Thoughts of Our Fathers (TOF)

Do not be afraid of the enemy; [earnestly] remember the Lord and imprint Him [on your minds], great and terrible, and [take from Him courage to] fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.
—Nehemiah 4:14

The verse above (Nehemiah 4:14) shows us Nehemiah as a strong and wise leader. Not only did he seek and rely on God, he also knew that the people needed to be ready to fight in the strength of the Lord.

I want to echo Nehemiah’s words to you today: Fight for your home! Fight for your children! Fight for your right to live free from guilt and condemnation! Fight for your right to live under the grace of God and not be bound to legalism! Fight for your right to be happy! Fight for the dreams God has put in your heart! Fight for what is important to you! As Paul told Timothy, we need to fight the good fight of faith. That means to hold on, don’t give up, and above all that you do, trust God because He is fighting for and with you.

Refuse to settle for anything less than everything God has for you, and be thankful that with God on your side, there is no way you can lose the fight.

Prayer of Thanks: 

Memorise: We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 1st John 3:14

Read: 1st John 3:9-11 (KJV)

9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.




Bible in one year: Exodus 22:16-24:18, Psalms 118
MESSAGE
The first attribute that becomes noticeable in a genuinely born-again child of God is the love for God and humanity. Every converted and renewed child of God operates under the control of the Holy Spirit, he is fully aware of new spiritual experiences and desires, as the Holy Spirit kick-starts the work of character restoration in him. A loving relationship between a Christian and Jesus therefore provides the most credible evidence of the grace of God at work in the life of a believer. God. Open Heaven Tuesday 6 December 2016:- Love: an antidote of death


We all know that true lovers always enjoy each other’s company and fellowship. When one lover has an opportunity to spend time with the other, and for any reason misses that opportunity, he becomes sad. God loves to fellowship with man and this has been so from the very beginning. God created man to fellowship with Him; this is the major reason why He created us in His image. He enjoyed coming to meet and fellowship with Adam in the cool of the day. How He cherished it! It became a daily appointment which He never missed. Then imagine His disappointment when He came one day and Adam was nowhere to be found. After that, God needed another person continue from where Adam had stopped. He kept searching until He found Enoch. Genesis 5:24 says:



“And Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him.”


Enoch walked with God for at least 300 years! The fellowship was so intense that death could not touch him. God had to call him to glory to continue the fellowship there. The reverse is the case for anyone that hates God. Proverbs 8:36 says:


“But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: All they that hate me love death.”



Indeed, love is an antidote for death, if you truly love God and obey His commandments, death will be far away from you. [Open Heavens Devotional 2016] Do you love God? Do you have a regular time to fellowship with God? Some believers do not have a standing altar of fellowship with God as a family. This is wrong; God wants to be intimate with you. Open yourself and your whole household to God, and create time for regular fellowship with Him today.

You will catch it if you get around it.

Everything in our lives is interconnected.

Every animal on earth falls into unique ecosystems; their survival is dependent on an intricate web of connection.

Indeed, our own connections determine whether we will survive or thrive. The people and things we interact with inform the quality of our lives.

If we grant access to energy-draining relationships our energy runs dry. If we read books and listen to music full of the pangs of sorrow, soon enough we occupy the same sorrowful space.

This is why it is vital to court greatness and positivity!


Powerful words, songs, movies, and most importantly, people, touch us with their light.

Let’s look at the truth of our situation; are we surrounded by greatness and light?

Psychologists have found that what they term, emotional contagion, is a real phenomenon; we are profoundly influenced by other’s emotions and actions. They found that happiness and greatness thrive within groups of interconnected friends and family. In fact “happiness extends up to three degrees of separation.”

Surround yourself with real, optimistic people who find the joy in living, and you will as well. Greatness is in fact contagious.

Expect greatness from yourself, your work environment and your family interactions and watch the ripple effects of that energy.

Philippians 4:19

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

According to this verse, you are rich. You are not trying to be rich. It does not matter how much you are earning or how much you have in your bank account. You are rich because as your need arises, God’s supply will be there for you.

This was the case for a church member who worked as a consultant. For months, he could not secure any major deals. But while attending one of our church camps held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he received a word on financial provision. After the camp, he extended his stay in Kuala Lumpur and bumped into an old friend who gave him a big project that paid a huge sum! He needed a major breakthrough and God abundantly supplied his need.

In the Bible, there is an account of a couple who had a big need on their wedding day. They had run out of wine. Now, you would expect wedding couples to know how many guests to expect on their big day and to plan accordingly. But perhaps this couple did not have the money to buy enough wine. Whatever the reason was, Jesus saved them from embarrassment and shame. He saved the day when He supplied their need by miraculously turning six pots of water into top-quality wine. (John 2:1–10) Our Lord Jesus abundantly supplied the need of that couple.

Beloved, whatever needs you have, God wants you to know that His supply will be there for you. You have His Word for it. He promises that He will supply all your needs, not just some. And He will supply all your needs according to and not out of His riches. This means that He lines up from A to Z all of His resources for your every need!

My friend, rejoice that you are rich “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”. This is far greater and more dependable than the temporal riches that you might have from any earthly source!

READ: Hebrews 12:5-13

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Ephesians 6:1

Many times we seek to know what to do. What is right and what is wrong? Often parents know what is the best thing to do for their children. Most parents have the best interests of their children at heart. This is why what they say is often right. The Scripture above says clearly that obeying parents is the right thing to do. From now on, when you want to know what the right thing is, think of what instructions you have been given by your parents.

Spiritual fathers have the same supernatural power to know what is right for their spiritual children. Many times what the father says is the right thing. How much easier can things get? Obeying fathers is the right thing to do!

When a child is born the mother is supernaturally empowered to produce milk that will be the food of the child. It is amazing how milk-forming glands develop just because a child is expected. Similarly , God gives supernatural powers to His fathers and mothers to provide food for His children. A pastor who is anointed by God is supernaturally empowered to father his flock and provide all the spiritual food they need.

It is a marvel that a man can stand before the same congregation and preach to them for thirty years. You would wonder where the pastor gets his messages from. You would wonder whether the people would not be tired of him. And yet, most of the congregation become so attached to this shepherd that they do not seem to understand other preachers.

Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they [your children] shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
Jeremiah 31:16-17

Jesus has redeemed us from the curse. Many of us have been well taught about that redemption where sin, sickness and poverty in our own lives are concerned. But we often fail to realize that redemption has power over the destruction the devil tries to bring on our children's lives as well.

Deuteronomy 28 states the curse of the law in verses 16-68. Notice what that curse says about children. "Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand" (verse 32).

"Thou shall beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity" (verse 41).

Many Christian parents are still suffering needlessly under that curse. Their children are being taken captive by drugs, alcohol and perversions. But it doesn't have to be that way! Since Jesus broke the curse of the law, these parents have the authority in the Name of Jesus to order Satan out of their children's lives.

Don't let the devil run roughshod over your children! When you see the first warning signs of rebellion in them, confess the promises of God over them and refuse to give the devil any room to operate.

Remember, the children don't understand the unseen forces that are coming against them. So it's your responsibility to stand against those forces on their behalf. Exercise that responsibility. Then take every opportunity to minister love to them.

God knows how to deliver your children. Do your part and trust Him to do His. He will bring them back from the land of the enemy!


Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 60:1-5

Don't dull your shine.

Do you know why we give diamond rings upon engagement? They symbolize a promise that the love felt is as strong as the diamond that crowns the band.

Pulled from the depths of the Earth, diamonds are the hardest natural substance in the world and can only be scratched by another diamond.

As durable as diamonds are, it’s easy to forget that every diamond started off as coal.

It takes extreme amounts of pressure over countless years for carbon to transform but it persists and the end result is a valuable treasure greater than before.

And in that way, we must all strive to become diamonds.



Life’s stresses can wear us down to nothing but we can adapt, endure and become better because of the struggle.

A recent study of college students and student athletes found that stress management is not about reducing stress, but learning how to respond to it.

The study found that cortisol (known commonly as the stress hormone) is produced no matter what kind of stress you encounter but it does different things depending on your capability.

If you are confident you can meet the challenge before you, cortisol will push your performance to new heights; if you are doubtful, cortisol will hinder you.

The pressure will either build you up or break you down.

Even if we are doubtful, we can still become diamonds by learning how to get into the correct frame of mind.

Often we sabotage ourselves by focusing on our worries. We can counteract this by taking an inventory of our skills and successes.

By reminding ourselves of our strengths, we can become even stronger.

There is no escaping the pressures that will invade your life, but you do not have to react to them with fear or anxiety.

Instead, face them head on and let it transform you for the better.

When you do that, just like a real diamond, nothing will be able to scratch you.

Hebrews 10:17

then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

When I was a young Christian growing up in Singapore, I read a little tract entitled This Was Your Life. In that tract, it said that when you get to heaven, God will replay your entire life, including all your sins, on a huge video screen for all the angels and other saints to watch!

The idea that God was making such a video of my life with the intention of screening it for everyone to watch used to make me feel awful and condemned before God. How could I ever stand boldly in His presence? And how was I going to face my loved ones and Christian friends in heaven?

I was a nervous wreck, thinking about all my sins that God was recording down, until I read this in the Bible: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” (Romans 4:8) Hallelujah! I jumped for joy when I found out that God was not counting my sins against me, and that He has given me something called “non-imputation of sins”!

My friend, the reason that God does not impute any of our sins to us is that He has already imputed all of them to the body of His Son Jesus when He hung on the cross 2,000 years ago. Not only that, when God punished His Son for our sins, He caused the curse of the law to fall stroke by stroke upon Jesus’ entire body until every curse had been fully satisfied. That is why we have been redeemed from the curse of the law. (Galatians 3:13) That is why, instead of imputing sin to us, God imputes righteousness!

God wants us to know that our sins and lawless deeds He will remember no more. The words “no more” in the original Greek text carry a strong double-negative meaning. In other words, God is saying, “No way, by no means, will I ever remember your sins again!”

Beloved, since God says that He will remember your sins no more, why do you still remember them? Or for that matter, your spouse’s or neighbor’s sins? God does not want you to be conscious of sins because He is not. So rejoice! Come to Him boldly and expect Him to show you mercy and grace because He remembers your sins no more!

I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
—Psalm 34:4

Man has always been beset by worry, and the pressures of modern life have aggravated the problem. To men of all time Jesus said, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow . . . but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33-34). Many of you are filled with a thousand anxieties. Bring them to Jesus Christ by faith. He will bring peace to your soul and your mind.