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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Healthy compromise
30 OCTOBER 2022

‘Seek peace and pursue it.’
1 Peter 3:11 NKJV

Read these Scriptures: ‘Pursue peace with all people’ (Hebrews 12:14 NKJV). ‘The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield…the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace’ (James 3:17-18 NKJV). ‘He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it’ (1 Peter 3:10-11 NKJV).

Healthy compromise doesn’t mean giving up what you truly believe or who you truly are. It doesn’t mean taking shortcuts and relinquishing yourself to second- or third-best because you are impatient or fearful. No, healthy compromise is about discovering how to negotiate a win-win position for both sides. It calls for trying to see things through the eyes of the other person involved in the situation or problem. And healthy compromise is the characteristic of healthy relationships.

It’s tempting to write off someone as ‘wrong’ or ‘selfish’ and refuse to see any other perspective except your own. But this is when it’s critical to abandon your pride, to step outside the role you are playing, and to try to understand where the other person is coming from. A meat cleaver is required when you want a meal, but a fine surgical instrument is required when you want to heal. Haven’t there been times when you yourself needed patience, love, and understanding? Yes? Then be willing to extend the same grace to others. Sometimes all that’s required is a little give-and-take to make the relationship work and for things to turn out better for everyone involved.

Luke 21:1-19, Psalms 113-115

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Never be part of a clique
31 OCTOBER 2022

‘You are all one in Christ Jesus.’
Galatians 3:28 NKJV

In order to have a clique, you must exclude certain people. And to feel excluded hurts deeply. David experienced it: ‘The one who shared my food, has turned against me’ (Psalm 41:9 NLT). Cliques are made up of weak people who are afraid to be different. They believe that as long as they’re with others who think and act like they do, they won’t be surprised or required to change. It may be human nature to crave this kind of consistency, but it’s dangerous.

Cliques in the workplace create dissension, resulting in a miserable atmosphere for others. People are no longer regarded as individuals but as being ‘on this person’s side’ or ‘in that person’s corner’. Such cliques become nothing more than centres for gossip, backstabbing, affairs, and every imaginable mess people can create. Satan tempts us with the security of ‘the group’ to prevent us from discovering our individual gifts and purposes and from doing God’s will.

If you’re in a clique, break free as quickly as you can! Reject the pressure to conform to groupthink. This mentality can have you unexpectedly doing things you never thought you would do – whether it’s lowering your principles or remaining quiet while the group criticises someone. You may even fear being turned against by group members if you stand up for what’s right. Cliques facilitate racism and sexism, age discrimination, and the biased behaviour accompanying them. They gain their strength from excluding those who are different. And no matter how you slice it, that’s prejudice! You are God’s child – as are your colleagues and other church members – and you should treat them right.

Lamentations 1-2, Hebrews 3

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Happy New Month, Brethen.
It's November 2022.
May you be blessed.
May you be favored.
May you be honored.
My you find peace.
May you seek and see his mercy and mercy.
May God mercy and grace abide with and in You.

Prophet.

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

Are you doing God’s will?
01 NOVEMBER 2022

‘Whoever does the will of God lives forever.’
1 John 2:17 NIV

The thing that should matter to you most is doing God’s will. And here is why: God’s will is the only thing that will last forever. God has a plan for your life, and that plan constitutes His ‘will’ for you. So how can you know God’s will? Try to imagine these two things:

1) A Polaroid picture. Remember those? You took the shot and out popped a picture. At first it wasn’t clear, so you had to wait. But as you continued to wait, the picture became clearer. That’s like God’s will. ‘The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh’ (Proverbs 4:18-22 KJV).

2) A scroll. If God showed you His entire will for your life at one time – you would be overwhelmed. But like unravelling an old-fashioned scroll, He reveals His will to you little by little as you become mature and able to handle it. And since it’s God’s will, you need His power to fulfil it. You also need the assurance of His presence with you. And He promises this in His Word: ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ’ (Philippians 1:6 KJV).

Lamentations 3-5, Hebrews 4

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

What will you do with Jesus?
02 NOVEMBER 2022

’What then shall I do with Jesus?’
Matthew 27:22 NKJV
When it comes to Jesus, we have three choices. Let’s look at them:

1) Reject Him. That’s what the Pharisees did. ‘Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”’ (v. 22 NKJV). Why? Because His grace and power exposed their lack of both. His truth exposed their error. And when you don’t like the message, you reject the messenger.

2) Avoid Him. That’s what Pilate’s wife did: ‘His wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him”’ (Matthew 27:19 NKJV). Why do people avoid Jesus? Because He forces a reaction in our hearts. He calls you to make a choice between living for self or living for Him. The chief priests said, ‘He stirs up the people’ (Luke 23:5 NKJV). And they were right! Before Jesus delivers you, He will disturb you. And some of us don’t want to be disturbed.

3) Accept Him. That’s what Paul did: ‘Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me’ (Galatians 2:20 NKJV). Pilate tried to wash his hands of the whole thing and avoid making a decision about Jesus. But it can’t be done. Jesus said, ‘He who is not with Me is against Me’ (Matthew 12:30 NKJV). So if you have not accepted Christ as your Saviour, here is the question you must answer: ‘What then shall I do with Jesus?’

Ezekiel 1-2, Hebrews 5

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

‘In Christ’ you are beyond condemnation
03 NOVEMBER 2022

‘The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.’
John 14:30 KJV

The Bible says, ‘The accuser of our brothers and sisters…has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony’ (Revelation 12:10-11 NIV). Satan is ‘the accuser’. On what basis does he accuse us? Sin! It’s not that God won’t forgive sin, but that when we refuse to acknowledge it and repent of it, we give Satan an opportunity to condemn us. Now you understand why you feel so bad when you harbour unconfessed sin. By doing it, you are giving Satan power over you.

Notice what Jesus said: ‘The prince of this world [Satan] cometh, and hath nothing in me.’ Satan couldn’t point to a single sin in the life of Christ; therefore, he had no power over Him. And here is the good news: when you are ‘in Christ’, Satan loses his power to condemn you too. ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit’ (Romans 8:1 KJV).

Will you still sin from time to time? Yes, and when you repent, God will cleanse you, work with you, and give you victory. But as long as you are positioned securely ‘in Christ’, the One in whom there is no sin, Satan’s condemnation falls on deaf ears and you live with the joy of knowing you are fully accepted by God. So when Satan says, ‘You sinned, therefore you’re not a Christian,’ don’t believe him. As long as you’re ‘in Christ’, you’re simply a Christian under construction. Knowing that takes a powerful weapon out of Satan’s hands.

Ezekiel 3-4, Hebrews 6

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

S.H.A.P.E. (1)
04 NOVEMBER 2022

‘Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God.’
Psalm 143:10 NKJV
In order for you to understand God’s will, for the next few days let’s use the word S.H.A.P.E. as an acrostic.

S represents your spirit.

Your regenerated spirit is the part of you that’s capable of connecting with God and responding to Him. The Bible says: ‘People who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things’ (1 Corinthians 2:14-15 NLT). You can know something in your spirit without understanding it in your brain. Does that sound strange? It’s not: ‘But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things’ (1 John 2:20 NKJV).

Sometimes a Scripture leaps off the page you’re reading in the Bible and you ‘know’ it’s God speaking to you and giving you direction. At the time it may not seem to make sense to you, but it resonates in your spirit as being right. We use different words to describe this experience, such as ‘a leading’ or ‘a prompting’. Will you sometimes get it wrong and make a mistake? Yes. The most mature Christians among us do. In his youth, God spoke to Samuel the prophet four different times before he finally recognised His voice. Just as you exercise your body to make it stronger, you must exercise your spirit to make it sharper and more sensitive to God: ‘Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognise the difference between right and wrong’ (Hebrews 5:14 NLT).

Ezekiel 5-7, Hebrews 7

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

S.H.A.P.E. (2)
05 NOVEMBER 2022

‘As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart.’
Ephesians 6:6 NLT
The letter H represents your heart.

What do you have a ‘heart for’ or feel passionate about? As a Jew, Paul was passionate about reaching the Jewish people: ‘The longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God’ (Romans 10:1-4 NLT).

You say, ‘Does that mean I must be in the ministry to know and do God’s will?’ No. Nelson Mandela was so passionate about freeing his people from the evils of apartheid that he was willing to spend twenty-seven years in prison to bring it about. When your heart begins to ask, ‘What can I do to change this situation?’ you may be discovering God’s will for you. The people who have made this world a better place all asked that question. Thomas Edison answered it by giving the world incandescent light. Henry Ford answered it by giving the world the car. Mother Teresa answered it by giving the forgotten and dying of India love and dignity. First, Nehemiah wept over the ruins of Jerusalem, then he rebuilt its walls.

What moves you? What’s in your heart? In answering that question you may discover God’s will for your life.

Ezekiel 8-10, Hebrews 8

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

S.H.A.P.E. (3)
06 NOVEMBER 2022

‘I take joy in doing your will, my God.’
Psalm 40:8 NLT
The letter A stands for abilities.

The Bible says, ‘God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well’ (Romans 12:6 NLT). What is your dominant gift? You say, ‘I don’t think I have any gifts.’ No one was born without a gift! Your gift may be undiscovered, undeveloped, unused, underused, or even misused, but you have a gift.

Have you ever heard the saying, ‘There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come’? When you put together the right opportunity with the right gift at the right time, the results can literally blow your mind. Before, life can seem like you’re just spending it surviving, when suddenly a crisis arises, a situation occurs, or a door of opportunity opens, and you discover abilities that have lain dormant within you for years.

Today you may feel locked into a situation with no way out, but God is ‘a way maker’ (see 1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV). Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Jews who were taken as slaves to Babylon. Talk about being locked into a situation with no way out! But the Bible says: ‘God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom.…Whenever the king consulted them in any matter…he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom’ (Daniel 1:17, 20 NLT). Does that mean you can just sit around and wait for success to be dropped into your lap? No, the old saying ‘opportunity knocks’ is actually not true. Opportunity waits for those who open the door and go out and look for it.

Luke 21:20-38, Psalms 116-118

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

S.H.A.P.E. (4)
07 NOVEMBER 2022

‘May he equip you with all you need for doing his will.’
Hebrews 13:21 NLT
The letter P stands for personality.

Before a company hires a leader, they often do a personality profile to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Question: are you compassionate towards people, or competitive with them? Are you a hard-driving type-A personality, or do you have a more nurturing temperament?

The worst thing you can do is to envy someone else’s personality type and say, ‘I wish I was just like them.’ That’s like saying to God, ‘You made a mistake when You made me.’ God will help you to change your conduct and strengthen your character, but you can pray until you’re blue in the face and He won’t change your personality. Instead, He will help you to recognise it and maximise it.

The old saying is true: ‘Birds of a feather flock together.’ Eagles don’t want to hang around with ducks. They don’t want to live in a farmyard or swim in a pond. Their potential makes them impatient with those who cannot soar. Eagles are loners. Ducks, on the other hand, are team players. Some migrate thousands of miles from the UK to warmer climates, flying in a perfect V formation without breaking rank. They know how to defer to one another and care for one another.

Before God assigns you, He designs you. He gives you the right personality to fulfil His plan for your life. So instead of putting yourself down or wishing you had a different temperament, say with the psalmist, ‘You…knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous – how well I know it’ (Psalm 139:13-14 NLT).

Ezekiel 11-13, Hebrews 9

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY™

S.H.A.P.E. (5)
08 NOVEMBER 2022

‘Then you will learn to know God’s will for you.’
Romans 12:2 NLT
The letter E stands for experience.

How can you know God’s will for your life? Paul answers, ‘Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you’ (v. 2 NLT). The word ‘transform’ means ‘to change in shape’. How is a diamond formed? It’s the result of unrelenting pressure over a long period of time. Your life’s experiences will point you towards your life’s purpose. God never wastes a pain! The psalmist said, ‘I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word.…My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees’ (Psalm 119:67, 71 NLT). How do we learn to do what’s right? By experiencing the pain of doing what’s wrong.

You say, ‘But others have mistreated me. Is that also part of God’s will for my life?’ It could be. Paul writes, ‘My imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered’ (Philippians 1:12 MSG). Then he adds: ‘Everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a platform! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his prize. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose’ (Philippians 1:20-21 MSG).

The reverse side of a tapestry looks like a tangled mess of threads. But that’s what it takes to produce a picture of beauty, order, and value. Getting the idea? Re-examine your life’s experiences.

Ezekiel 14-15, Hebrews 10