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Are You Over Prioritizing Your Everyday Life?

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Are You Over Prioritizing Your Life?

Someone asked Emily Post, “What is the correct procedure when one is invited to the White House and has a previous engagement?” She answered, “An invitation to lunch or dine at the White House is a command, and automatically cancels any other engagement.” 1 The issue is one of priority. There are life’s situations which take precedence. What about God and His Kingdom? Is there a priority we need to observe in the realm of the Spirit? The word ‘priority’ is not a Bible word but the concept is. It is epitomized by the word ‘first’ in such passages as Matthew 6:33. Many in our generation are experiencing the pains of an overload. We overcommit and overprioritize. Practicing the concept of ‘first things’ is a sure way of helping you navigate the maze.

[Tweet “Taking take care of your family is a responsibility, not a calling. There’s a difference.”]

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Why You Should Not Pass Up the Opportunity to Destroy Little Giants

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Learn to Deafeat Little Ginats before the Big Ones Come Along
  • David had confidence that he could defeat giants like Goliath because he had experience taking on lions and bears. The lesson we need to learn is that we need to work with God to defeat the little giants before we take on the Goliaths we may be confronted with.

1 Samuel 17:32–36 (ESV) — 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

  • Many are just waiting around.
  • They are not using their faith against the small stuff of life.
  • David didn’t do this.
  • The confidence that he needed to boldly declare to the King that he could take this huge enemy on came from many experiences of taking on much smaller giants.
  • David slew the lions and the bears and that’s he knew Goliath was toast.

[Tweet “David slew the lions and the bears and that’s how he knew Goliath was toast.”]

Taken while visiting the Oklahoma City Zoo. For more of our travels check out our Instagram account.© 2017 Emery Horvath

For more ‘photo posts’ see ‘Are You Stoked about God’s New Sensational City?

 

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#S4-023: Secrets to Hearing God: Are You Listening [Encore Podcast]

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Here Are Three Secrets to Help You Pickout God's Voice in the Midst of the Crowded Voices

This story on listening is an appropriate intro into our new series on learning to hear God’s voice. Barbara, five, had disobeyed me and was sent to her room. After a few minutes, I went in to talk with her about what she had done. Teary-eyed, she asked, “Why do we do wrong things, Mommy?” “Sometimes the Devil tells us to do something wrong, and we listen to him,” I said. “We need to listen to God instead.” “But God doesn’t talk loud enough!” she wailed.1 How loud God speaks is not the determining factor in hearing Him. Knowing how to listen is so much more vital. Here are three tips for helping you hear your Father God in your heart as you walk out your everyday life.

[Tweet “If God’s voice is a still quiet voice then guess what you have to do in order to hear it?”]

Listen to the Audio

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Why You Can Be Thrilled With God’s Excellence

The Second Epistle of Peter

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You Can Be Thrilled with God's Excellence

Are you in love with excellence? Does it thrill your heart when you see it displayed? Gene Stallings tells of an incident when he was defensive backfield coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Two All-Pro players, Charlie Waters and Cliff Harris, were sitting in front of their lockers after playing a tough game against the Washington Redskins. They were still in their uniforms, and their heads were bowed in exhaustion. Waters said to Harris, “By the way, Cliff, what was the final score?” As these men show, excellence isn’t determined by comparing our score to someone else’s. Excellence comes from giving one’s best, no matter the score.1

[Tweet “Excellence is doing things well. It is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”]

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#S4-022: Breakthrough Revivals: Important Spirit Lessons We Can Learn [Podcast]

Revival Fire for the Twenty First Century

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God can breakthrough in Revival power in the lives of people in your world.

Throughout the course of divinely spiritual history, God has chosen to breakthrough among men in power. At times, these visits are very focused and powerfully penetrating. Especially when men have fallen and slipped into perpetual carnality and carelessness. We saw in last week’s podcast that revivals of religion are scriptural. We looked at an Old Testament example with King Asa. What about the New Testament? Are there any revivals of God’s Presence there? The answer is one hundred percent yes. The Book of Acts lays out for us some of the essential components of breakthrough revivals.

Listen to the Audio

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[Tweet “The combo of the preached Word and the Spirit moving is what caused breakthrough in Ephesus.”]

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Are You Complacent or A Zealous Jesus Disciple?

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Are You A Zealous Disciple of the Lord Jesus? If Not You Can Be.

How does a zealous disciple of Jesus behave? John Wesley was denied the privilege of preaching from the pulpit in the church; but with true evangelistic fervor took his father’s tomb for a pulpit and preached to the people the great truths of full salvation. Whitefield loved field preaching. Returning from a tour he lighted a candle and went upstairs to retire, weary after the journey; but the people gathered in front of the house and filled the street; and there on the stairway with a lighted candle in his hand, he preached his last message, retired and was no more; for God took him. John Knox, who cried out in his earnestness, “Give me Scotland or I die,” carried with him this zeal to the close of his ministry. Often he would be supported by attendants in order to reach the pulpit; but when he arose to speak the divine passion so filled his soul that one of his friends said: “So mighty was he in his yearning that I thought he would break the pulpit into bits.”1 How is your zeal for the things of God. On a scale of one to ten, where would you rank yourself? Here are some Bible verses to help stir your heart to full white zeal for the Lord.

[Tweet “People do not want to just see you hand out salvation tracts, they want to see your tracks!”]

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#S4-021: What Is Revival and Why Is It Fatal to the Kingdom of Darkness [Podcast]

Revival Fire for the Twenty First Century

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What is Revival?

What is a revival? According to Ron Mcintosh, former chaplain of ORU, the term ‘revival’ means several things. For one, it is a divine attack on society. It is the marshaling of forces fatal to the kingdom of darkness. It is the enlisting, training, and empowering of believers as a prelude to evangelism. Revival is God’s military tactic which concentrates His resources for a vital blow at a crucial moment. It is a reinvigoration of God’s people with His truth and power.1 As you can see, true revival covers a wide and diverse range. In the last two podcasts, Why Humility Is Part of An Excellent Life and Humility: Putting on God’s Suit we introduced and spoke on the fruit of the spirit called humility. Humility certainly finds it’s way into the spectrum of revival via verses like 2 Chronicles 7:14. We’ll take a look at this and some other matters as we start this new series with the subject ‘Why Revival Is Fatal to the Kingdom of Darkness’, all this and more on this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

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[Tweet “When you experience His reviving personally then revival becomes God’s active moving for you.”]

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Three Areas We Need to Be Prayer Smart In

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Three Areas to Be Prayer Smart In

Pastor Jim Cymbala shares his experience with us: After I had been pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle for about a year, the church had grown to fifty people, but we were facing problems: little money, few people coming to faith in Christ. One Tuesday afternoon, I sat in my cubbyhole office on Atlantic Avenue, depressed. I knew that later that day, fifteen people, at most, would come to church to pray. How could God call me and my wife to this city not to make a difference? I wondered. I walked into our empty, little sanctuary and recited to God a list of my problems: “Look at this building, this neighborhood … Our offerings are laughable … I can’t trust So-and-so … There’s so little to work with.” Then the Holy Spirit impressed upon me, “I will show you the biggest problem in the church. It’s you.” In that moment I saw with excruciating clarity that I didn’t really love the people as God wanted me to. I prepared sermons just to get through another Sunday. I was basically prayerless. I was proud. I fell on my face before God and began to weep. “God, whatever it takes, please change me. I would rather die than live out some useless ministry of catchphrases.” The Brooklyn Tabernacle began to turn around, and twenty years later, we are still learning about the tremendous power of prayer. Every Tuesday evening many hundreds of people come together simply to pray. 1 The Bible is our prayer book. In it are truths which will help make us smart in the fine art of prayer. Here are three truths which will help you.

[Tweet “It is a very good idea to read the scriptures about what you are praying about before you pray.”]

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#S4-020: Humility: How to Put On God’s Glory Suit [Podcast]

Developing the Fruit of the Spirit

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How to Put On Humility

Some people think of themselves as God’s gift to the world. However, a meek person is not this way at all. Listen carefully to this story about an American general. General Grant was stricken with a fatal illness. As he approached the end of his life, he felt his need of the Saviour and His sustaining presence. He called for a minister. Simply the minister presented the gospel to him. “General,” he said, “God in love sent the Saviour to seek and to save that which was lost. If you will sincerely call upon Him from your heart, you will receive from Him mercy and abundant pardon!” When the minister knelt and prayed, God opened the heart of the general and he was joyfully converted. God cleansed his heart from sin. The minister was elated. “God’s kingdom has gained a great acquisition in your conversion, General,” said the minister. Immediately General Grant protested, saying, “God does not need great men, but great men need God! There is just one thing that I now greatly desire since Christ’s great peace has come to me …” “What’s that, General?” asked the minister. “I would like to live one year more so that I might tell others of this wonderful gift of God’s love!” Strength is always found in true meekness. Meekness is not weakness; rather it is the proper way to demonstrate strength and resolve.1 But how do you develop in humility? How do you put it on?

Listen to the Audio

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[Tweet “Humility is a right evaluation of yourself. The right value to possess is the ‘real truth about you.'”]

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How to Gain A Quality Prayer Life

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How to Build A Quality Prayer Life

Two Christian men lived near each other. The first was a farmer. Since there had not been any rain for several weeks, the farmer got up one morning and prayed for rain. His next-door neighbor was also up early, but he was praying that it would not rain, because he was taking an unsaved friend fishing that morning.1 One person’s prayer was answered, the other one was not. Is answered prayer just like rolling dice? You know hope that sevens come up? Or is there some truths from the Word of God which we can act on to help us build a quality prayer life and get the answers God promises in His Word?

[Tweet “The Bible give us clues and remedies to the disease of unanswered prayer.”]

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Are You Stoked about God’s New Sensational City?

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Are You Excited about Going to God's City?

Every promised portion of God’s Word will surely come to pass.

  • Jesus promised us as much.

Matthew 5:18 (KJV) — 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

  • In fact, the very health and stability of the universe as we know it depends on the fulfillment of every single promise of God.

Matthew 24:35 (KJV) — 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

  • God promised believers in Him, a new city, a stunning capital that speaks to the glories of our God.
  • This is a city God Himself will indwell and be happy to do so.
  • Here is the promise.

Revelation 21:1–4 (KJV) — 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

  • Nothing in the realm of men has ever or will ever compare to this holy city.
  • Are you excited to go there?

[Tweet “God promised believers in Him, a new city, a stunning capital that speaks to His glory.”]

Taken while visiting family in Hungary. For more of our travels check out our Instagram account.© 2017 Emery Horvath

For more ‘photo posts’ see ‘Have You Noticed the Beauty of the Sky Lately?’.

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#S4-019: Why Humility is Part of An Excellent Life [Podcast]

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Humility is PArt of Living An Excellent Life

A minister, a Boy Scout, and a computer expert were the only passengers on a small plane. The pilot came back to the cabin and said that the plane was going down but there were only three parachutes and four people. The pilot added, “I should have one of the parachutes because I have a wife and three small children.” So he took one and jumped. The computer whiz said, “I should have one of the parachutes because I am the smartest man in the world and everyone needs me.” So he took one and jumped. The minister turned to the Boy Scout and with a sad smile said, “You are young and I have lived a rich life, so you take the remaining parachute, and I’ll go down with the plane.” The Boy Scout said, “Relax, Reverend, the smartest man in the world just picked up my knapsack and jumped out!”1 Have you met people in your world who make themselves out to be candidates for the title “Smartest Man in the World?” People, who possess an innate overestimation of themselves? What you will find as you study the truth of God’s Word is that pride is an absolute downer. Overrunning pride always leads to a severe fall. In the case of this illustration, it was a several thousand foot fall. The way of humility is the right way, the normal Christian life. How do you diminish the pride of natural life while increasing in the fruit of humility?

Listen to the Audio

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[Tweet “Mark this down, you don’t want any of Satan’s ‘I will’ business. You want God’s will, not yours.”]