Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?   ~  Mark 4:40 NKJV

What fear is holding you back?  What fear is dictating your behavior?  What fear is paralyzing you?  If you don’t face your fears you will never progress in God.  In this passage in Mark 4 the disciples were in a boat in the midst of a storm.  You have to understand that they were commercial fishermen, they fished for a living.  They understood storms and what they could do to boats out on the water.  So, when Peter woke Jesus up and told Him they were about to perish, he wasn’t exaggerating.  In the natural they were in trouble!

So what was Jesus upset about?  Why did He reprimand them?  It wasn’t because they weren’t in trouble.  It was because they failed to face their fear with faith.  So, what have you been fearful of lately?  What fear do you need to face down with faith?  Get ready to face that fear and use your faith, and your life will change for the better!

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.      ~   Acts 2:4

So, you’ve been filled with the Holy Ghost, now what?  Well, the Bible tells us when the disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost they began to speak with tongues.  Now that you’re filled with the Holy Spirit you not only have begun to speak with tongues, but you should continue speaking with tongues on a daily basis.  I don’t know that there is a day that goes by without me speaking in tongues.

According to scriptures, tongues builds us up.  It edifies and improves us.  It brings rest and refreshing to our lives.  It’s the only way you can allow your spirit man to pray.  When we pray in tongues we are praying with the Holy Spirit’s understanding.  That’s better than praying with your own understanding any way you slice it!  So let me encourage you, now that you are filled with the Holy Spirit, spend time everyday praying in other tongues.

There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no ties with anyone.       ~  Judges 18:28

Divine connections are those connections that are “God ordained”.  They help you get to where you need to be while you help someone else get to where they need to be.  We can’t live life as a lone ranger and expect to receive the deliverance and help that we need.  Most of the time God will use other people to help us.

I’m reminded about the man at the pool of Bethesda who was unable to walk for thirty-eight years.  Every so often an angel would trouble the waters of the pool and whoever got in first was made whole of whatever was wrong with him.  The man told Jesus that he had not been healed because he had no one to help him get into the pool when the waters were troubled by the angel.  You would have thought that in thirty-eight years he would have made a connection with someone who could help him! 

Divine connections are so important to our lives.  Be sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your life and He will lead you to your divine connections!

Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light to all that are in the house.   ~   Matthew 5:14,15

You’ll notice in this passage of scripture that Jesus tells us that we’re to shed light in two places — the world and at home.  If we’re only shedding light at church, then we have a real credibility problem.  The world won’t believe we’re the real deal, neither will those who live at home with us. 

If anyone knows the real us it’s those we live with everyday.  Are we kind and loving to those of our own household, or are we nasty and ugly with those who know us best?  What about out in public?  These days a lot of people display their public life out in the open through websites like Facebook.  Are you just as spiritual on Facebook as you are at church?  If not you have a real credibility issue. 

We shouldn’t just act holy at church, then be something else out in public.  Always remember, people are watching to see if you’re the real deal or just another hypocrite.  So then…  don’t act like a Christian at church then act like the devil’s cousin at home or in public.  Let’s strive to be the real deal wherever we are!

Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.    ~  1 Corinthians 4:2

A faithful person will stick with something through thick and thin.  An unfaithful person will quit on something when they no longer feel excited about what they are doing.  Faithfulness must be developed in our lives.  Many of the assignments that God gives us start out with excitement, but after the excitement wears off it’s faithfulness that keeps us going.  Faithfulness keeps us doing what is right because it is right.

Unfaithful people need some kind of feeling to keep them going; they need to feel excited or they’ll quit.  Faithful people only need to know that it is the right thing to be doing to keep them going.  Unfaithful people believe that when the excitement has left something that it is a sign for them to stop doing it.  Faithful people don’t ever stop doing what they’re doing unless they have definite direction from the Lord to stop. 

One thing is for sure, if we’re going to be faithful we can never be led by our emotions.  Make up your mind today that you are going to be a faithful person.  The book of Proverbs tells us that “a faithful person shall abound with blessings!”

Praise waits for Thee, O God in Sion: and unto Thee shall the vow be performed.                       ~   Psalm 65:1

The word “waits” in this verse can be translated “is silent”.  This seems strange due to the fact that praise is to be any thing but silent.  But this scripture is presenting a picture of  a lion who is silently waiting to pounce upon his prey.  That’s what we’re to be like when we come into the house of God.  We’re to be just waiting to spring forth in praise to God!  What a hugh difference it would make in the anointing in our meetings if everyone came with this attitude.

The story is told about Smith Wigglesworth who once made everyone present in a meeting leave and come back in praising the Lord.  One lady who was present in that meeting remarked years later about how powerful that meeting was.  The psalmist of old told us to “enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise”.  Simple obedience to God’s commands will always produce remarkable results.  Let’s all do a better job at entering His gates!

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.   ~  Deuteronomy 28:1,2

Thank God for His blessings!  God truly wants His blessings to overtake us.  That means no matter how fast we’re running we can’t run fast enough to keep ahead of the blessings of God!  These two verses in Deuteronomy reveal the key to walking in God’s blessings…  “if you will hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.” 

The more we listen to and obey God’s voice through His Word and His Spirit, the greater level of blessings we’ll be able to walk in.  So I encourage you to go to great lengths to obey the voice of the LORD this day and throughout the new year!

Happy is that people, that is in such a case:  yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.  ~  Psalm 144:15

If you were to ask people, “Where is the happiest place on the earth?”  you’d probably hear answers like Disneyland, a football game, or kids would probably say Chucky Cheese!  But the happiest place on earth is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ!  It’s where more love, more joy, more peace, more blessing is offered — more than anywhere else.

So why aren’t God’s people always the happiest people on the planet?  It’s because they are not partaking of what’s available.  Even a child wouldn’t be happy if you took him to Chucky Cheese and just made him sit there and never enter into what’s available.  But one thing I’ve noticed…   those who do enter in are always happy.  So truly the Church IS the happiest place on earth, but YOU must enter in and enjoy what’s been provided!

But with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.                   ~   I Peter 1:19

Jesus’ Blood is precious!  Precious means, “held in honor, held as of a great price, highly esteemed, especially dear, costly”.  In heaven they sing and talk about the Blood a lot!  Perhaps that’s why the Church is weak…  we don’t sing and talk about the Blood enough.

And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of Hs disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray.   ~  Luke 11:1

Notice that as great a teacher and preacher that Jesus was, as great a miracle worker that He was, His disciples are never recorded as asking Him to teach them how to preach or to teach them how to work miracles.  What they did ask Him though, was to teach them how to pray.  Perhaps they were more impressed with His prayer life than anything else. 

What an irony that prayer seems to be the thing that least impresses His disciples today.  They may be impressed with teaching or with miracles, but don’t really have time for prayer.  Someone said, “It is more important that men learn to pray than they gain a college education.”  I’m not knocking college, it can be very helpful, but learning to pray is far more important.  When you know how to pray you can get yourself out of any crisis of life!