Philippians 3:13 - “But this one thing I do, forgetting...” After a touch and go, back and forth, high drama battle against a top 10 college team, Hugh Freeze, coach of the Ole Miss Rebels football team, finally came out on top. It was the first time in decades that the University of Mississippi was on the radar for an important game. Amidst the celebration and student stampede to take down the goal post, ESPN interviewed Coach Freeze right on the field. They asked, “You just won one of the biggest games in Ole Miss history, what are you gonna do next week for an encore?” His answer...
Read MoreThe "Mess-terpiece"
Ephesians 2:10 (New Living Translation) “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”. If you haven’t seen it already, I highly recommend the movie Moms Night Out for you and your family. It’s a wonderful celebration of the “mess” that sometimes comes with parenting. In the movie, when the moms go out for a much needed night out with the girls...
Read MoreHave Your Logged Onto "Faith-Book" Today?
Romans 10:17 – “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”. Did you know there are currently 1.32 billion monthly active users on Facebook? That’s astounding to me. Americans spend an average of...
Read MoreWriting in Wet Cement
Proverbs 3:3 – “Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them about your neck, write them upon the table of your heart”. A very successful college professor left a lucrative job, one with tenure, at a major American university, to teach…
Read MoreLess Than $1 Grace...Free
Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified Bible) – “For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment {and} made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;” Did you hear the story of the people who put some antiques out on their front lawn with a sign that read “free” on them? People could have taken whatever they wanted, but...
Read MoreFrom Beggar to Businessman
1 Samuel 10:6 – “And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophecy with them, and shall be turned into another man”. American author, salesman and motivational speaker, “Zig” Ziglar tells this story…A number of years ago, he was walking down a major street in a large American city, and he saw a beggar with a container of pencils for sale for $1.00...
Read MoreGod is Calling You Forward
Romans 10:17 (Amplified Bible) - "So then faith comes (increases) by hearing, and hearing (understanding) by the Word of God." When you truly meditate on the Word of God regarding a pressing issue in your life, something beautiful happens...
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Life A La Mode
John 10:10 (Amplified Bible) – “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have {and} enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).”
Whoever put ice cream on a pie first is a topic of discussion without a definitive answer. What is known is that it was served at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, where some restaurant venue served slices of pie with a scoop of ice cream on top. The French saw it as audacious...
Read MoreFly a 747
Luke 7:47 – “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
This past summer I had the privilege of ministering at the International Pastor’s and Minister’s Conference in Gabon, Africa. What an amazing conference, outstanding people and wonderful country. We saw miracles and healing that were a testimony to God’s unmerited favor. However, my multiple flights on Royal Air Morocco to Africa was, shall I say…not quite as invigorating. I left on a Friday night from New York...
Read MoreThere's A Blessing With Your Name On It
Numbers 13:30 - "And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."
How you see yourself is how you will experience life! Winners win long before they get in the competition. In my first year of college...
Read MoreDon't Be A Know-It-All
Hebrews 11:8 "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing where he went."
It was a Monday morning, after an anointed Sunday service, and I was standing in the hallway of the offices where I worked at the time as a staff minister at Faith Fellowship Ministries World Outreach Center. I saw my pastor walking toward me...
Read More10-4, Over and Out
Romans 10:4 – “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes”.
My friend and me were texting back and forth, and were about to wrap it up when he texted, “10-4”. Remember that phrase? Haven’t heard it in a while. For those of you who are not familiar with the “ten-codes”, they are...
Read MoreWinning in Troubled Times
2 Corinthians 4:17 – “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”. I read a story about a woman in Haiti that was caught under a collapsed house and rubble during the earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. She told of how she immediately began quoting Psalm 91. Still under the house, on Wednesday she quoted Psalm 91, on Thursday... 2 Corinthians 4:17 – “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”. I read a story about a woman in Haiti that was caught under a collapsed house and rubble during the earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. She told of how she immediately began quoting Psalm 91. Still under the house, on Wednesday she quoted Psalm 91, on Thursday...
Read More12 Items Or Less
2 Chronicles 20:25 – “And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.”
Now, that’s a scripture that will get you shouting! I believe that on the other side of your battle, there’s abundance. Last week, I stopped at the grocery store, picked up two gallons of Raspberry Iced Tea, and went to the Express Checkout for “12 items or less”. The woman in front of me was loading her MORE than 12 items onto the belt...
Read MoreI Had a Dream
Psalm 126:1 “When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream”.
If you’ve been watching the World Cup, you may have heard the remarkable story of the game between the United States and Ghana, a very strong team that had beaten the U.S. in the two previous World Cups. Well, this time around...
Read MoreWhat You Guys Can't See
Matthew 6:4 “The Father which sees in secret, Himself shall reward you openly”
Want a recipe for greatness? Read on. While playing in Game 3 of the National Basketball League finals, LeBron James, the greatest player in the world, had such severe leg cramps that he could barely walk, let alone play the last seven minutes of the game. Everyone wondered, “How will he perform the next game”, “How will he do it?” “Is he the same player?” ...
Read MoreGet Busy Livin' or Get Busy Dyin'
Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified Bible) "…[taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]."
One of my favorite movies of all time is Shawshank Redemption, based on a true story of Andy Dufresne, a man wrongly accused and imprisoned for murder. He spent 19 years at Shawshank Prison, until he escaped through a tunnel, the length of five football fields, that he partly forged with a small rock hammer, and the remainder through raw sewerage.
Read MoreJesus Loves Me, This I Know
Ephesians 3:19 - "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."
I heard a magnificent story the other day of a minister from Oregon who was assigned to provide counseling to patients in a state mental illness facility. When he arrived for duty, he was sent to a padded cell with a large group of deranged, barely clothed people. The stench of human excrement filled the room. When he tried to talk with the patients, they responded with groans, moans and demonic-like laughter.
Read MoreThe Wagons Are Coming
Genesis 45:27 - Amplified Bible - "But when they told him [Jacob] all the words of Joseph which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived [and warmth and life returned]."
Are you an optimist of a pessimist? Consider this. When Jacob's sons came to him and said their brother Joseph, his favored son, was dead, he believed their lying report. Then when the same sons came to him many years later and said that Joseph is alive, and he's the governor of Egypt, he couldn't believe their true report. It was easier for him to believe the negative news, and harder for him to believe the positive news...it was just "too good to be true". That's pessimism - the tendency to dismiss the light and embrace the dark.
Read MoreWhere Are the Bulldogs
Genesis 32:26 - "And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me."
Did you know that bulldogs are trained to control unruly cattle (bulls) and large game such as boars? They have very powerful jaw muscles that help them to lock down on their target. They have an amazing will and determination, it's nearly impossible to get them to release their grip, no matter what the circumstance. How? They are created with a facial structure that helps them to continue to breathe while locking down.
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