4GIVEN

Through Jesus Christ’s irresistible love we discover that we are divinely placed on this earth to follow and accomplish God’s will, plan, and purpose in our lives through the help, convictions, teaching, and direction of the Holy Spirit!

Yes, if you have not turned your life over to God, He is waiting on you.

“Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.” (2 Peter 3:9 MSG)

God doesn’t measure nor does He rate sin based on frequency nor severity. In other words, in God’s empirical righteousness, if you sin in your heart 1X you are as guilty as serial killer. According to St. Augustine of Hippo sin is “a word, deed, or desire [thought] in opposition to the eternal law of God.” So what is God’s eternal law? In prefacing the ‘Shema Prayer’ found in Deut 6:4, Jesus said in Mark 12:29-30, “Hear O Israel, You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus had to continually remind the Pharisees of their inability to keep the Law of God. He was trying to get them back then as well as us today, to see our spiritual bankruptcy and our need for a Savior. Without the cleansing of sin that He provides, and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit who lives in the hearts of the redeemed, authentically loving God to any degree is impossible.

So, you can live what you ‘consider’ a flawless life but if you fail to love God and your neighbor as referenced above you will have broken every command you so painstakingly work to keep!

Houston Police Department

Dear Lord, life as we live always have a way of revealing Your word in our hearts and the more we read the more we see past the darkness of this world. Your word has the power to raise the dead, destroy sickness, and disrupt the plots and plans of our adversary, the devil. Trouble, as we see it, may endure for a moment but one word from You can make the impossible possible, plausible, and more than probable. We know and understand that You operate in the past tense because Your eyes see the future and present at the same time. How unsearchable are Your ways and unfathomable are Your judgments. Yesterday, in our city, there were several police officers that were either shot and injured and though we don’t know all details of the situations, we realize that there are families that are grieving and wondering how could a loving God allow this tragedy to happen to their love ones and Father God, although we can speculate and forensically predicate motives, we still can’t answer the question why? It is in these dark times that we reach up instead of out to hear a word from You and it is our prayer this day that You allow Your word to usher in Your indestructible light so that peace may be stilled in all of our troubled hearts. The peace we are praying for is not as the world gives. Furthermore God, search the secret chambers of our own hearts and test us and know our thoughts and see if there be any evil in us and lead us to the pathway of everlasting because as for me and my house, we will serve You…in season and out of season because we know You will never leave us or forsake us and that’s why we declare boldly that the Lord is helper and we will not fear, what can mere mortals do to us…in Jesus’ name…we walk in the light of Your word because we are the light of the world…amen.

(Prayer by: Noël Pinnock)

Here’s the deal: we don’t create destiny, rather we walk in destiny because of God’s omniscient providence. The destiny of your life was prescribed way before your were formed in your mother’s womb (read Psalm 139)! So the next time you start growing anxious, doubting, and worrying about your future it behooves you to remember that God formed man from the dust of the ground by His word but it was His breath that caused Him to live (Gen 2:7). Still not convinced? Revelation 13 tells us that Jesus was crucified from the foundation of the world. That means that before the world ever had a problem, God had an answer! It’s beautiful that He had this laid out from before the beginning; that His son, Jesus, would be born and die as a sacrifice for the sins of man—our sins that had not yet even occurred! But isn’t it interesting that in that grand purpose God had for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, there was no room at the inn for Him to be born? Beloved of God, your destiny awaits you….so what are you waiting for??! Your destiny will always be greater than your struggle!

A load-bearing wall is a structural member that supports much of the weight of overlying parts of a building or other structure. If a load bearing wall is remove it must replaced with a LVL Beam. Point is, something will need to be stand in its place in order to support the overlying members. Such as life…..we are commanded to be a load-bearing support to bear each other’s burdens as brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Galatians 6:1-3 (MSG) put it this way, “Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share [Bear] their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.” Beloved, the body of Christ is not a place of self-sufficiency. It’s time we quit believing those lies we’ve been listening to for so long. The Christian faith is not each person looking out for him or herself. Nor is it the survival of the strongest. As mentioned above, it’s only when we bear the burdens of the broken we fulfill the law of Christ! Therefore, remember that when others call on you, you have the opportunity to be an agent of God’s mercy and grace, looking for nothing in return.

Continue persevering in prayer because your answer [breakthrough] is closer than you think!

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Oddly enough, all businesses are what I would

consider a living breathing organism however, some individuals don’t necessarily understand the ‘3:23 Formula’. We live in a fallen world and unfortunately most companies don’t authentically care about their people, because people don’t authenticlly care about people. So when company leaders decide to make cuts, layoffs, and implement positional realignments tenure, commitment, work ethic, and prior successes matters not! If you are a business leader profit should never be greater than people because without people there would be no profit! It’s incumbent that all business leader(s) create and foster a healthy work environment governed by purpose, balance, fulfillment, and opportunity! Companies that run as machines and not as living organisms life span is approx 40-50 years. Yes, a good stretch indeed, but the goal is legacy not just history! The selection of companies that thrives for hundreds of years understand good people are assets not liabilities. Their business understands the foundational principle in the 3:23 Formula and as such they create a culture that allows their employees to change ways of working in response to changes in their environment, they are tolerant, open and adaptable. Profit was a byproduct of good company health because their people are emotional, physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy! I don’t know what business I’m talking to nor what leader that is precariously treading on sheets of ice but, what I do know is in order to have succession you need people to pull up! You can either be a machine or a living organism, but you can’t do both…..the choice is yours!

Your children can run from you, their upbringing, from church, but they can never run from your prayers. Therefore, keep on asking, seeking, and knocking! James 5:16 says, “…….The effective prayers of a righteous man [PARENTS] can accomplish much.”

Ain’t nothing wrong with falling to your knees and telling God that you need Him and that you can’t do life on your own! If you want to change in your life, if you want forgiveness and peace and joy that you’ve never known before, God demands your total surrender. Job 11:13-15 says, “Surrender your heart to God, turn to him in prayer, and give up your sins—even those you do in secret. Then you won’t be ashamed;

you will be confident and fearless.”

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