I’m always being told I look like my dad. When people look at you, do they see your family resemblance? Perhaps you have characteristics of your father or mother; maybe you have their eyes, or mouth, or mannerisms. We Christians should also have the characteristics of Christ. We should display His likeness. We should have His eyes, His mouth and His mannerisms too. We should study Him and imitate Him with the same awe that little children have when they imitate their earthly fathers.
Remember, the Bible tells us that God is love. We are never more like God than when we are walking in love—when we are being patient and kind; when we are extending grace and mercy and forgiving others, the way Christ has forgiven us.
Today, when you imitate God, when you do things His way, you get His results! And God’s ways always lead to life, freedom and blessing. The more you imitate your heavenly Father by walking in love, the more you will see Him moving in your life. He’ll open doors for you that no man can close, and you’ll see His hand of blessing in every area of your life!
“Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children imitate their father. And walk in love…”(Ephesians 5:1–2, AMP)
Let’s Pray
Yahshua, I invite Your love and life to flow through me in a practical way. Allow me to become just like You in every way. Father, show me how I can be a blessing to others as I follow Your ways. Let my life please You, so that I can be an example of Your awesome character, in Christ’ name! Amen.
This year I have been studying the book of Joshua, and today’s promise is one of my favourites. God said to Joshua, “today I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all the Israelites.” In other words, “today, I’m going to start releasing more of My favour, My blessings, My increase.” But notice, there was a set time that God began to release favour in a new way. God wants to do the same thing for you. He wants to release His blessings and favour in such a way that it makes you a great parent, a great spouse, a great leader, a great employee, a great friend.
Today, God is saying to us what He said to Joshua, “this day, I’m going to begin to make your name great. This day, I’m going to begin to release My favour in a new way. I’m going to open doors that no man can shut.” It is the time for God’s favour in your life. Get ready! Make room in your thinking. Stay open to Him and keep an attitude of faith and expectancy, because this day God has something amazing in store for you! Hallelujah!
“That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life…” (Joshua 4:14, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, I bless You this morning. Father, You alone are worthy of all glory and honour. Thank You for pouring out Your favour and blessing on me today. God, I open my heart and mind to receive everything You have in store for me this day. I look forward to You blessing me for the world to see as You did for Joshua, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
This year I have been studying the book of Joshua, and today’s promise is one of my favourites. God said to Joshua, “today I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all the Israelites.” In other words, “today, I’m going to start releasing more of My favour, My blessings, My increase.” But notice, there was a set time that God began to release favour in a new way. God wants to do the same thing for you. He wants to release His blessings and favour in such a way that it makes you a great parent, a great spouse, a great leader, a great employee, a great friend.
Today, God is saying to us what He said to Joshua, “this day, I’m going to begin to make your name great. This day, I’m going to begin to release My favour in a new way. I’m going to open doors that no man can shut.” It is the time for God’s favour in your life. Get ready! Make room in your thinking. Stay open to Him and keep an attitude of faith and expectancy, because this day God has something amazing in store for you! Hallelujah!
“That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life…” (Joshua 4:14, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, I bless You this morning. Father, You alone are worthy of all glory and honour. Thank You for pouring out Your favour and blessing on me today. God, I open my heart and mind to receive everything You have in store for me this day. I look forward to You blessing me for the world to see as You did for Joshua, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
During this pandemic and periods of lockdown, one thing that God has done for us is that He has given us more ministry opportunities. Reaching out to neighbours, friends, and the vulnerable. Millions have started online ministries and businesses. What about you! Don’t just sit there and watch the world go by. God wants to bless you and enlarge your territory. Your territory can be your sphere of influence, or your realm of responsibility or authority.
Are you ready for increase in your life today? You may desire God’s increase, but the Bible says we have not because we ask not. Are you asking for God’s blessing and ministry opportunities? Are you asking Him to enlarge your territory to make things bigger and better for you and your sphere of influence? When you ask God to bless you, your faith is activated, which opens the door for Him to work in your life.
Today, ask for God’s blessing, ask for His discernment and wisdom. Ask Him to make you more effective on your job; ask Him to increase the quality of your life and relationships; ask for more people to love and encourage. Ask Him to enlarge your territory so that you can be a greater blessing to those around you. Why not take one step of faith in prayer, God will open doors that no man can close, and He will pour out abundance in every area of your life! Hallelujah!
“Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory…” (1 Chronicles 4:10, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, I open my heart to You and ask You to bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory and my sphere of influence. God, I ask You to increase me in every area, and teach me to be faithful to You always, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
During this pandemic, many have lost hope and trust in God. God reminds us with this simple promise that “with Him, all things are possible!” Possibility is powerful! Possibility isn’t limited. It means you have options. No matter how you may feel right now, you aren’t stuck and you aren’t confined to your circumstances. No, you have a door of possibility in front of you, the question is: will you walk through it?
You may ask, “Ray how do you walk through that door of possibility?” By placing your faith in Him. By trusting that He keeps His promises, and by being confident that He is at work even when you can’t see it. That confidence, praying, believing and worshiping will open doors, and allow you to walk through them in good times and in bad times.
Today, meditate on the fact that God is still doing the impossible. He still has the power to restore broken families. He can restore lost dreams and work miracles beyond what you could ever imagine. Please choose to trust and believe, look for His goodness and know that with God, all things are still possible! Hallelujah!
“…with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for choosing me and using me for Your glory. Father, I rest in knowing that my life is in Your hands. I trust You and believe You that all things are possible. I choose to walk in Your power of possibility, knowing that doors will open and that all things will work together for my good. In Christ’s Name! Amen.
“The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.” (Proverbs 4:18, NLT)
With many of our youth today growing up without a father-figure in their lives, it becomes hard for them to trust God and love God. Unlike David, who despite lives challenges, he chose to put his life in the hands of the Lord. In Psalms 31:15, He says, “I trust You, God, because I know You are good, my times are in Your hands.” Are you willing, despite an absent father-figure, poor relationships or trust issues, to release every area of your life to the Father who will never abandon you or let you down? Are you willing to trust Him with every time and season of your life?
Today, you may be in a situation that you don’t fully understand, but take heart God is a good God, you can trust Him. He is working on your behalf. If you’ll keep your heart surrendered to Him, you’ll begin to see things change in your favour. As you continue to trust Him, He’ll open doors for you. God, will take what the enemy meant for evil in your life, and He’ll turn it around for your good. Keep standing, keep believing, and trust Him. Your times are in His hands!
“My times are in Your hands…” (Psalm 31:15, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank you for being there for me, today I choose to trust You. Father, I trust that You are working on my behalf. God, I trust You with my whole life, my times are in Your hands. Please help me to stay close to You today, so that I can hear Your voice. In Christ’s Name! Amen.
Does something you need seem impossible? With man it may be, but we serve the all-powerful God, and He can create something out of nothing! He can make a way when there seems to be no way, and open doors that seem closed forever!
The Bible says, “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” but before He spoke the world into existence it was formless and void. If God can make the world out of nothing, He can take the empty places in your life and create something beautiful too! He can speak light into your darkest hour. He can take your formless dreams and give them shape. He can resurrect your dormant gifts and talents! He can make your crooked places straight! Hallelujah!
Today, know that you are created in the image of Almighty God. There’s power in your words, and there’s power when you’re in agreement with Him. Start saying what God says about your situation. Speak life to your broken dreams today. Speak hope into the hopeless places. Keep an attitude of faith and expectancy, because He will turn things around for you and create something out of nothing!
“Now the earth was formless and empty…and God said, ‘let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Genesis 1:2—3, NIV)
Pray With Me
Yahweh, I trust that You are willing and able to make a way for me where there seems to be no way in my life. Father, fill me with Your peace and faith. Give me a vision for all You have for me, and help me to always speak Your words of truth and light into my darkness. God, thank You for making me in Your image, in Jesus’ name! Amen.
Friend, today God wants to release His blessings and favour in your life in such a way that it makes you a great parent, a great spouse, a great leader, a great employee, a great friend, a great business person. He is saying to us what He said in today’s verse, “This day, I’m going to begin to make your name great.”
I love the promise that God gave to Joshua. He said, “Joshua, today I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all the Israelites.” He was saying, “during the next 24 hours, I’m going to start releasing more of My favour, My blessings, My increase.” But notice, there was a set time that God began to release favour in a new way.
Today, God says based upon Joshua 4, “He is going to begin to bless you in a new way. He will open doors that no man can shut.” Get ready! Make room in your thinking. Stay open to Him and keep an attitude of faith and expectancy, because this day, God has something special and amazing in store for you!
“That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life…” (Joshua 4:14, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, I bless You. You alone are worthy of all my glory and honour. Father, thank You for pouring out Your favour and blessings on me. Almighty God, I open my heart and mind to receive everything You have in store for me this day, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
They want to take God’s name out of the national anthem.
The list of “assaults” on Christianity grows and varies from Western country to country. Every day Christians take to social media and share how life is so hard. We are under siege. Our lives are in danger of ungodly people changing things in our government. We are suffering at the hands of sinners. And the likes…
These kinds of things make their rounds on Facebook and Twitter because we are the “persecuted church“.
Only we couldn’t be more wrong. And we need to stop calling ourselves that.
Open Doors, an organization dedicated to helping the actual persecuted church, wherever they might be in the world. But it isn’t in North America.
The World Watch List was recently updated, sharing the Top 50 nations where being a Christian is the toughest. While you can find the full list here, read over the Top 20 as shared by BibleGateway Blog.
Top 20 Countries Persecuting Christians
North Korea
Afghanistan
Somalia
Libya
Pakistan
Sudan
Eritrea
Yemen
Iran
India
Syria
Nigeria
Iraq
Maldives
Saudi Arabia
Egypt
Uzbekistan
Myanmar (Burma)
Laos
Vietnam
The only “Western” country to make the Top 50 list is Mexico, coming in at 39.
Think about that.
These Christians suffer from Communist or Post-communist oppression, Dictatorial Paranoia, Ethnic Antagonism, Islamic Oppression, and/or Religious Nationalism.
They are regularly attacked, routinely harassed, habitually disturbed and made the public pariah of their respective nations. Their government makes examples of them, create laws with which to demoralize and cripple their lives. Freedoms and rights are removed or none existent.
Christians have no voice, no power, no representation, no ability to advocate for change in these nations. None of which are Western countries.
More than 245 million Christians live with high, very high, or extreme persecution on a regular basis. If not daily. That number is up from 2018. It was 215 million last year.
David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA said this,
“Islamic radicalism continues to dominate and influence all spheres of life for Christians, and we are watching China and India very closely. The distressing impact of billions of people living in an environment in which the government oppresses freedom of religion is unravelling day by day as millions of Christians are being attacked, imprisoned or killed. Open Doors will continue to walk alongside these Christians and advocate on their behalf for human rights we take for granted in America.”
That is the persecuted church. Those are the people that are suffering in the name of Jesus.
Having someone disagree with us on Facebook is not persecution. Having a government make changes to their laws to no favour a single religion is not what people in North Korea are suffering. Someone mocking your faith in a cartoon or a meme is not what is happening in Afghanistan.
They are being murdered. They are being imprisoned.
I’m not saying that our lives are easy or that the way we are treated is right, but what Western Christians deal with is not persecution like the rest of the world deals with.
Let’s remember what our brothers and sisters are going through, remember what our forefathers endured as well.
“Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”
A Shocking report revealed that 1 in 12 Christians worldwide is suffering persecution for their faith making them the target of vicious savage rape attacks.
The report by Open Doors USA stated that 215 million Christians live in regions with high degrees of persecution worldwide.
Open Doors USA is an organization that studies Christian persecution.
Open Doors USA documented that in statical terms over 3,000 Christians were killed, 1,252 were abducted; and approximately 800 churches were subjected to vandalism in 2017 within the reporting period for the 2018 list.
David Curry, the president, and CEO of Open Doors USA told Fox News. That ‘in maybe a way that he hasn’t seen before, the most disturbing findings suggest that Christian women are among the most violated in the entire world, ‘David also stated that ‘We need to raise the flag as these are tactics that are being increasingly used by extremists.’
50 countries were identified across the world where following Christianity is most dangerous.
For the second year in a row, the list’s number one cause of Christian persecution is the spread of radical Islamic persecution in 35 of the 50 nations according to the report.
North Korea topped the list as it is an atheist state and public worship is illegal, also as Afghanistan has a conservative Muslim population and lacks a strong central government it wasn’t far behind.
Open Doors USA finds that there has been tremendous growth in underground Christianity in North Korea with over 300,000 Christians practicing their religion behind closed doors for fear of government persecution.
‘In a nation where the ruling regime demands total control over the general public, anything that challenges the government’s power is seen as a threat, including religion,’ Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern, told Fox News. ‘As a result, the North Korean government does everything in its power to squash the spread of Christianity.’
Islamic militancy has also been on the rise in Somalia, where Christians if caught, are usually martyred. Christians in Egypt, India, Libya, and Kazakhstan also experienced increased persecution since last Open Doors report.
“The World Watch List matters. It matters because it is the most trusted measurement of religious persecution in the world today,” CEO David Curry said. “But even more important, the list matters because it’s a spiritual EKG showing the strength and vulnerability of the global Church.”
Open Doors is a non-denominational mission ministry launched in 1955 by the Dutch Brother Andrew, author of God’s Smuggler, which tells the stories of his secret missions to smuggle Bibles into hostile regions.
Open Doors has been monitoring worldwide Christian persecution since the 1970s.
