ruined. How was he to pick up the pieces of his broken life? By God’s goodness and mercy, he was restored to fellowship and to the ministry, and in gratitude to God, he composed these verses: “For years I traveled a road all wrong, My heart had lost its joy and song; Till grace placed me right where I belong; When mercy rewrote my life. His mercy rewrote my life.

I could have fallen and my soul cast down. But mercy rewrote my life. My mistakes that day He turned into miracle, my tears he turned into joy, all past sins were forgiven and a new name was written…” Now, let us turn to the case of Israel, “And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him… And the LORD gave Israel a Saviour (verses 4,5). Genuine repentance attracts God’s free and undeserved mercy.

The oppression of Israel moved Him to a decisive action against Syria. The infectious sin of Jeroboam had contaminated successive kings and its multiplier effects resonated throughout all Israel. God does not want His people to be oppressed. He forgave their sins and showed them mercy not so much for their repentance as for the humble plea of Jehoahaz. Leaders and pastors must always be spiritually alert to stand in the gap for the people, to identify the presence of sin in their lives, and ask God for mercy or forgiveness.

Thought for the day: God saves but also judges.

Bible Reading in one Year: Revelation 12-14

DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.

Topic: No Verdict Is Final [Sunday December 17, 2017]

Scripture: Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Lamentation 3:37

Thought For The Day: The devil does not have the final say; God has the final say in your life.

Sometime ago, I heard the testimony of a rich man in Cotonou, Benin Republic. This man was so diabolical that he had a personal native doctor (Babalawo). One day, while in the dream, he saw four men of the occult including his native doctor trying to throw him into the fire. In that process, someone walked up to him and said, ‘Jesus Christ is the only One who can save you’. So, after he woke up, he ran to the Pastor in our Church in Cotonou and said, ‘My brother, someone told me in my dream that only Jesus Christ could save me, please help me and let Jesus save me.’ And the Pastor led him to Christ and he renounced the powers of darkness. Immediately he did that, the native doctor who must have seen it in the realm of the spirit sent for him physically. The native doctor asked him, ‘What have you gone to do? You had better change your mind and come back now.’ The man replied, ‘No! I will not change my mind because I have seen the light.’ So, the native doctor pointed at him and gave him three days to live.

Again, the man ran to the Pastor and said, ‘Pastor, the native doctor has pointed at me and given me a verdict to die after three days. Please, help me look after my family when I’m gone’. And the Pastor came under the influence of the Holy Ghost fire, and with anger he told the man: ‘No way! You are not going to die. Get on your knees here.’ As the man knelt, the pastor took the anointing oil that was fertilized with the Power of God at the 2017 International Ministers’ Flaming Fire Conference and said, ‘My father in the Lord, Dr. Paul Enenche imparted this oil for me at Abuja, Nigeria, so I anoint you and declare that by the mantle and unction of God upon Dunamis Commission, the number of days the native doctor gave you to live and die is the exact number of days he shall live before he dies’. On the third day exactly, the native doctor died. Power pass power!

Beloved, it does not matter what you are passing through, the devil does not have the final say; God has the final say in your life.

Today, I decree the cancellation of every demonic verdict hanging on your life, in Jesus Name.

Remember This: The devil does not have the final say; God has the final say in your life.

Assignments:

1. Surrender completely to the Lordship of our Lord Jesus Christ

2. Discard every judgment or verdict on your life that is not in consonance with the Word of God for your life or with what God has said about you.

Prayer: LORD, I reject every verdict of hell over my life. Let Your counsel concerning my life and destiny see the light of day this season, LORD, in Jesus’ Name.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THE MESSAGE: THE WORD OF GOD IS TRUE

Quote: satan has no power to keep any secret from being revealed. The Power of God is above the powers of hell. Culled from UNVEILING AND DISSOLVING MYSTERIES by Dr Paul Enenche

Daily Reading: Nahum 1:1 to 3:19, Revelation 8:1 to 13, Psalm 136:1 to 26, Proverbs 30:7 to 9

Amazing Fact: Eyelashes like food too; what you eat matters for your eyelashes!

Today In History: 17/12/1903 – After three years of experimentation, Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first powered, controlled airplane flights.

Prophetic Parental Blessing: I prophesy to you today: whatever affected others will never affect you. That which befalls people can never come near you. Your preservation is confirmed in this last month of the year, in Jesus’ Name.

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.