Topic: Perfect Peace [Sunday June 4, 2017]

Read: John 14:25–31, Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 21–22; John 14

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. John 14:27

A friend shared with me that for years she searched for peace and contentment. She and her husband built up a successful business, so she was able to buy a big house, fancy clothes, and expensive jewelry. But these possessions didn’t satisfy her inner longings for peace, nor did her friendships with influential people. Then one day, when she was feeling low and desperate, a friend told her about the good news of Jesus. There she found the Prince of Peace, and her understanding of true peace and contentment was forever changed.

Jesus spoke words of such peace to His friends after their last supper together (John 14), when He prepared them for the events that would soon follow: His death, resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Describing a peace—unlike anything the world can give—He wanted them to learn how to find a sense of well-being even in the midst of hardship.

Jesus came to usher peace into our lives and our world.

Later, when the resurrected Jesus appeared to the frightened disciples after His death, He greeted them, saying, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19). Now He could give them, and us, a new understanding of resting in what He has done for us. As we do, we can find the awareness of a confidence far deeper than our ever-changing feelings.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are fixed on You. Help us to trust in You forever, for You are our Rock eternal.

Jesus came to usher peace into our lives and our world.

Insight:

Jesus repeatedly talks about peace in John 14, yet He would soon be arrested and His disciples would be hiding in fear. In verse 1 Jesus offered peace by encouraging them not to be troubled by the events that were coming on them. Instead, they were to look forward to reunion with Him and a home in the Father’s house. Then in today’s reading Jesus rooted this peace in the coming of the Holy Spirit—reminding us that, in part, the fruit of the Spirit is peace (Gal. 5:22–23). Jesus concluded His words to them with the promise of peace for everyday living: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). For now and forever, His great gift of peace carries us through all the seasons of life.

How do you see Jesus’s peace present in your life today?

This message was written By Amy Boucher Pye [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

Topic: One Hundred Times Zero [Sunday June 4, 2017]

Matthew 17:27 “Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money; that take, and give unto them for me and thee.”

This was quite a miracle. Not only was the money supplied for their taxes, but it was the exact amount needed, and it was from the first fish that was caught.

Although this sets the precedent that God can supply our needs in a miraculous way, it’s important to remember that God doesn’t counterfeit money. He didn’t create money in the fish, but rather he had the fish miraculously find and swallow the exact Roman coin that Peter needed. It’s a mistake to just pray and then wait on God to rain the money down from heaven.

As Luke 6:38 says, God uses men (and sometimes fish) to give finances to us. He can do it in a very unexpected, supernatural way but it will involve people and existing currency. We need to believe the Lord hears and answers our prayers and then pray for the people He’s going to use to deliver the answer. This could be our employer, the person who buys our goods, or any number of people.

The Lord also blesses what we set our hands to do. When in need, we should seek God’s direction for something to set our hands to and then trust Him to bless it and multiply the results of our work. But one hundred times zero is zero. Many people have missed their miracle because they never took that first step of faith and used what they had. God can give you a creative idea today that will bless you and make you a blessing to others. Seek and you will find.

This message was written by The Association of Related Ministries International (ARMI) is an extension of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM). ARMI is a unique partnership committed to providing resources to help like-minded ministers succeed in a spirit of excellence and to draw from the experience and expertise of both the AWM and Charis Bible College staff. (www.awmi.net)

Topic: Salvation Through Trust [Sunday June 4, 2017]

Thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him . . . — Genesis 6:22

One day God spoke to Noah about the wickedness of the human race. The actions of men and women grieved Him to the heart. God said that He intended to send a flood that would destroy mankind, and He told Noah to build an ark to save his household and the animals. The Bible says that Noah believed God. Now Noah had never seen a flood.

He had never seen a 40-day rain. He had no weather map, no satellite photograph or meteorologist to tell him that a big storm was coming. All he had to go on was the Word of God. But when the flood came, Noah was spared and saved with his family, and the rest of the generation was swept away. Noah was saved because he put his trust in God. The days of Noah are returning to earth, and a catastrophe as great as the flood awaits those who refuse to enter into the ark of salvation, which is Jesus Christ.

Prayer for the day: Forgive me, Father—so often I question, when I should be trusting You, like Noah.

Written by Billy Graham, Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association(BGEA). BGEA exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by every effective means and to equip the church and others to do the same.

Topic: Key To Every Door [Saturday June 3, 2017]

Every door bows to the force of faith.

The walk of faith is usually a walk of triumph.

When faith stands up everything bows down.

When faith goes up every other thing goes down.

Wherever faith turns doors are bound to open.

Any journey embarked upon by faith always end as a walk over.

Faith does what no natural man can try.

Faith opened the door through the Red Sea.

“By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned”. Heb 11:29

At the instance and advancement of faith the walls of Jericho fell.

Heb 11:30

Nothing remains standing when faith stands.

Topic: God Is on Your Side [Saturday June 3, 2017]

For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation and adorn the wretched with victory. — Psalm 149:4 AMPC

If you never face trials, you will never have to exercise your faith. But even when facing hard times, you shouldn’t dread life. Isaiah 8:13 (AMPC) says, The Lord of hosts—regard Him as holy and honor His holy name [by regarding Him as your only hope of safety], and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread [lest you offend Him by your fear of man and distrust of Him].

If you dread life and fear people, you are not trusting the Lord to save you. Keep your reverential fear and awe of God; dread displeasing Him, but don’t fear anything else. If God is for you, who can be against you? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:37 NIV).

Topic: Scatter to Increase [Saturday 3, June 2017]

Memorise: There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. – Proverbs 11:24

Read: Proverbs 11:23-25 (KJV)

23 The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

24 There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

Bible in One Year: Acts 27-28 Jeremiah 41:4-18, Hymn: Sing hymn 10

MESSAGE:

John 15:16 says you have been chosen to bear fruits and to sustain these fruits. To bear fruit, you are required to win souls regularly. Newly saved souls are like new born babies that require a lot of care and nourishment in order to grow into adulthood (1 Peter 2:2). To sustain such converts therefore, there is a need for us to keep planting churches. No wonder Genesis 1:28 said that if you are fruitful, you must strive to multiply. Plant a parish and continue planting more. Just repeat the right things you are doing that works. Do not wait to start a church of 2000 people. You can start small churches of about 20-50 people and these will grow into churches of 100, 150 and more. The house fellowship unit can be effectively used in doing this. You can start a house fellowship with just a few people and as it grows, you can split it and have another house fellowship centre. In doing this, you are applying the principles of scattering to multiply. As these grow, you will soon have enough people to start a church parish. How effective is your house fellowship centre? Are you even a member of a house fellowship?

Another area where you can apply the principle of scattering to multiply is in the area of giving. Luke 6:38 says if you give, you shall receive in return. Keep giving and God in His own way will give you your reward. Today’s Bible reading reveals that it is possible to scatter but yet increase, whereas you can hold back and remain poor. There is a particular man I know; when he goes anywhere and people get to know he is around, they would gather round and he will fling bundles of money at them; every one of them then scramble for their share of this money. Someone once asked me why this man does this, and I told him that the devil knows the principle of scattering to increase. If you go to a witchdoctor for a charm to make you rich, one of the conditions he would likely give you is that you must learn to scatter some of your wealth to the poor. This is a universal principle; so if unbelievers practice it, they will get results. So would believers if they can practice it. Consider the weeds that grow rapidly around us; they multiply so fast because they scatter their seed through the wind, water and by sticking to so many different things. In the past, those of us who were Bible study leaders went all out to meet the needs of the gospel by sacrificing our salaries and the little we had. Today, many years after, I see the same people who once lived in a room and parlour now living in their own mansions. Are you ready to pay the price of multiplication through scattering?

Action Point: When you want to scatter you seeds, start with needy members of your local church.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.

iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.

Topic: Free From Fear [Saturday June 3, 2017]

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. – 2 Timothy 1:7

What would you think if I told you that you could live without fear? Would you believe me if I said that despite what you saw on the news tonight, you could be perfectly at peace? Impossible? Unrealistic? No!

You see, fear isn’t just a reaction to external circumstances. It’s a spiritual force. It begins inside of you. And it is totally destructive. In fact, fear is Satan’s primary weapon. He moves in response to fear, the way God moves in response to faith. He challenges the promises of God with it.

An excellent example of this is found in Matthew 14 when Jesus invited Peter to come to Him on the water. “But when he [Peter] saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me” (verse 30).

What enabled Peter to walk on the water? His faith in the Word of Jesus. What caused Peter to sink? He saw the wind boisterous and he was afraid. It wasn’t the wind that defeated him, it was his fear of it! He looked at his circumstances, gave in to the fear, and the result was defeat. If Peter had kept his focus on Jesus, his faith would never have wavered. All the blustering and blowing in the world couldn’t have drawn him off course.

Faith is developed by meditating on God’s Word. Fear is developed by meditating on Satan’s lies. Such fearful meditation is called “worrying.” Don’t do it!

The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. Use it to fight Satan every time he comes against you. Hold up your shield of faith and quench all of his fiery darts. Speak words of faith and fear will depart.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 27

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: Dealing With the Mountains of Life through Faith [Saturday June 3, 2017]

Scripture: And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief, for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Matthew 17:20

Thought For The Day: Faith is the secret for surmounting the insurmountable.

Previously, we established that mountains are chronic and life-threatening situations.

However, every problem has a solution; every question has an answer and every mountain is surmountable.

Now, how can one deal with or surmount the mountains of life?

It is through faith!

In Matthew 17:14-21, there was the case of a man who was possessed by a demon that Jesus’ disciples could not cast out even with prayers; but Jesus cast out the demon by rebuking it. When His disciples asked Him why they could not cast the demon out, he told them, ‘…because of your unbelief…’ (Matthew 17:20).

This implies that faith is the secret for surmounting the mountains of life.

Faith has the capacity to move every mountain or life-threatening situation. No situation of life can escape the weapon of faith.

Beloved, if there is any situation in your life that seems stubborn and impossible, apply the weapon of faith.

I announce to you that whatever looks impossible or insurmountable in your life is surmounted, in Jesus’ Name.

Remember this: Faith is the secret of surmounting the insurmountable.

Assignment(s):

1. Ask God for a higher manifestation of the spirit of faith in your life.

2. Trust God for light of scripture that will fuel your faith to move the mountain.

Prayer: O LORD, I ask for the spirit of faith to surmount the insurmountable situations of life. Deal with every root of unbelief in my life, LORD, in Jesus’ Name.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: THE MOUNTAIN-MOVING FAITH.

Amazing Fact: A single taste bud contains 50-100 taste cells. While one cell can have multiple types of sensors for taste, no single cell can identify both sweet and bitter.

Daily Reading: 2 Samuel 20:14 to 21:22, Acts 1:1 to 26, Psalm 121:1 to 8, Proverbs 16:18.

Today In History: 3/6/1965 – Astronaut Edward White became the first American to walk in space when he exited the Gemini 4 space capsule.

Quote: The reason why many of us cannot believe God is because it is not possible to believe a stranger. Culled from 15 KINGDOM STRATEGIES FOR SURVIVAL by Dr Paul Enenche.

Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC), is a powerfully anointed church, headquartered at Abuja, Nigeria, with Dr Paul and Dr 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: God of All Power [Saturday June 3, 2017]

Text: Jeremiah 32:16-25

Key Verse: “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee” (Jeremiah 32:17).

Some fifty years ago, an orphanage being run by a widower in Scotland temporarily ran out of food and funds. The man believed in the omnipotent power of our benevolent God and so gathered the children to pray for God to provide bread for them.

They closed their eyes to pray. While the prayer was going on, a baker’s van loaded with bread on its way to another city several kilometers away broke down near the orphanage. There was no one to offer help. The baker was about to abandon the bread there to go to the city to bring a mechanic the following day.

Soon, he began to hear the voices of the orphans as they prayed. He strolled closer only to see that it was an orphanage. He went to call the director of the orphanage to come and pack the bread for the children because if the loaves were left till the following day, they would go bad. When the children opened their eyes, they saw what they were praying for and they thanked God and blessed the food for dinner. Today’s text centers on the prayer of prophet Jeremiah as he acknowledged God’s omnipotence and sovereignty over Israel. The preceding verses however talk about how Jeremiah was commanded to purchase a piece of land to show that God would still redeem His people later. He was also commanded to preserve the title deeds of the land in a pot to signify that sooner or later, the land of Judah tough now worthless, would again become a valuable land occupied by the Israelites.

Jeremiah adored the Lord who is boundless in mercy and at the same time strict in justice. Whatever challenge we have in life, therefore, whether personal or public, we should be assured that God sees it and can fix it. The conditions to receive His intension are repentance, penitence and continual acknowledgment of His power to forgive, save, deliver, heal and protect absolutely.

Thought for the day: God is always on top of any situation.

Bible Reading in one Year: John 8-9

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.