Category Archives: Heart

After This

Zec. 13:6 “And if someone asks, ‘Then what about those wounds on your chest?’ he will say, ‘I was wounded at my friends’ house!’”

John 18:1After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees.” (emphasis added). After saying what things? After casting the vision and the long prayer in John 17, talk time was over, prayer time was over. Read the rest of this entry

God’s Intent vs. Man’s Intent

Gen.50:20 “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good…”

Have you ever been betrayed; how did it go? This question is actually from John 18:1-40 [please read] and it is the focus of our study over the next few days. If it comes from the enemy, it is an attack. If comes from a friend, it is a betrayal – friendly fire. Read the rest of this entry

Your Heart

John 17:17&19 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth …And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.” (NRSV & NLT)

God can bring glory out of shame, however, shame itself does not glorify God. In fact, there would be no need for God to change shame to glory if shame glorifies God. So, shame is of no value to anybody. Apart from the glory confusion, there is also the ‘by God’s grace’ confusion. Read the rest of this entry

Face To Face

John 17:9&20 “My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you… “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.”

You will live long in Jesus Name! However, if you knew that you will die in a few hours, you know that if you pray God will answer your prayers, what three things will top your prayer list apart from extension of life? Most people would pray for people or things closest to their hearts. Read the rest of this entry

What Will It Be?

John 11:20 & 32 “When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house.” … “When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Martha and Mary are both Christians but with two very different personalities. Both interacted with Jesus differently and both got different responses from Him, even though Jesus loved them both. When we contrast Martha’s response to Mary’s response from today’s scripture reference, Read the rest of this entry

Supernatural Provision

Matt.17:27However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”

Have you ever experienced supernatural provision? Yes, God wants us to work, to invest, and God wants us to save. We have done several teachings on God’s heart for work and for our finances – earn some, save some, invest some, spend less, no loss, give more, and faith it. Yes, God wants us to be responsible, to generate an income, to sustain our life income, and to multiply our streams of income. However, there comes a time in every life where you need divine intervention, when you need a miracle. God has made it clear that this is going to happen, and He will come through for us. Please read John 6:1-15.

John 6:1After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias.” This is so important because John was writing to the people in Ephesus and they knew this sea as the Sea of Tiberias, not the Sea of Galilee. It is so important that as people, we speak the language that our community understands. Otherwise, they will see Christians as strange. Jesus had just finished healing the man that was lame for thirty-eight years and He crossed the Sea of Galilee to have some time away with His disciples. But the Bible said that the people followed Him. When Jesus was crossing the Sea of Galilee, thousands of people were going across Jordan following Jesus. Jesus obviously got to Galilee first and sat down with His disciples, but as He lifted His eyes, He saw five thousand people approaching and the story kicks off from there.

This miracle is recorded as the feeding of five thousand men, not counting women and children. If there are five thousand men, we can expect that there will be between seven and ten thousand women, and between two and three thousand children. There were about fifteen to twenty thousand people coming to Jesus. There are many different miracles distributed across the four gospels but the feeding of the five thousand men was the only one recorded by all four gospels and that is so significant. This miracle is recorded in Matt.14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-15. Please read all the different accounts, you will be amazed at the peculiarities of the writers and what they focused on.

For instance, John did not talk about Jesus distributing the bread to the twelve and the twelve distributing it to the people. John skipped that because of what he was focusing on. Matthew detailed how Jesus broke the bread and distributed to the twelve, but Matthew did not state that Jesus did this for the bread and then the fish. Matthew reported it as though Jesus did both together. But John said He distributed the bread first, then the fish. The purpose of Bible study is for you to get into the Word of God yourself.

Prayer: Father, I ask that according to Your Word, please supply all my needs according to Your riches in glory, in Jesus Name. Amen!

From God

Rom. 8:28 “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

We will start today’s devotional with our final thought from yesterday which is, Jesus is above all – no exceptions. Jesus is superior to all. John 5:21-23For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honour the Son, just as they honour the Father. Anyone who does not honour the Son is certainly not honouring the Father who sent him.” (emphasis added). Read the rest of this entry

Refocus

Ps.121:1-2 “I will lift up my eyes to the hills [around Jerusalem, to sacred Mount Zion and Mount Moriah]—From whence shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” (AMPC].

We have to be totally unassuming when we are dealing with God. Sometimes, it is a pattern that God has established; the angel stirs the water, the first to get in gets healed. It was God that established it for them, but the man became fixated on it and it became his plan of how his healing would happen. Read the rest of this entry

Recognition

1 Cor.15:41 “The sun is glorious in one way, the moon is glorious in another way, and the stars are glorious in their own [distinctive] way; for one star differs from and surpasses another in its beauty and brilliance.” (AMPC].

John 3:27 “John answered them, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless God bestows it.” (TPT]. Look to God and God alone as your source and do not be jealous of any man. The truth is, it does not make sense to be arrogant because you are nothing without Jesus – nothing! Read the rest of this entry

Learn & Grow, I

1 John 4:6 “But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.”

In today’s devotional, we will be answering some questions. So, pay attention.

Question #1: How do we develop the spirit of discernment? Heb.5:14 …by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (NKJV]. Discernment can be developed by reason of use; the more you exercise it, the sharper you become, and the better it becomes. Read the rest of this entry