Pleasing Testament
Heb.11:5 [KJV] “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God” [with emphasis].
Today, as promised, we will start off with the last thought from yesterday’s devotional. By God’s grace, you will live to declare God’s goodness in the land of the living. However, you and I must have eternity in view. When you see things with the eyes of eternity, focusing on pleasing God and God alone becomes possible. When the light is out, when all the people that you think are for you have all turned their backs, because at your grave side it will only be the people that love you, what will they put on that tombstone?
I have shared mine and it is three words, “He pleased God” end of story. I want the people around my tombstone to write this phrase without fear of contraction or any doubt in their minds. What would it be? “A perpetual liar”, “A friend of God”, “A woman of integrity”, or “A man with many faces”, what will it be? What truth do you want your children to say about you when you are gone? It is not too late; if you are still alive, it means you can change the direction [say Amen]. Prayerfully ask God for one and it will be your reality, in Jesus Name.
Heb.11:6 “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him”. God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. God rewards the people that chase after Him and you need to get that! I say to you again, God rewards the people that pursue Him. He does! God is the only person that can totally please you. Your spouse should seek to please you of course; but it is only God that can totally, totally please you.
God has not called us to serve Him in vain. God rewards those that seek Him. The truth is that we cannot truly get a full reward for what we do until we get to heaven. And it is also true that while we are on earth, God does not leave us hopeless. He says to the Jews and by extension to us in Isa.45:19 “I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I, the LORD, speak only what is true and declare only what is right.”
Prayer [song]: To You, I give all my praise! To You, I give all my praise!! Let my life be used for Your glory…. To You, I give all my praise! Amen!
Step Up Lesson 1
Gen.4:3 “When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift…”
Cain must have thought, after all, the cattle on a thousand hills belong to God so He really does not need anything. So Cain gives God a shabby offering and moves on. But the Bible says that God had no respect for Cain and for his offering. Read the rest of this entry
Abel’s Example
Heb.11:4 “It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.”
The mistake a lot of people make is thinking that the Old Testament is not relevant to us. That is a big fat lie! What they actually mean is the Law. The Law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus. Read the rest of this entry
Evidence of Faith
James 2:18 (Voice) “I know what you’re thinking: “OK, you have faith. And I have actions. Now let’s see your faith without works, and I’ll show you a faith that works.”
Works are an evidence of faith. You cannot separate works from faith. Some people claim to have faith but not works and others pride themselves in their works without faith. However, James is saying “how can you have faith without work or how can you have works without faith?” Read the rest of this entry
Active Faith
Heb.11:6 “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him”
God wants us to Step Up in different areas of our lives. We have looked at how to step up financially and spiritually. Over the next few days, we will be looking at a component of stepping up that is indispensable and that is Faith. It is impossible to Step Up without faith. Read the rest of this entry
The Test
Gen: 22:1 “Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!”… 2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
It is important that when we read the stories in the Bible, we do not gloss over them. You have to put yourself in these people’s shoes so you can experience God through their eyes. You have to make your trust in God bigger than your savings account, bigger than your finances. Read the rest of this entry
Faith It!
Mark 12:43-44 (MSG) “ Jesus called his disciples over and said, “The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.”
To Step Up financially, you need to Earn Some, Spend Less, Save More, No Loss, Invest More, Give More and finally, Faith It. For you to Step Up financially, you have to faith it and not fake it. Faith is giving what you do not have. Read the rest of this entry
Perception
Prov.11:24 (NKJV) “There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty.”
The average person is dishonest and that is the reality that we are faced with. You cannot run a successful business by leaving your business in the care of a manager. You have no clue what is happening but you are waiting for returns. Read the rest of this entry
Invest
Eccl.11:1 (NCV) “Invest what you have, because after a while you will get a return. 2 Invest what you have in several different businesses… 4 Those who wait for perfect weather will never plant seeds; those who look at every cloud will never harvest crops.”
To Step Up financially means Earn Some, Spend Less, Save More, No Loss and the fifth thing is Invest More. It is common knowledge that inflation beats the interest on savings in most countries. This means if all you are doing is saving money then you are losing money. Read the rest of this entry
