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The Words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. Jesus said that in John 6:63. Have you ever had the wind knocked out of you? If it hasn’t happened by someone punching you out, it may have happened by circumstances taking the wind out of your sail. We need new wind, and God’s Word is like that for us. There is life giving power in the Word of God. We are to hold fast to the Word of life so that we can rejoice in the day of Christ. It is wonderful to have someone else give you a scripture just for you, but we can do that for ourselves daily. We can have a word for the day. God’s Word for us today. Your DailyGodWord! All it takes is opening up His Word, and letting His words breath life into your spirit. When we need to hear from God, He wants to speak to us. When we need His direction, He wants to give it to us. He is not withholding information, or wisdom, or insight. He wants us to hear His voice, so listen for it! Listen for it when you read His Word. What is He saying to you through the passage you are reading? What insight does he have for you about situation you are going though? What wisdom does He have for you that you might be able to pass on to someone else in your similar situation. God wants to speak Words of life to us. His Words are spirit and they are life. They will revive dry bones, just like the scorched and lifeless Valley that Ezekiel spoke of in Ez 37. When we speak the Word of God, even to our own spirit, life will spring forth. If you feel like dry bones, get refreshed in the Word, and then let’s become those who do that for others!

Jesus said that he who comes to him and hears His Word is like a man who built His house on a rock. The next verse goes on to say what happens if we build our life on the sand. Kaboom, there is a crash, a fall, and definitely destruction. Nobody wants that for their lives. But everywhere we go, we see people whose lives have been hurt, damaged and crushed. That is not what God wants for you! He wants us to stand strong, and to be firm, not tossed about by every wind that comes our way. So how can we do that? We need to make God’s Word a part of our daily life. We can read it before bedtime, or even before you get out of bed in the morning. We can think about even one verse all day long, and then we can do what the Bible tells us to do. What is the main idea of God’s Word? The whole Bible can be summed up in two thoughts…..Love God with all you are, and love people. It isn’t very complicated. When we make those commands from God’s Word part of who we are, we are building our life on a rock. When we build our life on a rock, we can be sure that we will be solid and strong, and be able to stand when even the strongest wind comes against us. If things are shifting all around you, you can stand firm on God’s Word. He will never fail you. His Word is steadfast and secure.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17 gives us the answer on how to get more faith. It comes by hearing the Word. It doesn’t come by praying for more, or begging for more, or asking for a loan of faith from someone else. Faith comes by hearing God’s Word. How many times did Jesus say in the gospels, if you have an ear, let him hear? It is said over and over again. We are not just talking about physical ears here. Because we know that literally, we can hear one thing and it can go in one ear and out the other! We are talking about hearing with our spirit. Letting it get down on the inside of us, so that it becomes a part of who we are. As believers, we can’t line the Word up with our experience, we have to line our experience up with God’s Word. We know God’s Word doesn’t change, it doesn’t fade away or become obsolete, it never fails. So if we are looking for something steadfast to build our life upon, and a way to increase our faith, we build it on the Word. We listen to the Word, we read the Word, we study the Word, we live the Word, we meditate on the Word, we give the Word of God priority always! Day by day, moment by moment. We listen to it on our ipod, in our car, while getting dressed. We go to church and listen to it from the pulpit, then we get the cd’s or the podcast and listen again and again. Repetition helps us hide it in our heart, and makes it solid and secure in our lives. So how does faith come? By hearing God’s Word. Take time today with your Bible, and grow in your faith!

Like newborn babies you should crave, thirst for and earnestly desire the pure unadulterated spiritual milk, that you may grow unto completed salvation. What a great scripture in I peter 2:2. We have all seen newborn babies looking for milk. They go at it with gusto! My sweet new little granddaughter Rylan Avery sure does! She knows what she wants, and won’t be satisfied until she gets it! Are you like that with God’s Word? We should be! Our desire for the milk of the Word, will make us complete satisfied if we are thirsty. When we make the Word a part of our day, we impart wisdom into our lives that will keep us rooted and grounded like a tall oak tree. Storms may come, but we will stand strong. The Word in our lives will make our roots go down deep so we can be like a tree planted by the streams of living water and bearing fruit in every season of life. It we continue in the Word we will be blessed in our deeds. James 1:25 say when we continue looking into the law of liberty (The Word) we will be blessed in what we do. For growth and blessing and completed salvation, our choice is easy. Keep our nose in the Bible! There is everything we need for life and for godliness. The incorruptible seed of the Word of God is planted in our heart. The seed keeps growing as we water it with the Word, and stay in God’s light and presence. So just like yesterday’s question. How hungry are you? Get filled and stay filled with God’s Word. It is what we thirst and crave for!

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalms 119) Have you ever been walking through the house at night and stumbled over something you didn’t see. I know it has happened to all of us. God doesn’t want us to stumble in fact, he wants our path to be filled with light, so we don’t make a misstep. Walking in the light, we can see where we are going, we can be aware of snares of the enemy, and we can see the specific twists and turns in the road that we need to take so that we can make it to our destination. Without the light, we are helpless and hopeless, but the light has dawned for us, and for the Christian, the light gets brighter and brighter as we live in the light of God’s Word. Each of us also needs specific direction, and most of us don’t have a book of the Bible with our name on it (unless your name is Matt, Mark, Luke or John!!!) but we do have the promise that God will lead and direct us. We do need to believe that God does want to speak to us. He does that through His word, but he speaks to us in our spirit as well. We need to be listening to His still small voice, and be open and receptive to his leading. We can’t do life without God. We are too inexperienced to try to make it through life without God’s guidance. His Word is the guide that we need. Aren’t you grateful for His Word in your life? Let’s make it our goal to include more and more of God’s Word in our lives, to keep in our lips, and to hide it in our heart.

How hungry are you? There is a hunger and thirst in the heart of every person for something. Perhaps you have heard it called “God hunger”, or a God shaped vacuum. How can we feed the hunger in our lives for God? One simple way is for us to recognize that it is God who we are hungering for! Most of us try to fill the hunger on the inside of us with everything else but God. You know, with food, with stuff, with wrong relationships, etc. But God’s Word is what we are hungry for! It is the bread of life, the bread of heaven, and food for our soul. One of my favorite Bible verses is in Matt 5 verse 6 where it says that he who hungers and thirsts for righteousness will be filled. What a wonderful promise. When we hunger for righteousness, there is a promise of fulfillment. There is an answer to satisfy the hunger! It is to dig deep into the Word of God. God’s word is rich and satisfying! There are answers within that will quiet each question. There is comfort, forgiveness, restoration, peace, liberty, freedom, joy, ……you name it, what you need you will find in the Word of God. So are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you hungry and thirsty for what your really want, and what you really need? Then dig in deep into God’s Word, and then taste and see that the Lord is um, um good.

This week begins our Ladies AGF Fall Bible Study. To all you fabulous ladies who have will be attending one of the Bible Studies, I want to say, have a awesome time studying together, growing in relationship, and growing in the Word. This years study is Steven Furtick’s Video study based on his book Crash the Chatterbox. Knowing who you are in Christ is a great place to start when we want to silence voices in our head that are not of God. God designed you to identify with HIM. As you ladies set aside time this Fall to study and grow together, my prayer is that you will turn off the negative voices in your head, and listen to your shepherd, who is Jesus Christ. You are his sheep and you know his voice. I encourage you also as you meet together with other believing women to study the Word, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and keep being refilled. Joined up with the Holy Spirit, you can do and be and have much more than you could ever have on your own. That applies to strength, wisdom, energy, enthusiasm, joy, ability and skills. Even patience!! Your natural talents, gifts, and callings will increase because you are filled up with power from on high. And multiply that with the strength of the others in your small group, and you are unstoppable. Here is a great confession for today. Why not repeat this after me?
My life is in Christ.
I am empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the person who resembles God the Father. Others can follow me as I follow Christ.
I am blessed to be a blessing, to my family, in my workplace, in my small group, and to the body of Christ.

Do you know that God has something to say about you? He has a plan for your life, and has called you his very own child. Your identity isn’t just as someone’s son or daughter, somebody’s mom or dad, or somebody’s grandchild. You are identified as a Christian. The word Christian mean Christ-like. You are also a disciple, which means disciplined one! There are lots of other things God has to say about you too. Why not say what God says about you? Don’t believe the lies of the devil; that you’re not smart enough, not educated enough, not tall enough, or rich or young/old enough to do what God has for you. Believe what the Bible says!
It says this….
You are God’s own son or daughter, once you became a Christian. The words of others are not as powerful as the words of God. His Word is what matters in your life.
You are above and not beneath, the head and not the tail, blessed going in and coming out, and most definitely able to do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
You are going to fulfill your destiny, and live the dream that God has for you.
Your life is full of blessing in every way.
I hope that encouraged you….you can be and do and have all that God has for you!

One pivotal factor that often colors our identity and who we are, is our past. Bad things really do happen in life. Sometimes we hold on to the past through bitterness and unforgiveness. When we do, we bind ourselves to what has happened to us in the past. Once we recognize where we have experienced wounds, they can be healed. It is something that only you can do. Prayer from others certainly helps, but forgiveness is a choice that you must personally make. To get to any root of bitterness, and remove the poison that it produces in your life, the root needs to be exposed, and then forgiveness can come. God says that we are free in Christ. That means there is no bondage to the past or anything that will hold you back if you make the choice to forgive. Forgiveness is a choice, but for the believer, it isn’t an option. We must forgive. Freely we have received forgiveness, freely we should grant forgiveness. I realize that there are those who have deep wounds, but there is nothing too deep for God to reach if we will let Him. One stone, or one scoop full at a time, let’s see the mountain of pain removed as we live a life of forgiveness and then live free in God.
Say this with me…..
He who the Son sets free is free indeed.
I am free to live life to the fullest, and to enjoy this wonderful abundant life that Jesus came to give to me.
I forgive much because Christ has forgiven much in my life.
I am free from the law of sin and death.
I freely receive all that God has for me.
Be encouraged today that you are who God says you are, and you can be all that God says you can be. Your identity is in Him!

 

A big areas of battle for all humans take place in our physical body. Whether it is controlling our appetites, or making choices to eat food that leads to health, a war goes on inside. It is very clear that God want us to prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers. Soul prosperity happens with the renewing of our mind. When we line up our lives with the Word, and our soul is prospering, a natural outflow is that we are healthy and have success. We do live in a fallen world, where the devil roams about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. We know the devil is the one who come to kill, to steal and to destroy. It is Jesus who came to give us abundant, thriving, vibrant life. We serve a benevolent God! He has given us power to live above the enemy’s tactics, and He has conquered death, hell and the grave, and then handed the victory to us….making us more than conquerors! Thank God for what Jesus! did on the cross So what does God say about our bodies? That’s exactly what we should be saying too!
Why not say this with me…
My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Healing is mine.
I prosper and live in health, even as my soul prospers.
My body is healthy and whole.
I am receiving the healing that I need to be able to walk in health and the divine life that God has for me.
I am disciplined in my body, and guard my mouth from anything that would defile God’s temple.
The stripes that Jesus took on his back have brought healing to me.
The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, quickens and makes whole my mortal body.
I will live long and prosper on this earth!
I hope that encouraged you!