Daily Manna from Heaven

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me–put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” -Philippians 4:9

A comedian making light of God’s instruction to Noah, mimics his response to God’s call, saying, “What do you want, God? I didn’t do nuthin’!” That was supposed to be humor, but it underlines a pretty common belief that God won’t bother you if you don’t bother Him. Sadly enough, individuals who prefer to live independently of their Maker live in rebellion against Him and are the real losers, not because of God’s wrath but because of the blessings which they are denied.

Only those who really know God come to an understanding of how great is His love and compassion towards them who fear Him and walk in the light of His Word. I’ve been thinking of some of the qualifying phrases which describe God’s nature. For example, Jeremiah records the words of God Himself, who said, “I and the LORD, the God of all mankind.” Then God asked the question, “Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 3:27). It’s a truth which is comforting when we have needs and knock on heaven’s door in prayer.

But what most speaks to my heart are three phrases found in the New Testament which describe God as “the God of peace,” “the God of all comfort,” and “the God of hope.” First, let’s take that phrase found five times in the New Testament, “The God of peace.” In his letters to the church at Rome, Philippi, and Thessalonica—places where Paul had ministered—he refers to God as the God of peace. Then the writer of Hebrews ended his letter with this blessing: “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

What you may not know, which people knew in the first century, is that knowing God as the God of peace stood in direct opposition to pagan gods, who were anything but peaceful. Their wrath had to be satisfied through sacrifices, sometimes even the sacrifice of infants, whose deaths were supposed to assuage the wrath of God.

If there is one thought which can revolutionize your thinking and your concept of God it’s the understanding that God is a God of peace, that as the writer of Hebrews stresses, the very gift of His Son, who came to our planet and lived, died and rose again, was a gift of peace.

When Jesus was crucified at the hands of the Roman soldiers, He left behind a pretty small estate: a seamless robe which had been woven by hand, probably by one of the women who ministered to Him; but He did leave a legacy of peace. He said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

The Greek word for peace, fÕfÙfâfØfÞfÑ, means “to bind together.” In addition to the translation “peace” it also means “harmony” and “tranquility.” If you find yourself at war with God, it’s time to stop fighting. The truce was declared 2000 years ago. Stop running and hiding in the jungle of fear and misunderstanding and realize God does love you, and that there is peace and tranquility for those who come to know and love Him. Paul wrote to the Ephesians and said, “He himself [referring to Christ] is our peace…” (Ephesians 2:14). It’s still true for all who come to know the God of peace.

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“The preceding material was written by Dr. Harold J. Sala, and is copyrighted. Reproduction for sale or financial profit is prohibited. Permission to reproduce this article was granted by Guidelines, Inc.”
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My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. Psalm 73:26, KJV

A Guidelines’ listener who was in a doctoral program at New York University wrote telling about a teacher whose memory will never escape him. The teacher who so impressed him was an instructor at New York City’s prestigious Peter Stuyvesant High School.

In his classroom hung a 3 x 5 foot flag. On the flag were three black letters against a brilliant background of red, and what was the message? The three letters spelled B-U-T, the adversative conjunction. That’s it. When lecturing, this teacher would reach a point where everything that followed hung on one word. That’s when he would point to his flag and go on.

Interestingly enough, life often hangs on that one word and that which follows. When Paul wrote to his friends at Philippi, he told about Epaphroditus, who became ill, so ill that it seemed he would die. “Indeed he was ill, and almost died,” wrote Paul, adding, “But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow” (Philippians 2:27). With those words, “but God,” despair gives way to hope, and literally, death to life.

Over 40 times in the Bible you have those words, “but God,” and almost every time you find them, like the flag which hopefully caused students to think, they bring an element of hope to a desperate situation.

Take, for example, the moral lives of the men and women who eventually became members of the church at Ephesus. They were morally bankrupt, depraved, and debauched. The largest single building in the city of Ephesus where Paul ministered, was a brothel adjacent to city hall. Families were not just hurting, they were fractured and divided. Men practiced fulfilling the lusts of the flesh; then, says Paul, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)” (Ephesians 2:,4,5, KJV).

Every person who finds himself in desperate straits needs to visualize another sign. Reverse the color combination. Put red letters of hope against a black background of dark circumstances, and let the message read, “But God…” The darker the circumstances, the brighter the message of hope. Hang the sign in every doctor’s office, in the conference room of every marriage counselor. Put it in every pastor’s office, and on the wall of every church. Write it in your mind, and refuse to accept defeat.

If you really believe that God exists, and that He can turn around any given set of circumstances, there is hope for your marriage, for your son, for the person who is so difficult, for the health situation which has caused you to wonder if you will ever get better.

The message, “but God” isn’t one of a false hope. To the contrary, it is the fulcrum that documents the turning about-face of every person who has been converted, just as it was for the debauched men and women whom Paul later addressed as “saints” in the church.
Conversion means that you were headed down the wrong road in life, but God turned your life around and you walked in newness of life, a changed man or woman.

If, of course, there were no God, then there would be no hope that life could be different.
Long ago, the Psalmist wrote these words, “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever” (Psalm 73:26, KJV). Ah yes, again, those words, “but God.” Add them to the despair of your life, and hope is born anew.

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“The preceding material was written by Dr. Harold J. Sala, and is copyrighted. Reproduction for sale or financial profit is prohibited. Permission to reproduce this article was granted by Guidelines, Inc.”
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Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20

In St. Paul’s Cathedral in London is a painting done by the artist, Holman Hunt, often reproduced in Sunday School literature, which shows Jesus standing at the door of an English cottage, a lantern held in one hand, gently knocking at the door. It is based on the words of Jesus recorded in Revelation 3:20, which say, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

When the German theologian, Karl Barth, visited the Cathedral and saw the painting, he commented, “That wasn’t the way it was with me.” He said, “I had the furniture piled against the door desperately trying to keep him out, but he came in anyway and took me captive.”

In the Upper Room, Jesus told His disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name” (John 15:16).

Writing to the Ephesians, Paul told them that they had been chosen before the foundation of the world, yet… and this is where we can relate to what Karl Barth said: our old nature wars against God and makes us want to pile the furniture against the door of our heart to keep Him from coming in.

Why do we pile the furniture against that door, striving to keep Him at a safe distance (so we think)? Probably more than anything else, it is fear. Before we really know Christ, we are afraid that God may want us to drink vinegar, wear black, and to never smile. That’s the image we often have before we become followers of Jesus Christ. But it isn’t the way Jesus was when He walked with the disciples, nor is it the picture of the men and women I know who enjoy life with a dimension they never knew before they followed Jesus Christ.

Another piece of furniture which blocks the door of our hearts is pride. Have you ever noticed that the letter “i” is in the middle of our word sin? And it is willful, stubborn pride which often keeps us from bending the knee to acknowledge our need of a relationship with God through His Son.

There’s another piece of furniture which often blocks the door of our hearts. It is our refusal to acknowledge our need of God. Another label could be “comparative analysis.” And what’s that? That’s what you do when you look at your life and say, “I’m not nearly as bad as some of those people who go to church. I don’t need God.” You remind me of a man in the cancer ward of a hospital who looks at someone else and says, “I’m not as bad as that guy.”

May I ask you, what baggage, like Karl Barth, have you piled against the door of your heart? A closing thought: I mentioned the painting in St. Paul’s Cathedral, the one depicting Christ’s standing outside the door of a cottage, knocking. On a certain occasion a woman came to the Cathedral and stood before the painting, scrutinizing it carefully, noticing every detail.

Then she sought out the artist and said, “Mr. Hunt, I like your painting very much, but there is something missing. On the outside of the door, there is no latch or handle.” “Yes,” replied the artist, telling her that this was not an oversight. “When Christ knocks on the door of your heart,” he explained, “only you can open the door from within.” Yes, indeed. Get rid of the furniture piled against the door, and open it wide. It will change your life.

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“The preceding material was written by Dr. Harold J. Sala, and is copyrighted. Reproduction for sale or financial profit is prohibited. Permission to reproduce this article was granted by Guidelines, Inc.”
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Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24

Shortly after Dallas Seminary was founded in 1924, the world began slipping into a financial crisis which became known as The Great Depression. Money was scarce, and it became evident that if God didn’t do something big, and soon, the creditors of the fledgling school were going to foreclose and take the property. And what do you do when there is a financial need? Some would write letters of financial appeal. Some would call their donors and hit the panic button. But not the leadership of this school, which placed strong emphasis on the authority of the Word. They prayed. Nothing more? No, but they didn’t just pray. They really prayed.

Gathering in the office of the president, Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer, they asked God to undertake. Present in that prayer meeting was a man who had memorized most of the New Testament while he was still a teenager, Harry Ironside, a kind of no-nonsense, get-straight-to-the-point sort of person. His prayers were no different. “Lord,” he began, pausing somewhat like a locomotive when it emits the first great whoosh of steam, ready to start moving in great momentum. Continuing he said, “we know that the cattle on a thousand hills are Thine. Please sell some of them and send the money.”

They were still praying when a lanky cowboy, weathered from the outdoors, with callused hands, and wearing cowboy boots, walked into the business office of the school and announced, “I just sold two carloads of cattle…. I’ve been trying to make a business deal but it fell through, and I feel compelled to give the money to the seminary. I don’t know if you need it or not, but here is the check!”

The young woman, knowing that a prayer meeting was going on at that very moment in the office of the president, took the check and gently knocked on the door where the group prayed. Dr. Chafer took the check and immediately noticed that the amount of the check was exactly the amount which they needed—neither more nor less. “Harry,” he said, “God sold the cattle!”

Long ago, the Psalmist recorded the words of the Creator, who said, “For all the animals of field and forest are mine! The cattle on a thousand hills! And all the birds upon the mountains!” (Psalm 50:10, Living Bible).

Question: If God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, how do we, like the men who prayed in the office of Dr. Chafer, get God to send a few our way? Five guidelines—all from Scripture—answer that question:

Guideline #1: Pray specifically. Take time to go back to Matthew 6 and study the passage we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” Then study the prayers of Jesus and what He asked for. He prayed for specifics. If you need the hindquarter of beef, then ask the Lord specifically for that. If you need $50,000, ask God for a specific amount.

Guideline #2: Pray persistently. Even Jesus in Gethsemane prayed the same thing three times. Then, when the Spirit of God witnesses with your heart that God has heard you, thank Him in advance for your answer.

Guideline #3: Pray biblically. Knowing that God has given you many promises in His Word, and gently reminding Him of what He has promised, brings a connection between you and God’s goodness.

Guideline #4: Pray in faith. James says anyone who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person gets nothing from the Father. (See James 1:6).

Guideline #5: Pray earnestly. James says, “The down-to-business prayer of a man who has been justified brings great gain” (James 5:16, personal translation).

A closing thought: When you ask God for one of the cattle on the hills, better fire up the barbecue or start looking for a buyer.

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“The preceding material was written by Dr. Harold J. Sala, and is copyrighted. Reproduction for sale or financial profit is prohibited. Permission to reproduce this article was granted by Guidelines, Inc.”
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By: Joel Osteen

You’re not a survivor. You are more than a conqueror.

It’s easy to get into a survival mode. When times get tough and things aren’t going our way, it’s tempting to just settle where we are, not believe for increase and not believe to go any further. It’s tempting to think, “If I can just hold on. If I can just make it through another year.” If we’re not careful, we’ll develop a survival mentality to where we’re not releasing our faith.

We’re not believing to rise any higher. We’re just hoping to maintain. We’d be satisfied if we could just break even. But we’re not supposed to break even. We’re supposed to break through to a new level, to more of God’s favor, increase and promotion.

God says in the book of Jeremiah that if we’ll keep the Lord as our trust and confidence, God will prosper us even in the desert. He’ll prosper us even in difficult times. That means when others are going under God says you’ll go over!

God can prosper us even in the desert if we’ll just be bold enough to believe. You were created to thrive in life! Won’t you believe that for your life today?

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Today’s Scripture

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel” Philippians 1:12 (ESV).

Today’s Word from Joel and Victoria

We all could learn quite a bit from the apostle Paul. He was deliriously happy and joyous because of what Christ had done in his life. Even when he was chained and shackled in a dark prison because of his faith, Paul praised God and was excited to deliver his message of the gospel. He says in Philippians 1 that he knew he was suffering for a purpose and that he rejoiced because of the advancement of God’s message even when he couldn’t be out preaching the gospel.

My friend, you can’t defeat a person who gives God praise no matter what! And the best part is that God can work in your life the same way He worked in Paul’s. God can turn some of the worst possible situations into some of the most worthwhile experiences if you have the right attitude. Praise God today . . . no matter what!

A Prayer for Today

God, I realize that You can take even my bad days and accomplish something great for Your glory. Thank You for the way You display Your power and love in my life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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