Aug. 14, 2014–Whose Opinion?

August 15, 2014 By

sandi krakowski(Be blessed by this DWOD for Aug. 14, 2014 by guest contributor Sandi Krakowski)

When Jesus spoke to the winds and the waves, He said, “Peace, be still.” The transliteration of the word “still” means to be MUZZLED.

When we look at the word “muzzled” in its most natural expression, it means to be prevented from expressing opinions freely. The storm was forbidden to express its opinion.

When the enemy comes to taunt you and harass you, never forget that, he is expressing his opinion!

When a critic comes and seeks to suck the wind out of your sails, remember this—they are entitled to their own opinion and you are well able to IGNORE their opinion.

We can’t keep bad things from happening, or challenges from occurring. We can’t make everyone be quiet. We live in a free will society and God made us to have a free will.

HOWEVER, we do not need to agree with the opinion of the storm or the waves, or anyone standing by the shores screaming, “You will drown!”

Choose to listen to God’s opinion of the storm.

He said YOU are more than a conqueror! (Romans 8:37)

He said you are well able to handle anything that comes your way. (Philippians 4:13, I Corinthians 10:13)

He said that when we are weak, He can and will make us strong, if we trust Him. (Isaiah 40:29)

He said when we don’t know what to do, He will give us wisdom, if we ask. (James 1:5)

He said that when we make big mistakes, if we confess our sin, He will be FAITHFUL, every single time, to not condemn us, but to forgive us. EVERY time. (I John 1:9)

Be very careful whose opinion you are listening to today. Let’s choose to agree with God! Amen?

(Sandi Krakowski, the founder of A Real Change, is a social media marketing expert who serves over 1.5 million clients worldwide. Sandi’s passion and purpose is to ignite people and cause them to burn with the fire that God put in their hearts, to cause them to live in freedom and to be capable of causing them to burn on their own in their respective calling).

Filed Under: Guest Authors

Aug. 13, 2014–Destiny Through Prayer

August 15, 2014 By

Darren glory cloudOne of the ways to secure destiny is through the realization that God’s word is not just an empty basket without substance.  The word of God is about the promises of God for a life of obedience, and you are empowered by Holy Spirit to live a life of obedience when you submit your life to Christ.

It is the grace of God working in me that empowers me to obey.  All I have to do is submit, listen, obey and remain in the vine.

But when you do remain in the word of God blessings begin to overtake your life.  The same promises that were given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to the nation of Israel become promises for your life too.

What do you mean, do you ask?

Well, let’s take a passage like Deuteronomy 28 (I suggest you follow the link and read the passage in whole), which is filled with so many promises for the obedient child of God.  When I understand in my heart that these blessings are available to me because of my obedience (which again is empowered by Holy Spirit), then I can use them as a word to fight my prayer battles.  Here is an example of how I might pray using the above passage.

“Lord Jesus, you said that I would be blessed in the city and in the country and that when I come in and go out I would be blessed, therefore my God I declare that your blessing will flow through and from my life. My God, I will be the head and not the tail in all my dealings with the enemy. Nothing can arise against me to destroy me because I am obedient to Christ and His word for my life, therefore I will be victorious in all my life.” 

When these prayers take over my heart they are answered, because I am praying according to a promise in scripture, which is God’s word for my life.

And truly I am victorious in my life even when I may face valleys and mountains of many kinds.  As long as I have God’s word in my heart I know that I will overcome.  There is no fear or circumstance, nothing negative that can hold me down.  I am more than a conqueror when I have the word of God for my life.

I pray that you will feel this security too.

(This post first appeared as the DWOD for Nov. 17, 2012)

Filed Under: Pastor Darren Canning

Aug. 12, 2014–Pray with Thanks, not with Angst

August 15, 2014 By

pray with jooyDo not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)

For a number of years now, I have been offering those who are going through what could be labelled “fearful” situations a Scriptural prescription.

It is one that I heard Paul Keith Davis first mention at a Conference in Toronto at a time when I was facing great uncertainty about my future. The enemy had managed to stir up fear in my spirit. I knew God would take care of everything, but, truth be known, I was not confident about it.

“Dr. Davis” prescribed a daily reading of Psalms 27 & 91. Out aloud. At least once a day. You could do it more frequently. There was no danger of an overdose 🙂

No sooner had I received the prescription than I started to take the recommended daily allowance and began to saturate my mind with verses such as these:

“The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day…” (Psalm 91:4-5)

I experienced such great relief after following this prescription that I freely began to dispense it to anyone who was willing to take it…and most did.

However, I also began to notice that not all who took the RDA of these psalms experienced the same results as I had. This puzzled me, because God says very clearly in Isaiah 55:11 about the word that goes forth from His mouth: “It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

As I was seeking Holy Spirit for some revelation on this, He took me to Philippians 4:6 where Paul reminds us to offer our prayers and petitions “with thanksgiving.” 

That is when I realized that the attitude with which we follow the prescription had a lot to do with its effectiveness. So, for example, when someone read them out aloud with fear, expecting the worst to happen despite the best outcomes promised by God, they got what they expected—more attacks or the same attacks with greater intensity.

On the other hand, those who recited those same verses with the joyful expectancy that God will keep His promises achieved great results. Why? Because they had no fear of the enemy. They did not expect the enemy to flex his muscles and inflict greater damage upon them. They would not even allow that thought to have any life or influence. They took it captive to Christ, locked it up and threw away the key!!

They replaced anxiety with thankfulness. They started praising and thanking God for the victory that was theirs. After all, it was guaranteed by the Creator of the Universe. Why would they worry about the promise not being kept?

Dear DWOD friend, have you been reading out Scriptural affirmations similar to Psalm 27 & 91 and not seeing good results? Could you be unintentionally sabotaging the outcome with your attitude?

Stop praying with angst. Pray with thanks instead. It will make a world of difference! I can’t wait to hear your testimonies!!

Filed Under: Pastor Jeeva Sam