BUILDING SPIRITUAL CAPITAL

Job chapter 1 reveals a man described by God in verse 8 as blameless,upright and one who fears God but  battered by severe tragedy.Suddenly tragedy struck and his flocks were stolen and carried off by surrogates of the devil. Thereafter "fire of God" ( maybe lightning) fell from heaven and burned up his sheep and servants. The final blow in this chapter was the tragedy of the sudden death of all his children in one swoop.

What was intriguing for me was Job's response to these tragedies. In verse 21-22,Job said,"naked I came from my mothers womb,and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. In all this,Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing."

HOW WAS JOB ABLE TO COPE WITH THIS SUDDEN CALAMITY?
I think that Job had all along been building up his spiritual capital that come handy in the day of trial. This he did progressively through:

•  Daily deepening of relationship with God.This builds faith for the rainy day.
•  Constant determination to obey the commandments of God. Obedience renews grace
•   Yielding daily to the will of God. This provides spiritual strength for the day of battle.

Job is among the cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 12:1. May we imitate the life of Job  as portrayed in the first chapter of the book of Job.

ACHIEVERS PEDEGREE.

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

- Dale Carnegie

BREAK ALL BOUNDRIES

There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no insurmountable barrier except our own inherent weakness of purpose.

-Elbert Hubbard

PRAY FOR NATIONS

Operation World Prayer Team

To Me

Feb 22 at 1:15 AM

February 22 - Today we are praying for Aruba: Aruba: Population: 107,380 Largest religion: Christian Percent Evangelical: 7.6% For prayer information on Aruba, visit the Operation World website and remember to: Pray for the specific country needs: Unity among believers is a key issue for the diverse churches in... READ MORE

PRAY FOR THE NATIONS

February 17 - Today we are praying for Anguilla: Antigua and Barbuda Anguilla: Population: 15,465 Largest religion: Christian Percent Evangelical: 17.2% For prayer information on Anguilla, visit the Operation World website and remember to: Pray for the specific country needs: Interdenominational cooperation needs further improvement despite... READ MORE Antigua and Barbuda: Population: 88,550 Largest religion: Christian Percent Evangelical: 19.9% For prayer information on Antigua and Barbuda, visit the Operation World website and remember to: Pray for the specific country needs: Unity among the churches is essential. Pray for effective cooperation... READ MORE

MAKE THE BEST USE OF EACH DAY

There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day.

~Alexander Woollcott

VALENTINE 2014

"True love isn't Romeo & Juliet who died together. It's Grandma & Grandpa who grew old together"-Anon
This great saying shows that love is not leisure, it is work. These ten things among many others helped my wife & I in our thirty years of  marriage.

• Built our relationship on Christ from the beginning and nurtured the foundation over these thirty years.
• Learnt early to help each other grow spiritually-this helped our staying power in time of crisis.
• 
  Built trust from the beginning of courtship till date.
• Teamwork is key. Synergy enables us to achieve far more than we could have achieved individually.
• Put the interest of your partner above your own interest.
• The man must provide spiritual leadership in the home
• Support your partner's career development with all vigor.
• Allow your partner his/her freedom,especially if partner is a career woman.
• Sex is good because it is created by God.
• Don't allow weeds grow in you marriage-

PAYER FOR THE NATIONS

Operation World Prayer Team

To Me

Today at 2:45 AM

February 12 - Today we are praying for Algeria: Algeria: Population: 35,422,589 Largest religion: Muslim Percent Evangelical: 0.2% For prayer information on Algeria, visit the Operation World website and remember to: Pray for the specific country needs: The unreached comprise virtually the whole nation...

DAILY FEEDING FROM THE SHEPHERD

Nehemiah 9:29-30
" You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands.They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention,so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples."

Note: A portion of Nehemiah's priestly prayer in Jerusalem after the return of exiled Jews from Medo-Persia ( see the rest of the chapter for the full prayer).

Lessons for us:

•  God's patience with the disobedient has a time limit.
•  God's greatest expectation-walk according to his laws.
•  God judged and will still  judge those who despise his laws.

Application:  Psalm 86:11  "Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart,that I may fear your name.

FROM SOCHI WINTER GAMES

"  We don't really talk about the result but rather focus on the process,what we can do to improve performance."

(From three sisters in the Canadian Team)

PRAY FOR NATIONS

Pray Today: Afghanistan (Feb 09)

Operation World Prayer Team

To Me

Today at 1:14 AM

February 09 - Today we are praying for Afghanistan: Afghanistan: Population: 29,117,489 Largest religion: Muslim For prayer information on Afghanistan, visit the Operation World website and remember to: Pray for the specific country needs: The status of women especially warrants prayer.

Opportunity in Difficulty

We must look for the opportunity in every difficulty instead of being paralyzed at the thought of the difficulty in every opportunity.

~Walter E. Cole

  

(Culled from Daily Insights)

Pray for Nations.

Pray Today: Hot Spots in the Pacific (Feb 07)

February 07 - Today we are praying for Pacific: Hot Spots in the Pacific Pacific: Population: 35,838,336 Largest religion: Christian Percent Evangelical: 17.8% Also prayer specifically for the expansion of the kingdom of God in the Pacific region.

DAILY FEEDING FROM THE SHEPHERD

Nehemiah 7:1-2
"After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place,the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed. I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani,along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel,because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do."

Key Point: Leader's effectiveness will rest a lot on the person's integrity of heart and reverence for God. These two are powerful ingredients for godly leadership and the absence of which creates the sort of  void we see in all forms and levels of leadership today.

How does one develop integrity and fear of God?  Close Relationship with God  molds our character. Character is a reflection of God's own nature. Determination to be like him is also very key as a lot of who we become is dependent on us.

MOUNT HOREB-DEUTERONOMY 1:1-8

Moses and the nation of Israel journeyed from Egypt to the promised land,Canaan. Mount Horeb was supposed to be a brief stopping place but they ended up spending 40years on this mountain. It took God calling on Moses with a marching order for Israel to arise and move on to Canaan,to get the people up and running again. Are there lessons we can learn from this experience? Yes  of course!

God has a destination for each of us but sometimes we are not able to get there for these and other reasons:

•        Fear of stepping out or fear of the unknown.
•        Love for status quo. Not willing to take any risk.
•        Loss of passion for the vision.
•        Ignorance of the destination.
•        Lack of faith.
•        Whittling down  of relationship with God.
•        Resources.   

REMAINING FOCUSED ON THE DESTINATION IS THE PANACEA YOU NEED.

HOODWINKED?

   

                                                                                                            

ACTS 17:30-31 

" In the past God overlooked such ignorance,but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.    

   For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man(Jesus Christ) he has appointed.

   He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."