Supernatural Turnaround

 Scripture:

”The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!“ ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭12‬:‭36‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

This passage speaks of the Exodus out of Egypt by God’s people. They were slaves in Egypt for 430 years, but when they left, they left with the wealth of Egypt. When God decided to bless them, He did it overwhelmingly. They walked in favor and the people of Egypt gave them whatever they asked for, including their gold, money, resources, animals, etc. They went into the land with nothing and came out like a wealthy army.

Application:

Even when things seem terrible and nothing seems to be going right, God can turn things around quickly and bless you beyond belief. In a single day, God made a bunch of slaves wealthy and strong. Sometimes the wait is long, but God always comes through and eventually those who serve Him well, will be blessed. I am trusting God to bless my life in great ways as I serve Him faithfully and do whatever He gives me to do.

Prayer:

Father, help me to trust You more and more each day. Bless my life and let me be a blessing. Teach me to walk in wisdom and to trust You for supernatural financial breakthrough for my family and my church so we can be a blessing to the world. I want to extend Your kingdom and leave a mark through my life more and more as I grow older.

Yours Always and Forever,

Jeff

Pray for Me

 Scripture:

”“All right, go ahead,” Pharaoh replied. “I will let you go into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God. But don’t go too far away. Now hurry and pray for me.”“ ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Pharaoh had seen some of the plagues and realized he was in trouble. As this point, he was ready to let them go into the wilderness to worship their God as long as they didn’t go far and he told them, “pray for me.” He knew he was in trouble and that their God was causing it. Even Pharaoh realized who the real king was, and was ready for some reprieve. 

Application:

When God starts blessing His people, even our enemies and those who don’t believe in God will start saying, “pray for me.” There are people right now who feel far from God, but realize He is out there and they are saying “pray for me.” As God’s people, we must hear the cry of those who don’t believe and realize that even the hardest hearts are saying “pray for me.” They might not admit it, but they want our prayers.

Prayer:

Father, help me to pray for people consistently. Teach me to intercede for others. They may not know You yet, and may even oppose You at this time. Rather than judging them, let me hear their cries saying “pray for me.” Let me respond in prayer for those who do not know You. Let this be the year when the hardened prodigals come home.

Yours,

Jeff

Humility Before God

 Scripture:

”But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?”‭ ‭Exodus‬ ‭6‬:‭30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Observation:

Moses, God’s chosen vessel to deliver 2-3 million Israelites from Egyptian slavery, never thought he had what it takes to speak, to lead, to stand before Pharaoh, etc. Scripture later says that Moses was the most humble man on the planet. God used his humility because Moses knew he didn’t have what it takes and was fully dependent on God.

Application:

Sometimes weakness is the greatest position from which we will see the power of God. When we realize we are weak, God gets more and more glory. When we walk in humility, God is exalted. We need to lower our self-evaluation and realize apart from the Lord, we can do nothing. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. 

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, You are worthy of my very best! You are holy and powerful! You are great and glorious! You are high and lifted up. Let Your name be praised forever. Help me to walk in humility, knowing that I can do nothing, but You can do anything and everything. Let me always have a proper perspective of myself.

Yours Always,

Jeff

Forsaken By God

 Scripture:

”And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”“ ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭27‬:‭46‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Observation:

This verse speaks of Jesus crying out about His Father forsaking Him while He was on the cross. Scholars believe that when Jesus took on Himself the sins of the world, His Father had to turn away because God cannot have anything to do with sin. This verse shows the humanity of Jesus. He felt abandoned and forsaken by His Father at the weakest moment of His life.

Application:

There will be times, especially at our weakest moments, that God seems far away. There will be times when it seems that God has forsaken us and is not longer working on our behalf. We must remember that Jesus has felt what we feel in those times. We must remember that Christ has felt every human emotion to be able to sympathize with us. The beauty for us is that Jesus was forsaken so we could be accepted. We never have to question whether God has forsaken us. He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. We can confidently walk through anything knowing God is with us and sees what’s going on. He may have allowed it, but He will bring us through it.

Prayer:

Father, help me to trust You more in 2024. When you feel distant, let me know You are with me. Your word comforts me and encourages me. Let me live this year by faith and not sight. Give me confident expectation of good things to come. Meet every need and help me to serve You well. 

Yours,

Jeff

Produce Proper Fruit

 Scripture:

”I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.“ ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭21‬:‭43‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and teachers of the religious Law concerning who will be first and last in the Kingdom. He tells them that the Kingdom will be taken away from them and given to another group of people, those who will produce proper fruit. Jesus is looking for good fruit and entrusts His kingdom to those who produce it.

Application:

In the beginning, God created everything to be able to reproduce. Whatever God does, reproduces. He is a fruit inspector and is looking for good fruit. God expects us to take what He has given us in gifts, talents, resources, etc. and multiply it for His purposes. This is producing proper fruit. We need to think about our lives and ask if they are producing for the Kingdom. We need to think, “are we living religious lives like the Pharisees, but not producing fruit?” I need to look at what God has entrusted me with and ask, “Is it producing fruit?” If not, I have work to do.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, let my life be productive for You and Your kingdom. Let me not simply live a nice religious life, but a life of impact. Let my life count for Your kingdom. Help me to bear much fruit and good fruit. Teach me to walk in step with You. Let 2024 be a year of producing proper fruit that will remain.

Yours,

Jeff

Forbidding and Permitting

 Scripture:

”“I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.“ ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

In the context Jesus as talking about forbidding and permitting people in and out of fellowship, but He did use the word “whatever”. Jesus gave us more authority than we realize and more than we walk in. This verse basically says that He will back up in heaven what we do on the earth as it relates to binding and loosing, or, forbidding and permitting. He didn’t say what He binds in heaven is bound on earth. He said what we bind on earth is bound in heaven.

Application:

God created man to be in His image. I have to ask myself, “Do I believe this verse?” I also need to ask, “Do I live like I believe this verse?” If I believe this verse, then there are some things I need to be binding and some things I need to be loosing. We must begin to act on what we know and do what we believe. There are things we permit, that we should be releasing. I must ask myself, “What am I putting up with that needs bound or released?” God backs us up, but we have to take the first step.

Prayer:

Father, help me to bind what needs bound and loose what needs loosed in my life, my family, my church, and the world around me. In faith this morning I bind everything that has hindered my family from fulfilling their potential in You. I bind every lie and deception that has enabled wrong thinking. I release each member of my family to encounter You in a powerful way and to live life for Your glory. I bind every hindrance to Word of Life and release God’s blessing and favor over her. I bind the Principalities that have ruled this region for a long time and I release Your angels to defeat them so that revival can come to this region. 

Yours Forever,

Jeff

Use What You Know

Scripture:

”To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.“ ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬ 

Observation:

In this passage, Jesus tells people that those who listen to His teaching get more understanding, and then they will have an abundance of knowledge. Those who won’t listen will have what they have received taken away. He gives an abundance of knowledge to those who use what they know. If you want to walk deeper with God, you have to put into practice what you have learned from the Word.

Application:

We should strive to walk in the revelation we have received, or the revelation will dry up. When we apply what we learn, we grow and God gives more and more. Application equals increase. We should desire, not only to know more about God, but to walk in what we know. God has infinite knowledge for us, but it is only accessible when we do something about what we already know.

Prayer:

Lord God, help me to live what I know. Most of my life I have lived below what I know from Your word. Help me to reverse that and to walk in 100% of the revelation You have given me. Forgive me for hearing Your word and not doing it, or for living below my potential because I haven’t put certain parts of Your word into practice in my life. I want to USE what I KNOW.

Yours Forever,

Jeff