Thoughts of Our Fathers (TOF)

And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
Deuteronomy 28:2

"Well, brother, in the end I'm sure you'll see these financial problems are actually a blessing in disguise." Have you ever heard anybody say that to someone who's hurting financially? Chances are, you have. It's a popular idea. The problem is, it's a lie used by the devil to keep believers down.

As a result, many believers today are suffering one financial defeat after another. So let's go to the Word of God today and get the issue of prosperity and poverty straight. Let's find out, once and for all, which is the blessing, which the curse.

You can find the answer to that question in Deuteronomy 28. What God describes in verses 1 through 14 is the blessing—prosperity. In verses 15 through 31, God describes poverty—and He has called it a curse.

The curse is meant to destroy. Not to teach people a lesson. Not to make them more spiritual. But to destroy them.

Regardless of how intense the lack is, the nature of poverty remains the same. It is, and will always be, a curse.

Satan has gone to great lengths to convince God's people that poverty is a blessing in disguise. But poverty is something the devil contrived!

Don't buy into his lies. Get your thinking in line with the Word of God. If you're a born-again child of God, you no longer have to live under the curse of poverty or any other curse for that matter. You've been redeemed!



Scripture Reading:

Deuteronomy 28:1-31

My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of Your heart. For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh.
—Proverbs 4:20-22

In these verses, the writer used the words, attend to my words, which is another way of exhorting us to meditate. I love the fact that God not only frequently tells us to meditate—to ponder seriously His Word, but He frequently promises results. It's as if God says, "Okay, Joyce, if you meditate, here's what I'm going to do for you."

In this passage, the promise is life and health. Isn't that amazing? It's even a promise that when you contemplate and brood over the Bible, it will affect your physical body.

We've known for a long time that when we fill our minds with healthy, positive thoughts, it affects our body and improves our health. This is just another way of repeating this truth. Or take the opposite viewpoint: Suppose we fill our minds with negative thoughts and remind ourselves how frail we are or how sick we were the day before. We soon become so filled with self-pity and self-defeating thoughts that we get even sicker.

In the previous pages, I've already mentioned the idea of prosperity (see Psalm 1 and Joshua 1:8). I believe that by "prosperity," God means that we'll be enriched and prosper in every part of our lives. It's not a promise of more material wealth, but an assurance of being able to enjoy all the wonderful blessings we have.

Recently when I meditated on several passages in the Bible, I realized God was showing me that the Word has hidden treasures in it—powerful, life-giving secrets—which God wants to reveal to us. They are there for those who muse, ponder, and contemplate the Word of God.

What we often forget is that God wants our fellowship, our company, and our time with Him. If we want a deep relationship with our heavenly Father, we have to make quality time for God. I recently heard someone say, "Quality time comes out of quantity times." In other words, it's only as we spend time with God on a regular, daily basis that we have those special, life-changing moments. We can't program them to happen, but if we're there on a daily basis, God will cause some of those times to be quality times of special blessing.

D. L. Moody once said that the Bible would keep us from sin, or sin would keep us from the Bible. That's the principle here. As we concentrate on God's Word and allow it to fill our thoughts, we will push away all desire to sin or to displease God in any way. We become more deeply rooted in Him. Again, think of it in the negative. When our mind remains focused on our problems all the time, we become consumed with them. If we meditate on what's wrong with others, we see even more flaws and faults. But when we concentrate on God's Word, light comes into our souls.

I want to go back one more time to that powerful statement in Philippians 4:8. No matter which translation or paraphrase we read it in, the message is powerful and exactly what we need to do to condition our minds for victory.

Here's Eugene Peterson's paraphrase in The Message: Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious, the best, not the worst: the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

Dear Father in heaven, teach me the blessings of pondering Your Word, of filling my heart and mind with Your spiritual manna. May I grow into maturity and become more and more like Your Son, Jesus. It's in His name that I pray. Amen.

Memorise: 

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

Read: Luke 16:1-8 (KJV)
1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?

6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.




Bible in one year: Exodus 4:1-6:13, Psalms 109:21-31
MESSAGE
Faithfulness is another obligation that God requires of us as human beings and particularly as His children. God is faithful and He wants us to resemble Him with this attribute of faithfulness. In our text today, we read about a steward who was found unfaithful and the master was about to sack him, this unfaithful servant then went about from one debtor to another to falsify records in order to please his master. Open Heaven Monday 28 November 2016:- A Faithful Steward? The efforts this steward put up to regain his master’s approval did nothing for the expansion of his master’s business, but the master still commended him. If the unfaithful servant could go to the extent he went in order to remain in service, why can’t the children of light go a greater extent to please our Father in heaven? The conclusion of our Bible reading says:


“And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely; for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”


Another lesson we can learn from this story is that your upward movement to the next level is predicated upon how well you perform in your present level of operation. Luke 16:11-12 says:


“If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteousness mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s who shall give you that which is your own?”


Beloved, the Lord is interested in promoting you. As a matter of fact, your promotion is long overdue. I am happy to announce to you that this is your time, however, what are you doing with your present level of position? Are you productive or you are hoarding your ideas so that you can have something to use when you come to a leadership position? You are just destroying and delaying your progress if this is your attitude. To be faithful simply means to be full of faith. Do you have faith in the organisation you are working with? You will not be at your best if you don’t have faith in that organisation you work with? Proverbs 22:29 says:


“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings he shall not stand before mean men.”


Daniel was a typical faithful steward. 28 November 2016 Open Heaven. This is how he survived four generations of rulers – Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Cyrus and Belshazzar. The faithfulness of Mordecai saved the entire Jewish race during the reign of Ahasuerus. My prayer is that you will be highly favoured by the virtue of your faithfulness in Jesus’ name.

John 9:7And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent).So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

When Adam sinned and fell, everything about creation fell. Yet, people today are still putting their trust in creation. For example, they try to become healthy by eating what is called the “Eden diet”—vegetables and no meat. They are acting as if creation did not fall. They also forget that there are people who eat well and exercise regularly, and still drop dead in the prime of their lives!

Thank God that what creation cannot do, redemption can and did. Jesus demonstrated this when He spat on the ground, made clay with the saliva and put it on a blind man’s eyes. (John 9:6–7) Now, it is certainly unusual to put clay on a blind man’s eyes because he would become doubly blind!

So why did Jesus do that?

He was demonstrating to us that all our body parts come from the ground and that because creation is fallen, the work of creation cannot open a blind man’s eyes. But the work of redemption can! That is why He sent the blind man to the pool of Siloam. The word “Siloam” means “Sent”, referring to the sent one, Jesus. When the blind man washed his eyes in the pool of the sent one, he received supernatural healing for his eyes.

Beloved, when we go to Jesus, the sent one who came to redeem us with the price of His blood, and we rest in His finished work, we will receive the miracle we need. If we believe that by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5), we will have greater health than those who trust in creation.

Jesus was sent to redeem us from every curse that came upon creation with the fall of Adam. (Galatians 3:13) He has redeemed us from sickness, pain, sorrow, depression, poverty and even death. The world may know Him as the Creator. But today, we know Him as our Redeemer. Where the work of creation cannot save us, His work of redemption can and has!

You are needed more than you know.

In her novel “Go Set A Watchman”, Harper. Lee wrote that “our friends need us most when they are wrong.”

Her words are meant as reminder that when the people around us lose their way, that is when they need our guidance the most.

When we are in the midst of a world that seems to be more and more misguided and wrong, we are beacons in the fray that can right the wrongs.



True it is a huge responsibility for an individual to take upon their shoulders, but history is full of people both ordinary and extraordinary who changed the world and human history for the better.


In that way, they took positive action and created a butterfly effect. A butterfly effect is when an act has such enormous consequences that it is felt across distance, time, and even cultures.

Just as they did, we must create our own butterfly effects in order to answer the needs of a tumultuous world.



There are many ways to carry out change, but it helps to start small. Be genuine in your interactions with people. Volunteer your time and resources to those who will benefit from them the most. Live according to your values.

There is no wrong way to change the world. No action is too small to have an impact. No person is too insignificant to see positivity come from their work

READ: Job 14:1-12
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
Job 14:1

You must redeem the time because your days will be few and full of trouble.

My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: "LORD, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am.

Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.

Surely every man walks about as a phantom; Surely they make an uproar for nothing; He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.

Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; for I am a stranger with You, A sojourner like all my fathers. Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again before I depart and am no more .

Psalm 39:3-6, 12-13 (NASB)

Even if you want to serve the Lord, you are living in a real world which is full of many diverse troubles. These troubles will serve as perfect distractions as long as you live. The troubles of this world will also serve as perfect deceptions to you. These deceptions have already captured the heart of millions. Because of the multitude of life’s problems, few people ever think of eternity , and the reality of Hell and Heaven even though it lies just a step away from us all.

PROPHETIC DECLARATIONS FOR THIS WEEK!!!

Remember your leaders and superiors in authority, [for it was they] who brought to you the Word of God. Observe attentively and consider their manner of living…and imitate their faith.
Hebrews 13:7, The Amplified Bible

Apart from the Word of God itself and prayer, nothing can do more for you than watching and imitating a real man of faith. I found that out in a big way many years ago when I was a student at Oral Roberts University. As co-pilot on the airplane that transported him and his staff to his healing meetings, I had the opportunity to study Oral Roberts up close. I followed him around. I heard him preach. I watched him lay hands on the sick.

I'll never forget the day I had the opportunity to put some of what I'd learned from him into action. I'd just been to a few of his meetings. Spiritually, I was still as green as a gourd. But I'd been assigned to help the people in the "invalid room" get ready for Brother Roberts to lay hands on them. I was standing there for the first time surrounded by every kind of sickness and disease you can imagine. And when Brother Roberts came in, instead of laying hands on the people himself, he caught me by the coat sleeve and said, "You're going to do the praying. You're going to lay hands on them."

I know all the blood must have drained out of my face because I'd never prayed for anything like that in my life. I might have considered praying for a headache or maybe a serious hangnail, but that's it!

The first lady we came to had cancer of the stomach. She weighed less than 80 pounds. She was just the picture of death. I walked over toward her and before I could open my mouth, I heard a voice from behind me say, "In the Name of Jesus, take up your bed and walk." She instantly spit that cancer out on the floor. Then she jumped off that bed and screamed, "I'm healed," and started running around the room.

Let me tell you, that moment changed me. When I stepped up to the next person and raised my hands, I could see the healing coming. I'd seen Jesus heal through Brother Roberts, so in my mind's eye, I could see Him healing through me.

You can do the same thing. Find someone who's operating in more faith and power than you are and learn from him. Watch Jesus in him and then copy him. Sooner or later, others will start seeing Jesus in you.


Scripture Reading:

2 Kings 2:1-15

Deuteronomy 28:5

“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

In Bible times, reapers carried baskets on their backs to collect the harvest from the fields. They had to ensure that their baskets were strong and sturdy, so that what they collected would not fall out. The women of that day used kneading bowls to knead dough for making bread. If they used poor-quality bowls which broke easily, they would not be able to make bread.

So baskets and kneading bowls in those days represented the means by which one got his tangible blessings. Beloved, your Father in heaven does not want you to worry about the means by which you get your blessings. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, He says to you, “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.”

This means that if you are a cab driver, your cab will not break down on your rounds because God says to you, “Blessed shall be your cab.” If you are a businessman, your capital investment will not fail you because God says to you, “Blessed shall be your capital investment.” And if you are a salesman, your products will be looked upon favorably because God says to you, “Blessed shall be your products.”

These blessings are yours because Jesus paid for them with His death and He enforced them with His resurrection.

On one occasion, Jesus told Peter to throw his nets into the water. When Peter threw one net down, he caught so much fish that the net “was breaking”. To save the bumper haul, the other disciples quickly filled their boats with the fish, lest the net gave way completely. (Luke 5:4–7)

After Jesus rose from the dead, a similar incident took place. Once again, Jesus asked His disciples to cast their net out. They caught a multitude of fish. But “although there were so many, the net was not broken”. (John 21:11) Notice that in the first case, the net was breaking. In the second case, it was not! Something supernatural happened to their nets after Jesus rose from the dead!

Beloved, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, not only are you blessed (Ephesians 1:3), but your nets, baskets and kneading bowls—the means by which you obtain your blessings—are also blessed!