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Scripture of the Day: Ephesians 3:!4“For this reason, I kneel before the Father…” Cast Your Cares Upon Him pt 2
When I started out in ministry, I was part of an Independent Baptist church and we were part of the Central Texas Independent Baptist Association of Churches. I used to preach in our church, at least once per month…but we would hold monthly conventions where all of the preachers would gather and hold a couple hours of sermon teaching and prayer time.
I would be invited to go and speak in their churches, hold revivals, etc. I was an evangelist and thought I knew a lot about the Lord and the Bible, etc.
This would have been about 1995 or so.
But then, something happened. I was exposed to the Pentecostal way of worshipping the Lord. I had been Baptized with the Holy Spirit the night I was born again on January 25, 1992. I had spoken and praised God in tongues…I knew what it was.
But the Independent Baptists did not do that and, I was trying to fit in, so I did not do it either…
In those days, if you were “one of them tongue talking preachers,” you were booted out of the fellowship…
But the longer I stayed in that group, and compared the results they were seeing and praying for compared to what I was seeing amongst those that DID believe in speaking in tongues – I couldn’t believe the differences! It was almost like night and day.
Then, the opportunity came, through a person I was associated with in my secular business, to meet Dr. Vernard Johnson. He is known as the “World’s Greatest Gospel Saxaphonist.” He was really, REALY popular at the time, especially in the COGIC circles.
Through the process of meeting him, talking with him and even helping out at a few of his concerts and getting to know him a bit on a personal level, he offered me an opportunity to have my first real, paid, ministry job by helping him organize and promote his concerts.
I mentioned this to our little group, trying to get them to come out to a “Soul Winning Concert” that would be in the area. After all, that is all they talked about was “winning souls for the Kingdom.”
Don’t you know, THAT VERY NIGHT, they shunned me! Nobody would talk with me. Nobody would sit with me at the same table in the fellowship hall. When I left that building, I asked God, “Why? They don’t want anything to do with me just because I want to win souls for the Kingdom?” The Spirit of God spoke directly to my spirit and said, “Don’t worry about, they don’t want anything to do with me either…”
How tragic! An entire group of probably 20 churches that just refused to admit that the Holy Spirit was real and that speaking in tongues was a way to communicate with God and have God communicate with you.
I never was invited back to speak in any of those churches ever again.
I found out later, several of those churches had to close their doors. Many only had a handful of people attending their services – even after 20 years. For many of them, the only new additions was when someone would have a baby.
What does all of this have to do with the subject of “Cast Your Cares on the Lord?” Because that night, I did just that. I had been trying to “please men” by pleasing those preachers. To be accepted. But when I decided to put the Kingdom first, to win souls for the Kingdom by helping another ministry that “was not part of their clique” – I was shunned.
At first, I was devastated. “Was I wrong?” “Should I go back and apologize?”
But the more I prayed about it, the answer from the Lord was clear, “Leave those things
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Scripture of the Day: 2 Corinthians 13:9“We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is that you may be fully restored.” If in Doubt – Then You’re Out!
If you are a saved, born again child of the Living God, then you are never supposed to doubt the Word of God. You are never supposed to doubt ANYTHING you read in His Word. Every single word, every single letter, every single punctuation mark has a specific purpose if it is in the Bible. Amen.
When you believe that with all of your heart, spirit, soul and every fiber of your being, you will never quake in the devils presence. Ever! Why?
Because GREATER is HE that is in you than he that is in the world. Amen!
When the devil tries to get you off of your game plan – which is to trust 100% in Jesus and all that He accomplished for you, if the devil can get you to doubt just ONE PART of God’s Word, he has a foothold in your life.
You may be one of those that do not believe speaking in tongues is for today…
Guess what, you’re right! Anything to do with speaking in tongues and the benefits you will gain from it – are worthless to you. You get zero benefits.
That moves over into receiving your prayers as answered as well. You will not see any resulting answers to your prayers… Period.
That also concerns sickness in your body…no healing for you…
The devil will have free reign to take sniper shots at you anytime and anywhere he chooses to do so…
Have you ever felt like, just as things start going good, SOMETHING bad happens? Have you ever noticed that, just as soon as you start to get a little bit ahead financially, the car breaks down or the TV goes out and now you have to spend even more money and “Back into debt” you go…maybe even deeper in debt than you were two weeks ago? Have you ever noticed anything like that?
Why does that happen?
When I hear people talk like that, one of the first questions I will ask is about their prayer life. Are they praying every day? Consistently? And do you know the response I generally will receive?
“Of course, brother Bob. I pray every day (and then – they add the qualifier)…BUT, I only have time to pray while I’m in the car or it may only be for a couple of minutes…”
And, as bad as that is…it will still WORK if that is all the time you truly have.
My next question is something like, “You don’t have a lot of time? You can’t pray 15 minutes a day? What are you doing at 4:30am every day?”
99% of the time it will, “Sleeping?”
Then I hit them with what Jesus asked His disciples, “Why are you sleeping? Couldn’t you pray one hour with me?”
But, IF (and this is a BIG IF), they do respond with they are praying, I will the ask, “Are you praying in tongues?”
THEN I get the “deer in the headlights” look. They begin to stammer and stumble. Some will even come right out and say, “I don’t believe in that stuff. It’s of the devil” Or “It’s not for us today” or some bogus thing like that…
Folks, if it is IN Bible – and especially IN THE NEW TESTAMENT – it is for us today in the church age! Glory to God. What other benefits are there for praying in tongues?
In 1 Corinthians 14:2-5, we see the Apostle Paul telling us that God is speaking to our spirit man directly through His Holy Spirit. This builds up the power of faith that works within us. This gives us direct information that our spirit man can pull on throughout the day. This is given to us in a way the devil cannot understand the secrets God is sharing with us. This is a way for God to give us warning about plans...
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Scripture of the Day: I Kings 8:35“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them…”Worry IS A Sin
I remember when God first began to deal with me about this issue of worry. I don’t know if you have ever thought about the sin of worry in connection with faith and receiving answers to your prayers. But worrying and being hindered in your faith go hand in hand together.
You see, prayer, faith and answered prayers are all tied together. I know some people think it’s their spiritual duty to worry about things. “Well, brother Bob, if I don’t worry about it, nobody else will…” type of attitude. But that is 100% spiritually wrong. Amen.
Sometimes, people worry about getting sick. Then they worry if they will get well. Then they worry they will infect someone else. Then they worry….and worry…and worry…
Then, when they are healed, they worry they will get sick again. It is just one vicious cycle. A never ending merry-go-round of worry.
Some people just WANT TO WORRY. They enjoy it! As twisted as that seems, it’s true. It cannot be more opposite the Bible, but it is still true!
We have studied in Psalms 37:5 where the Word of God says, “Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and HE shall bring it to pass…” The margin of my bible says, “Roll you way upon the Lord.” The words, cast, roll and commit are all the same meaning.
We are to cast our cares, our worries, unto the Lord. Just roll the entire care over to Him. Commit our way to Him and let Him guide our paths. That is what the Word of God is trying to tell us to do – continually.
Notice, as we have said before, GOD is not going to TAKE AWAY your worry. He is not going to TAKE AWAY your cares. He is not going to TAKE AWAY any of those things. YOU have to give them to Him. You have to do something about your cares and worries by CASTING them over UNTO Him! Amen!
Some people will ask me to pray that “God will lighten my load.” God is not going to do that! The Lord has already TOLD US what to do with problems. CAST THEM OVER ON HIM. Amen!
I’m telling you this, folks, it the most humble way I know how…
If you hold onto your thought patterns of worry and doubt, your prayers will NEVER be answered. Jesus said, in Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe you will receive them, and you will have them.”
Notice here you have to believe with your heart, your very innermost being, your spirit man believing that God has heard your prayers and, in 1 John 5:15, “If we know He hears our prayers, then we can know He will grant us the petitions we desire of Him.”
If you will simply cast the care of whatever you are worrying about over on Him, THEN God can work in your behalf and the things you have been praying about will be taken care of. BY HIM!
You usually won’t hear this good of preaching in your church today! Praise God! For those of you that might live in an area where you can actually GO to church in this day and hour. Bless God, thank you Father for the Internet where we can BOLDLY Proclaim the Word of God around the world in the twinkling of eye – Praise God!
I want to pray for you right now. I want to pray that you will hear the Word of God plainly. So plainly that it will make complete sense to you to CAST YOUR CARES...
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Scripture of the Day: Numbers 11:2“When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down…”
Cast Your Cares on HimYesterday, we talked about how much God LOVES US! Praise the Lord!
And when someone loves you so much, so much they are willing to die for you…that is unconditional love! Amen! Whether they receive the love back from you or not will not affect how much they love you.
We can see that in kids that become estranged from their parents and run off to “do their own thing.” It breaks their parents heart (in most cases). They do not agree with the immoral lifestyle their children may be leading.
But the love of the parent is still there. It is still strong. They are praying. They are believing that “one day” their child will come back and receive the love they are offering, in the Name of Jesus.
That is God’s kind of Love. He died for us while we were yet sinners. He died for us with no guarantee that His Love would be returned, reciprocated from us back to Him. Amen. But He did it anyway.
Not just saying we love Him, but by living like we love Him.
And that includes giving Him our cares and worries and thoughts and anxiety. He can handle it. If we give it all to Him.
After you have prayed and committed your particular situation to the Lord, if you are still trying to “figure out the answer,” then you have taken back upon yourself the problem!
If you are staying up all night worried about the problem and what to do and how YOU are going to fix it, your prayers will not work because you are telling God, “I got this.” Which means you “got this” and not Him! Amen!
If that is where you are at, if you haven’t cast ALL of your cares upon the Lord, you CAN do something to change your situation. I want you to notice something in this verse, particularly in the Amplified translation of the Bible, from First Peter 5:7…
“Casting the whole of your care – all of your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, ONCE AND FOR ALL – on Him…”
This is not something you do every day. This is a “Once and for all time” proposition! Praise God! In other words, when you obey THIS SCRIPTURE and cast all of your cares upon Him ONCE AND FOR ALL, that gets rid of them right then and puts them over into His hands! Amen!
Once you make that type of commitment and purpose in your heart NOT to carry those burdens anymore, the next time the devil tries to bring it up in the front of your mind again, REFUSE to take the thought!
Right now, I am convinced there are some people, right now, who will refuse to do this. They do not want to get rid of their cares. They may say they do, but they don’t. Is that you?
There are some folks, watching or listening to me right now, that WILL NOT DO THIS because they would not have anything to talk about anymore! Think about it…if they got rid of their cares, they would not have any way to generate some form of sympathy from other people!
They have become so accustomed of getting sympathy from others, they do not know how to act any other way. So, in their minds, if they cast ALL of their cares over on the Lord and refused to touch them again in their minds – they would have nothing to talk about!
Let’s Pray!
Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!” Be blessed in all that you do!
Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry:
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Scripture of the Day: Philippians 1:9“And this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in the knowledge and depth of insight…”
True Love on Valentine’s DayLove.
This is the day when most nations of the world will celebrate, what has become known as “Valentine’s Day.” A day when loved ones share cards expressing how much they love the other person.
But, how did “Valentine’s Day” actually get started. For this, I will quote from a very good article from the website, rosesonly.com that gave a great, historical analysis of Valentine’s Day.
Valentine's Day is named after Saint Valentine, a Catholic priest who lived in Rome in the 3rd Century. There are many stories about St Valentine and over time these stories grew into the legend we know today.
At the time of Valentine's life, many Romans were converting to Christianity, but the Emperor Claudius II was a pagan and created strict laws about what Christians were allowed to do. Claudius believed that Roman soldiers should be completely devoted to Rome and therefore passed a law preventing them from marrying. St Valentine began to marry these soldiers in secret Christian ceremonies and this was the beginning of his reputation for believing in the importance of love.
Eventually, Valentine was found out and jailed for his crimes against Claudius. While imprisoned, Valentine cared for his fellow prisoners and also his jailor's blind daughter. Legend has it that Valentine cured the girl's blindness and that his final act before being executed was to write her a love message signed ‘from your Valentine'. Valentine was executed on 14 February in the year 270.
It wasn't until more than 200 years later that 14 February was proclaimed St Valentine's Day. By this time Rome had become Christian and the Catholic Church was determined to stamp out any remaining paganism. A pagan fertility ritual was held in February each year and the Pope abolished this festival and proclaimed 14 February Saint Valentine's Day, thus establishing this feast day on the Catholic Calendar of Saints.
The poet Chaucer in the Middle Ages was the first to link St Valentine with romantic love. This was the beginning of the tradition of courtly love, a ritual of expressing love and admiration, usually in secret. This custom spread throughout Europe and stories grew about a High Court of Love where female judges would rule on issues related to love on 14 February each year. Historians believe that these meetings were in fact gatherings where people read love poetry and played games of flirtation.
The practice of sending love messages developed into people sending special cards expressing their affection. These cards were beautiful creations handmade by the sender and individually designed to show how much they loved the recipient. Cards would usually contain sentimental verse, proclaiming the beauty of the receiver and how much they were loved.
While Valentine's Day is celebrated in most countries, different cultures have developed their own traditions for this festival. In some parts of the world Valentine's Day is observed as a day for expressing love between family members and friends, rather than that of romantic couples. Some traditions include leaving lollies and gifts for children and others include acts of appreciation between friends.
Valentine's Day is most commonly associated with romantic love, with millions of Valentine's Day cards being exchanged each year. Gifts of flowers or a single red rose are sent with romantic messages to loved ones and couples spend special time together.
Many couples choose to celebrate Valentine's Day...
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Scripture of the Day: Philippians 4:6“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Don’t Be Anxious About the OutcomeWe’ve been talking these past few days about rolling your cares over on the Lord. He is more than able to handle your situation. Amen. No matter how bad it may seem to you – He is able to make it go away and deliver you from all your troubles. Glory to God!
When we roll our cares over on Him, we are demonstrating that we have Faith in His Word. Since Jesus IS the Word, we are demonstrating that we have Faith in Him. Amen!
A verse in Psalm 37 helps us to see what Peter was talking about in our verse of the day just a little more clearly. It says:
“Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.” AMEN!
The words “roll” or “cast” or “commit” are all the same root words which means to TRUST him. Amen. Isn’t that what the Bible is saying in these verses? To just TRUST HIM?
Notice God is not going to TAKE your cares away. It does not say that at all. YOU are going to have do something with them. You can either cling to them and hold onto them – and be completely responsible for them…or you can GIVE THEM TO HIM.
Some misguided people will ask me to pray that “God will help me get through this.” That is the wrong attitude to have. You should be praying that God will deliver you from this. Not get you through it. You should be praying that you are giving the care of this situation to God and then you thank Him (in advance) for the deliverance.
If you insist on worrying about your situation, whatever it is, then you are telling God that He is not in charge – YOU ARE. And God will not TAKE anything from you. Not even your cares.
Think of it like this… When you got born again, what did you say? In some form or fashion, if you truly asked Jesus to be your Savior, you probably said something to the effect, “Lord I give you my life.” Am I right?
What good will your sin filled life do for Jesus. NOTHING.
But, when you GAVE HIM your life – He became responsible for it. And the only way He could save you from your sinful self was to destroy that sinful person and then give you a NEW LIFE – a rebirth – a BORN AGAIN spirit that is the NEW YOU.
But it did not happen until what?
Until YOU gave HIM permission to do it! Glory to God! Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good. Amen!
Is all of this starting to make sense now! I pray it is. I pray a light of revelation just switched on inside your spirit man. Glory to God.
I want to pray for you right now…Let’s pray that this new light of revelation will allow you to begin to walk with the Lord with no cares for this world, no cares about your life, no cares about whatever is plaguing you right now. Let’s pray for absolute deliverance from all of your cares and all of your troubles. Why? Because He says you can do that! Amen!
Let’s Pray!
Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!” Be blessed in all that you do!
Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go...
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Scripture of the Day: Proverbs 15:29“The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the Prayer of the Righteous”
Don’t Pray About What is in the BibleYou don’t have to “pray about the Bible.” The Bible IS the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God. Therefore, Jesus IS the Bible! Praise God!
How many of you just got a revelation right there! Amen!
You don’t have to pray about whether something you read in the Bible is scriptural. Whether it is something you should believe – even when you don’t understand it – or if it is something you need to get “pastoral advice” about.
If the Bible says it – then it is in the Bible and is a fact that cannot ever be disputed. Amen.
You just need to accept God’s Word and believe it. The Bible is true, through and through. You will read it and it says the exact same thing before you pray and after you pray. It never changes. Because God never changes. Amen!
If you would just believe the Bible and do what it says, you would not have to do all of that praying about “what to do.” You also would not be experiencing some of the things you are going through, either. Amen.
Some way or another, it seems people get helped temporarily or just by acknowledging the fact that God knows more and understands more about whatever you are going through than you can ever understand. But yet, they still hold on to their cares. They still worry. They still talk about their worries and their cares. And that just reinforces the power the cares have.
God wants to deliver you from your cares and your afflictions. But in order for God to help you, you’re going to have to cast ALL of your cares over on Him. Believe me, He’s big enough…He can handle whatever you cast over on Him. Amen! He cares for you! Glory to God.
If you want to receive total and complete victory and deliverance, it is not enough just to know that God knows and that God understands and that God cares. It’s not enough. We must go on from knowing that He knows and we need to start to act on what we find in His Word.
If we start to act on what we find in His Word concerning our situation, that demonstrates FAITH on our part. Faith in His Word. Which means Faith in Him. Amen!
God wants us to cast ALL of our cares over on Him. All of our anxieties. All of our worries. All of our concerns. Cast them ALL over on Him.
That is the Prayer of Commitment when you do that. In fact, I want to pray with you right now about whatever situation you are facing. Let’s roll the entire care of it over on God, right now. Just say this prayer with me…
Let’s Pray!
Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!” Be blessed in all that you do!
Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.
You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2
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Scripture of the Day: Isaiah 1:15“When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!”
Worry Will Stop Your PrayersSome people are praying about certain situations and are not seeing anything change in their life. It’s as if their prayers are not being heard. Nothing is changing.
One of the reasons they may not be seeing any answer to their prayers is because they are not praying in line with God’s Word. They are not doing what God said to do about their cares, anxieties, worries and concerns. It is not going to do you any good to pray something concerning your cares and such, unless you are willing to do what God tells you to do about them. Amen!
In other words, there are some things you have no business praying about! Some things that God just EXPECTS you to not need to pray about. And if you ARE praying about those things, it shows Him that you are not really studying His Word the way you’re are supposed to be doing either.
This surprises some people. They will say, “Well, brother Bob, I thought you were supposed to pray about everything… That’s what the Bible says…”
Yes, it does say that. But you are taking that out of context. It doesn’t mean you have to pray about what God already has told you to do. There are many things you don’t have any business praying about. These are things that God has already said “DO THIS.” He expects you to do them…not SAY you are doing them. Not saying you DID THEM. Just DO WHAT HE SAYS TO DO!
No asking about “if” you should do them. Just do them. That puts you in Good Graces with God.
Do you remember the parable Jesus taught in Matthew 21 about the man who had two sons. Let’s look at that really quick because it emphasizes the point I’m trying to make.
Mathew 21: verse 21-32:
But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.i
Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing.
‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go.
Which of the two did the will of his father?”
“The first, they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Why did Jesus say the tax collectors and prostitutes would enter the Kingdom before the Pharisees and other religious Jews?
Because they were trusting in their prayers and rituals. The tax collectors and prostitutes KNEW they were lost and when Jesus said “only believe” – they DID! They then went about SHARING the Gospel – the GOOD NEWS – that Salvation was for those who did one thing – BELIEVE ON JESUS!
Praise God!
I hope you are getting this!
It does you no good at all to go into your prayer closet and pray for one hour or more every single day, asking God for the exact same things you have been asking Him for during your hour long prayer sessions for the last 17 times, 17 months or 17 years.
IF you can find a situation in the Bible...
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Scripture of the Day: Revelation 8:3“Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.”
When the Glory Shows UpDid you ever stop to think about WHEN the Glory of the Lord filled the Temple? It was when all the people were praying and singing praise to God, out loud, in one accord. The Glory cloud filled the Temple so the priests could not even stand and minister. That is what united prayer can do! Amen!
In 2 Chronicles 7:2, this is immediately after King Solomon had finished his prayer and the Glory cloud descended and filled the Temple in verse 1, verse 2 says, “And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the Glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house.”
When God shows up, nobody, and I mean nobody, can stand in His presence. Amen!
When you are in trouble and you call on the Name of the Lord, He hears you. And when He shows up, no devil in hell is going to be trying to fight you. Every demon from hell will tremble and fall prostrate before the Lord of Hosts – or flee before He arrives.
That is why Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I have given you…(notice this is PAST TENSE)…I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over ALL the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you!”
Praise God – that’s shouting ground right there! Glory to God!
If you are facing down a demon that is tormenting you, you have nothing to fear! If that devil says, “God isn’t going to deliver you this time…” – just remind that devil that he IS a liar and there is no truth in him…so that means if he says “God isn’t going to deliver you” – that is a lie and it means you have already been delivered! AMEN!
Then, remember what Jesus also said in John 14:14, “Ask ANYTHING in my name, I will do it!”
Now that is a promise you can bank on! Glory to God!
Just ASK in the Name of Jesus and watch the Glory fill your house! Amen! No devil in hell will stay within the confines of your house when God is on the scene…and let me go one step further…
Your body is known as what? THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD! Amen!
So if sickness is invading your body – there is no sickness in God. So it must be a lie of the devil.
Based on what we learned today, what should you do?
Call on the Name of Jesus and ask for the GLORY TO FILL YOUR HOUSE – your body! Amen!
“Well, brother Bob, I’m still sick. The doctor says I’m going to die.”
Let me ask you, who do you believe more? Your doctor or Jesus?
Trust the Word in all circumstances – even when the doctor is telling you there is no hope.
What is the absolute WORST that can happen in that situation?
“Well, I could die!”
That’s right! And since that is the WORST – anything else is better, right? Maybe instead of passing away in 3 weeks it’s 3 months. But what happens if you die like the doctor said?
Absent from the body means you are now present with the Lord!
In HIS GLORY! Amen!
Folks, it’s a win-win situation no matter how you look at it! Amen! You just need to maintain your Faith in God that HE WILL do what His Word says He will do! God is not a man that He should lie. God WILL DO what HIS WORD says HE WILL DO!
That is all you have to rest in. Period. End of story!
And end of today’s episode as well. Amen!
Let’s Pray!
Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to...
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Scripture of the Day: 2 Chronicles 7:1“When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from Heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Glory of the Lord filled the Temple.”Usher in the Glory
Did you know it is possible for believers today to usher in the Glory of God in our church services? Absolutely! I’ve been involved in one such instance myself. I’m telling you – it is something that you will never forget!
In Old Testament times, the Bible says the Glory of the Lord would fill the Temple where the people were praying. We can read all about this instance in 2 Chronicles 5:6-7 & 11-14. But, in accordance with what we have been teaching on these past few days about united prayer, I want to look at verse 13 in particular…
2 Chronicles 5:13, “It came to pass, AS THE TRUMPETERS AND SINGERS WERE AS ONE, to make ONE SOUND to be heard in PRAISING AND THANKING THE LORD, and when THEY LIFTED UP THEIR VOICE AS ONE with the trumpets and cymbals and music and praised the Lord saying, “For his is good; for his mercy endures forever…” That THEN the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord.”
AMEN!
And, at the end of that service, not only was the House filled with the cloud and Glory of the Lord, but FIRE fell from Heaven and consumed the sacrifices, as we read in our scripture of the day! Praise God!
Have you ever experienced that?
NO? Really?
Well, I wonder why not?
Like I said, I’ve experienced a couple of times. Only a couple. Not the fire coming down from Heaven part – but the Glory Cloud coming into the sanctuary.
The first time was at our Bible School and a great man of God named Dick Durbin was teaching. He was teaching on the Altar of the Lord and these scriptures. It was almost a week he was there as a special guest. And the last service is when he was teaching on this and about the burning of incense and the praise and music as we just read about…
Well, our praise team was singing, the band was playing and the students were in reverent worship…and then…almost imperceptible at first, but you could see “something” was happening…
A cloud started to descend from the ceiling down towards the altar of incense that was a representation of the real altar (obviously it was not THE Altar…amen). But it visibly descended and surrounded the altar and then started to slowly spread out through the auditorium and within about two minutes, people were sobbing and crying out praises to God…and it continued for about 30 minutes. It was the most awesome prayer experience I had ever, and I mean EVER, experienced in my life!
I get goose bumps just talking about it. To be in the actual presence of the Lord like that…
The second time was several years later in a conference. We did not have a duplicate altar or anything like that in the conference I was in. But the praise and worship and the united prayers that were being offered were similar in nature and…unexpectedly, the same type of cloud started to descend from the rafters and did the same thing. It seemed like “fingers” of the cloud just sought each person out – me included.
The results were the same…Some were praising God while others just fell to their knees and sobbed, not sorrowful sobs…but repentant sobs and gratifying sobs of KNOWING they had been forgiven…it is so difficult for me to explain in words…but the experience is unforgettable.
I imagine, just thinking of it right now, that must have been something similar to what the disciples experienced in the Book of Acts on the Day of Pentecost. Something to think about anyway…
My point I’m trying to make today is that UNITED...
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Scripture of the Day: Acts 4:31“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
Prayer in the Early ChurchWhen you get to the place where you can get serious with God…when you get the place that you don’t care who sees you, hears you praying or hears about you praying – THEN you will begin to see the results. Amen!
We’ve been studying the past few days about God shaking the places the disciples were praying from. Prisons, rooms with other believers, etc.
But I want to look at what actually caused Peter and John to get in trouble in the first place.
In Acts chapter 3, verses 6-8, you can read the story about how they healed, in the Name of Jesus, the crippled man at the Gate Beautiful. And how this was done openly, publicly and word spread quickly that this notable healing had occurred.
This word soon got back to the Pharisees who sent the Temple Guard to bring Peter and John in for questioning.
They wanted to beat them and lock them up…but someone reported this news had already spread all over town. It could not be swept under the rug or denied.
So, they decided to threaten Peter and John before they let them go.
This happens in our society today. If you preach against homosexuality or transgenderism or anything the left says is normal but the Bible calls an abomination – you will be threatened…
I was preaching up in Canada a few years back and was told by the pastor, “Please don’t say anything about the gays. The government will shut down our church.” This cancel culture syndrome is now in the United States – especially with this administration that is running the show now.
Anyway – we are here to talk about prayer and the power of prayer, amen!
We covered yesterday Peter’s reply from verses 19 & 20 about “whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you or Him, you decide, but we are going to keep on preaching…” Glory to God (that was my paraphrase, by the way).
We also covered how they went back to their own church members and reported what had happened and then they all prayed TOGETHER, verbally and in one accord and how God shook the building they were in…
He did not send an earthquake to the area. He did not shake other buildings. He did not destroy anything. He simply shook the building and answered their prayer for BOLDNESS. Amen!
That’s what they asked for in verse 29 – BOLDNESS as they were determined to keep on preaching and teaching, despite the threats. Amen!
In verse 31, we see God immediately answering their prayers with a confirming sign! The shaking and the filling with the Holy Spirit to have a spirit of BOLDNESS!
The exact thing the Pharisees did not want to happen is the thing that did happen!
They told two disciples to shut up and go home…
Those two told their friends and they all started to pray that ALL of them would receive BOLDNESS to preach the Gospel – and God granted their request and answered their prayers.
Now, instead of two bold disciples of Jesus – there was a whole ROOM FULL of disciples hitting the streets, declaring the Name and Power of the Name of Jesus and healing all sorts of manner of diseases – all in the face of the Pharisees! Glory to God! Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good! Amen!
We will pick it up there again tomorrow. I want to pray for you to receive that kind of BOLDNESS in the Name of Jesus! Amen!
Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!” Be blessed in...
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Scripture of the Day: Acts 4:23“On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.”When Believers Pray
In Acts chapter 4, we read an account of a company of believers in the Early Church who lifted their voices in united prayer and received an immediate sign their prayers were answered.
Peter and John had healed the cripple man at the gate of the Temple called “Beautiful.” This offended the hierarchy at the Temple and they had Peter and John arrested.
When they were questioned by the Pharisees, and it was determined that nothing could be done against them because the miraculous healing was now public knowledge, they threatened Peter and John and to never teach anymore in the Name of Jesus.
In verse 19 and 20, Peter replied, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge yourselves. As for us, we cannot but speak about the things we have seen and things we have heard.” AMEN!
After they were threatened again, they were released and our scripture today says, they immediately went back to their own company and told them what happened.
It is good to be with friends and like minded believers when you are in trouble and having a hard go of it. It is also good to be around those of like precious faith in troubling times, too. Amen!
If this would happen today (and it is, believe me, it is AND it will become more prevalent in today’s society as well with this cancel culture now running the government)… if Paul and Silas would go running back to most church pastors today, things would be different from the Church in the Book of Acts.
Most churches would form a special committee and research whether Peter and John had, indeed, broken some local ordinance. They may even try to make an appointment with the local officials to work out some kind of arrangement where they could pray for sick folks inside the church and not out in public or some other such thing.
These Pharisees were religious. They just did not accept that Jesus was the Messiah. These leaders believed in the same God. They believed in the Power of Prayer. They believed God could heal someone miraculously. They just did not believe Jesus was the Messiah. Amen!
The believers in that home church did not pray for the destruction of the Temple or for something bad to happen to the leadership. No. Not at all. They prayed that God would give THEM BOLDNESS!
Boldness to continue preaching in the Name of Jesus! Amen!
Then, look at what happened. I’ll just mention it here and we will look closer at it tomorrow…
Verse 31: “And when they had prayed… the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke the Word of God with BOLDNESS.”
Amen!
Two things I want to point out here and then we will close…
Just like with Paul and Silas – this place was SHAKEN. Amen! No other reports of buildings damaged or any major earthquakes, etc. JUST WHERE THEY WERE PRAYING. Amen!
AND – their prayers were answered! The Holy Spirit imparted to them BOLDNESS to keep on preaching! Amen! Glory to God!
We need to pray like that too. We need BOLD preachers today! We need BOLD BELIEVER’s today! Amen!
Let’s pray for BOLDNESS to be imparted to us by the Holy Spirit.
Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!” Be blessed in all that you do!
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Scripture of the Day: Acts 16:25“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”
When Is Your Midnight?As we started to share yesterday, Paul and Silas had been beaten and thrust into the inner prison with their feet put in stocks, all for preaching the Gospel. But instead of griping and complaining, they lifted their voices together in united prayer and praises to Jesus and to God. Amen!
What about you?
Would you be praying and praising in those circumstances? When it looked in the natural like your life could be over. If not physically, at least freedom wise?
But look at what happened. As Paul and Silas prayed, in united prayer, lifting their voices so loud all the other prisoners could hear them, God brought a mighty deliverance.
Verse 26 says an earthquake shook the very foundations of the prison and all of the prison doors were opened, physically popped off the hinges. But that was not all, every single shackle has been loosed! That should not have happened because of an earthquake! But it did! Amen!
As I related yesterday, I found it interesting that there is no historical references of an earthquake destroying anything in that area at that time. None. Not in the Bible and, as far as I have been able to determine, nothing historically either.
But, praise God, that jailhouse was shaken! Amen!
When the prisoners realized what had happened, you would have thought they would have made a run for the hills as quick as possible. Some had probably been their quite a while and probably had lost all hope of ever being free. Here was their chance.
That is what the jailer thought, too. That’s why he was going to kill himself. If he allowed the prisoners to escape, it was on him to suffer their punishment.
But Paul told him to stop because NOBODY had ran away. NONE! Not one person left the prison! Why?
Because every prisoner in their knew it was from God. They felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and they witnessed the Power of God this Silas and Paul had been talking about. They did not want to leave that presence! Amen! They wanted MORE! Glory to God!
The Jailer knew he had witnessed a miracle. The prisoners knew, too. The results was the entire family of the jailer was saved that very night. And the Philippian church was formed that night, too. With the jailer as the pastor of those inmates. Glory to God.
That is what happens when you cry out to God in prayer and praise in YOUR midnight hour! Amen!
There are a lot of people today just sitting around doing nothing…waiting on God to do something. Something FOR them.
They will say, “Well, if God wants me to get out of this mess, He will just have to do it, I guess…”
But that is not true, not in any sense of the Word. Amen.
If it was true, why did Paul and Silas have to sing, out loud? Why didn’t they just say, “Well, Silas, I guess this is where the Lord wants us at right now. That’s why this happened. So let’s just accept our fate and see what else the Lord can do…”
No, they prayed in one accord and sang praises to God! And notice their situation did not change UNTIL they prayed and sang praises to God! Amen! Did you get that! As a result, God moved! Glory to God!
We need that kind of praying going on today. We need to start shaking things up in this nation and around the world. It is time for the TRUE, born again Christians to take their rightful place, publicly and visible for all to see and start praying and singing praises to God! Amen!
You see, a shaking like that would cause...
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Scripture of the Day: Acts 21:5“They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”Group Prayer
When I first started to attend Full Gospel services, I was not used to this idea of everyone in the building praying out loud, some in other tongues, some in English, praying at the same time for about 5 minutes or more. That just seemed weird to me.
Even when I was a Bible School, some instructors would come in and we would do this. I didn’t like it. Not at all.
But, I was at least willing to acknowledge that “I did not know everything” and, after all, I was at Bible school to learn, right?
I also understood that true Church was meant to be fashioned after the FIRST CHURCH – which was the Church in the Book of Acts.
In the Bible, it is called the “Law of first mention” and if the Church of Acts was the first church that the Holy Spirit set up after the ascension of Jesus and the Day of Pentecost, it must be how He wants it to operate (despite man’s best attempts at doing otherwise).
So, I decided to study this out for myself. And when I did, I found this verse and others like it (Acts 2:1; 4:24: 16:25 and others) that showed me there was POWER in the unity of prayer like that! Praise God! I was onto something!
These scriptures referred to “THEY lifted their VOICES…”
This was not one man praying out loud and everyone else remaining silent…
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my one on one time with the Lord in prayer. I tend to receive Wisdom and Inspiration on matters that I lift to Him in my private prayer time.
But there are times when we need to be united in prayer and everyone “lifting their voice in one accord.” Amen.
Another example is when Paul and Silas were praying while in prison. This scripture also references they were praying, out loud, together, at the same time. Amen! Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good! What happened?
An earthquake hit that opened every single door in that prison…but nobody escaped! That was unheard of – back then and today! Amen!
But what else happened?
The jailers entire family was saved! And don’t you know the reason none of the prisoners escaped? All of them were born again, too! They didn’t want to leave that prison because, for the first time in their lives – they were TRULY set free! Glory to God!
And, for further proof of that, Paul wrote a letter to the “Church of the Phillipians.” This was the church the jailer founded – with the prison inmates! Glory to God!
What else happened? I’ll get more into this aspect tomorrow… but I want to zero in on one more thing as an example of the power of a united prayer – out loud in front of everyone – and how God responds…
The Bible says an earthquake occurred that opened the doors to the prison, right?
Did you ever notice there is no record in the Bible of an earthquake shaking anything else except the prison? Right where Paul and Silas were praying? How’s that for answered prayer?
Nobody except those who were praying received that kind of answer to their prayers! I believe some of the prisoners, hearing Paul and Silas talking and then singing and praising God and praying out loud – I believe some of them joined in as well. This is what brought God on the scene! Amen!
If He did it for them, what does the Bible say, He will do it for you! For God is not a respecter of persons, Amen! Glory to God.
So – YES – a united group prayer is important. It is effective. It does work. But, as with everything else, DO NOT make this a doctrine or a
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Scripture of the Day: Acts 21:5“When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.”
United PrayerThere is power in unity. In the natural and in the Spirit.
In fact, that is where unity in the natural obtains it power! It is based upon Spiritual principle.
Matthew 18:19 says, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”
When two people agree on earth, in the Spirit or in the natural, their power is multiplied. This can be for the good of the people or, unfortunately, evil can use the same principles for the destruction of the people (like we see happening politically today).
Leviticus 26:8 says, “Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.”
This clearly illustrates the more people you can win to your cause, the more powerful your cause will become.
How do you think the Gay Pride and LGBQT or whatever they are going by today was able to destroy the fabric of American life so easily? Because the Democrats were looking for a new voting base and sold the soul of America to the devil in exchange for political power.
Why do you think “suddenly” there is this cancel culture chasing down anyone who even hints the Conservative values are important to the survival of America? It is because evil now reigns in American government.
There are so many Biblical passages that clearly indicate we are on the precipice of destruction in America. Everything we were founded on is either already destroyed or in the process of being destroyed. Anyone who speaks out against the flood of demonic forces is identified and tried to be silenced.
But, we are to trust in PRAYER. And that is the purpose of this year long series on teachings of prayer.
It would be too easy for me just to invoke 2 Chronicles 7:14 and say “all will be well with the world.” Because it won’t be. We are too far gone as nation.
But, I’m not too concerned about it!
“What? How could you say that, brother Bob?”
Because the Bible is very clear that all these things must come to pass just before the return of Jesus! That means, as we see these things happening, YES we need to resist them. YES, we need to pray for deliverance. YES, we need to come together collectively as believers and try to stop these political forces…
But we need to also keep our prayers going for the soon return of the Lord. He will be the ultimate deliverer for us and for the nation and for the world and for all believers everywhere!
When Jesus comes back, which is going to be very soon, He will be the one who destroys the works of the devil, and his followers who are now in charge, with only ONE WORD from His mouth! Praise God!
There are too many things for me to try and share with you in this short teaching on this very important subject.
But the bottom line is “we are not without hope.”
We also need to work together, praying in unity, gaining that power that comes from praying and working together in unity – and achieve total victory!
If you want to join me in this, let’s pray right now for Power from on High to be imparted to believers everywhere. Power to resist. Power to overcome. Power to endure and most importantly, Power to pray in UNITY and get even more people to become Born Again before Jesus returns. Amen!
Let’s...
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Scripture of the Day: Acts 12:12“When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.”
The Power of Praise pt 2Yesterday, we talked about how the Power of Praise worked for the people of Judah when they were about to be attacked by the combined armies of four of their enemies. We talked about how, the king, their leader, called for a prayer meeting. I believe our leaders today would fair so much better by acknowledging God and calling for national days of prayer – instead of gathering their advisors, wringing their hands and deciding “they know what’s best” for the country.
Anyway – they don’t. But God does! Glory to God! Amen!
If we would just walk in the light of the Word and continually be in an attitude of praise and thanksgiving, we would be a witness to other people for the Lord. Amen! People would see our continual gladness of heart and would desire to experience that joy and gladness for themselves.
They would actually start to seek YOU out and ask, “How do you do that? Why is God answering your prayers all of the time?”
This is just one area in which being baptized by the Holy Spirit will help us. Although a person can have joy and have a thankful heart because of the new birth, being born again – it is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit that helps us to Praise God in times of trouble and to be a powerful witness to the power of God in any situation. Amen!
I remember, now this was many years before I was born again, but a person lived across the street from us back in the little town of New Llano, Louisiana. He was born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. I would talk to him sometimes when we both happened to be outside in the front for whatever reason.
I noticed he had a habit of always saying something like, “Praise God” or “Amen” or “Praise Jesus” when we were talking. It seemed that every time I would say something positive that was happening, maybe, “I finally got my old truck running again,” he would say, “Praise God! That’s awesome…”
I just thought he was a little weird. I’m just being honest here, folks. Remember, I said I was not born again at the time.
But, for him, it had become a habit of giving God praise for all of the little things. Amen! I thought it was weird, simply because I was not in a relationship with the Most High God like he was – through Christ Jesus! Amen!
Now, as I was preparing to teach on this today, I realized I had developed the same, “habit.” Amen!
Because I received Jesus on January 25th, 1992 in a little empty apartment in Columbus, Georgia at 1135pm ET while in the midst of despair and contemplating suicide – GOD SHOWED UP AND SHOWED OFF in my life! Amen! And my life has never been the same since! Praise God!
That one night changed my life, changed my destiny, forever. I was born again AND Baptized in the Holy Spirit all at the same time!
It was not long before I realized “I was praising God” like our neighbor was doing!
That is why I am emphasizing here, over the last several days about praying to God about the little things – well, in addition to praying about the little things, you need to PRAISE HIM about the little things! Amen! Praise the Lord! (there, right there…did you catch that? I can’t help but Praise Him!)! Amen! Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good!
You need to praise God in the little things and in the BIG THINGS! You need to Praise Him when things are going great and when things are looking bad. You need to praise Him in the closet and Praise Him on the roof
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Scripture of the Day: Acts 20:36“When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.”The Power of Praise pt 1
When you praise God, especially when you sing praises to Him, things will begin to change. They may be dramatic changes that make you say, “WOW!” But, more often than not, it is the little things that begin to change. Small things that most people are not even aware of - unless you are looking at them spiritually instead of in the natural.
If you are truly in tune with God (and the only way you can be in tune with God is THROUGH His Word and spending time in prayer), YOU will begin to pick up on the little, subtle changes that are beginning to change.
But, what about those situations when there is an immediate need for God’s Presence to be on the scene? An immediate need where, if God does not do something NOW – there may not be a tomorrow?
Let me give you an example of how Praising God change bring swift changes to your situation, whatever that may be…
In 2 Chronicles chapter 20, King Jehoshaphat and Judah went out to fight their enemy, the combined armies of the Ammonites, Moabites and the people of Mount Seir. These combined forces had banded together to destroy Judah.
In the natural, Judah had no chance against these combined enemy forces. Things were looking pretty grim in the natural.
It’s amazing to me that almost everyone, when their back is against the wall and they have exhausted all of their ideas on how to fix any particular problem, only THEN do they turn to God and ask for His help. If we would just reverse this process, things would always go so much easier…
Well, in this situation, what did the king of Judah do? He called for a prayer meeting. Praise God! At least he still had enough sense to do that! Instead of “run for the hills, every man for himself,” he said, “Let’s run to God and ask for His help in this situation.” Praise God, Amen!
Well, the Holy Spirit moved on a young man who then stood up and began to prophesize. To save time, I will not read all of the verses here. To summarize what was prophesized, was, that the Lord told the people they have nothing to fear. (That was a shock to some of them standing there, I’m sure…).
They were told, “To go out to the battle, but it is not your battle, it is the Lord’s battle.”
The next morning, they all woke up and started to put themselves in battle formation to go out and fight the enemy. But instead of putting their best soldiers (in the natural at least), they put the choir out front.
How do you think those choir members felt? “What? You want us to go out in front? With no weapons? No training? You just want us to walk about there and start singing?” I’m sure those thoughts were running through their minds…
But let’s look at what happened…
They sang and praised God as they were going forth. The ministered to the Lord and sang praises to Him right in the faces of the enemy! This is just like Paul and Silas singing in prison, amen! But look at what happened…
As the choir was singing “Praise the Lord, for His Mercy endures forever…” (and notice, there are no other verses indicated here. To me, that says they sang that one verse over and over and over. That tells us they were FOCUSED on what they needed and WHO they were Praising and WHO they were expecting to help them. Amen)!
So, what happened as a result of PRAISE?
The enemy armies began to fight amongst themselves! They started to attack each other!
As Judah’s army crested the hill and prepared to engage in battle, all they could see, as far as they...
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Scripture of the Day: Acts 10:4“Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.”
Your Giving Captures God’s AttentionCornelius had been praying. Scripture tells us he was a believer in the God of the Hebrews. He was doing his best to help the Jewish nation and the people he was in charge of.
As a Centurion, he had control, militarily, over that region.
But, he was also a person who believed in prayer. And he was praying to the God of Heaven. Amen!
As part of his prayer life, he would give financially to the support of the local synagogue. And he was not a cheap giver either. He wasn’t just giving a pocket full of quarters in the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas time.
No, he was KNOWN for being a giver. That is why, later, when the people he had sent to get Peter to come back to his home, they testified to his Faith and how much money and support he had already provided to the Jews. They were saying, basically, “This guy is for real.”
But here, I want you to notice, the angel said, “Your PRAYERS have come up as a memorial before God.” (Yes, I know, I misquoted – but stick with me here, I’m making a point).
Cornelius was a praying man. This is what God’s attention. Does God ONLY hear the prayers of the righteous? No. He hears everyone’s prayers!
“Wait a minute Brother Bob, God hears everyone’s prayers?” YES – absolutely!
He heard your prayer when you prayed to receive Jesus as your Savior, didn’t He?
“Well, yes. Of course.”
Well, before you prayed that prayer; before you received Jesus as your Savior, were you righteous or unrighteous? Were you still in your sin when you prayed to God? Of course!
So that is proof, right there, as well as other scriptures, that says God hears the prayers of the righteous and the unrighteous.
So, first and foremost, Cornelius was a man of prayer. THAT is what caught God’s attention.
But, Cornelius went one step further than simply praying. He put money where his mouth was, so to speak.
He became such a giver, that his GIVING also caught God’s attention.
There is a difference between someone who prays because they know they need to pray – and someone who prays and then GIVES SACRIFICIALLY because of the prayers. In addition to the prayers. Who puts FAITH to work by sowing sacrificially into the works of God. Amen!
If you want to get God’s attention, it really requires you to do THREE THINGS.
“Three things, brother Bob? I thought you were talking about prayer and giving here?”
YES…but what needs to come first, as I’ve been teaching for about a month now on this program, is this…
You need to spend time in God’s WORD on a daily basis. For yourself! Not relying on someone else to read the Word for you and tell you what it say (hello! Like so many of you do when you fail to read the Bible or even take the Bible with you to church and only rely on your pastor to tell you what it says… Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good!)
When you spend time with God – IN HIS WORD – and then spend time TALKING TO GOD in prayer and then you back up all of that with sacrificial FINANCIAL GIVING – with your prayers over the seed you are sowing – you can’t help but GET GOD’s ATTENTION!
Amen!
And we see that is what happened right here with Cornelius.
What was the result? The first gentile convert to Christianity! Praise God!
And it did not just bless Cornelius and him alone. It says his “whole house, family, friends and servants”...
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Scripture of the Day: Acts 7:59“While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”Faith Works
Have you ever faced an extreme circumstance where you were facing death in the face? I have. My time in the military and a few instances as a police officer, I have faced the prospect of “this could be it.”
How do you react in those situations?
By FAITH. You see, faith WORKS every single time it is put to the test. Every single time.
If you believe you will fail, guess what – you will.
If you believe you will persevere – you will.
That does not mean you can say over and over, “I believe I win; I believe I win; I believe I win” and then, miraculously, the enemy just dies of a heart attack right before you very eyes. It could happen, but that does not mean that.
What I’m talking about is this…
In those situations I was describing, I had to rely on my training. I had been trained for those exact situations. I had received the best training available. And the exact situation I was facing at that time, in my mind, though it was real, the training I had received kicked in.
That is why the military trains so much! We used to say in the Cavalry, “We train today just as we will fight tomorrow.” We had another saying that “we train to be wet, cold, tired and miserable. And we are experts at it.” Amen!
But, when you are facing death in the face, you need to rely on your training. Then, something called, “muscle memory” kicks in.
I was trained in martial arts in my military days. That training served me as a police officer a few times.
I remember one instance, this person loved to fight cops. I did not know it at the time of the traffic stop. But our dispatch did as they were running the tags. I heard them call another unit to come to my location and they gave a code word that meant I had a dangerous subject stopped.
I did not react to the radio call to the other unit. They called me on the radio with the code word, I just reached up and said, “10-4” and continued talking in a normal tone to the driver. He had no clue that I knew what was about to happen.
As the other officer arrived, I asked the driver to step out of the car. He did so, and I informed him he was being placed under arrest (I’m not going into details as to why, that’s not important here). But, when I grabbed his arm to turn him around, because of my martial arts training, I felt him tense up and begin a move to break my grip…
Because of my training, and muscle memory, I immediately countered his move and he ended up in an arm bar on the ground. The other officer was only about four feet away and did not even have a chance to move in and assist! That is how fast my reactions were.
Now, I credit that to my training. I had trained hundreds of times, at least, for that exact situation. So, when it happened, I did not have to wonder what I was going to do. I did not have to ask for assistance. I did not panic. Muscle memory took over and I did what I had been trained to do.
What does that have to do with this scripture of Stephen or you facing a life or death situation?
The point I am making is, just as we have been talking about all week, you MUST KNOW the voice of the Holy Spirit concerning the situation you are in.
I’ve heard stories from Navy Seals, one in particular I’m thinking of, when he and his buddy were pinned down and it wasn’t looking good. His buddy started to panic and yelled over, “This is it…what are we going to do?” Scott looked over at him and said, “You’re a Christian, right?” The other guy said, “Yes!” Scott then replied and...
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Scripture of the Day: Acts 3:1“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.” Pray for Others You Meet
I remember way back when I was in Bible School at Jerry Savelle Ministries, Bible Institute and School of World Evangelism. One of the requirements was that we had to witness to people and pray with them. We were to keep a record of that and turn it in every week to receive credit. I believe, if I’m remembering correctly, we needed three such instances every week.
Anyway, I’m not positive on that so don’t hold me to it. But it was more than one anyway…
I made it a point to look for people that needed physical healing. And, truth be told, they are all around us. Just look at how many people are in wheel chairs, walkers or canes when you go to the grocery store. They may not be wheel chairs, but using those little carts, right?
Well, back then, they didn’t have those little carts everywhere like they do today. So I would look for people in wheel chairs. I would not interrupt their shopping or anything. But if they were sitting outside (probably having a cigarette, they could do that back then), I would zero in on them.
My wife would see them about the same time I would and she would just step back because I would make a pivot and go into witnessing mode. Praise God!
I would walk up and say something to the effect of, “Excuse me. As I was walking by, the Holy Spirit of God urged me to come over here and ask you if there was something I could pray with you about?” Usually, I would say 8 out 10 times anyway, they would say, “YES” and then tell me what they would like me to pray for. Sometimes it was their health, sometimes it was their family or finances, etc.
That is what we are reading today from our scripture. Peter and John are walking into the Temple area to pray and they see this man at the gate. He’s been there a long time. They’ve seen him on several occasions. He’s not new to the town.
But this day, something is different. Something about the man is different. Something about Peter and John is different, too.
They sensed that God was about to do “something.” They did not know what it was. But they “knew” in their spirit – just like Simeon and Anna did when Jesus was being dedicated at the Temple, as we covered a few days ago.
As they were walking up to the gate area, here is this beggar and he is doing what he did everyday, begging for alms. Begging for dollars.
Peter and John didn’t have any extra money on them, but when the beggar looked into their eyes, the Bible says he looked, “Expecting.”
It was like the Holy Spirit had prompted this man to identify these two strangers out of the crowd. It was like the Holy Spirit had told him (he probably did not know it at the time, but sensed it), that these two men were going to bless him with a tremendous gift that day!
The Bible says he looked up at them, “expectantly.”
Most preachers will say, “expecting them to give him some money.” That could very well be the truth. But let’s look at it from this angle and it makes a lot more sense.
He is EXPECTING. Peter and John can “see it” in his eyes, the Bible says. And then, you know the rest of the story.
Peter says, “Silver and gold, we have none. But what we do have, we give to you. In the Name of Jesus of Nazereth (which this man must have heard about or it would not have activated Faith on the inside of him), GET UP AND WALK.” Praise God!
But notice, Peter and John did not just “pray” for him and walk inside. No, they ASSISSTED HIM.
They reached down, the Bible says, and grabbed his arm and yanked him up to standing
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