UNREASONABLE WORSHIP

Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Paul has meticulously articulated the doctrines of the Christian faith and here urges the Church of its duty. The wisdom he had taught was transcendental, its principles phenomenal, and the blessings it promises outstanding yet it will do them no good if they did not obey its requirements. Spiritual information must be matched with practical obedience to unleash its blessings. Therefore as he had laid a strong foundation of the Christian doctrine, he offers the blueprint of expressions needed to build an edifice fit to be a living temple of God. Upon all that he had said in the eleven chapters of Romans, He now pleads with the Church to offer themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. All that he had taught was to culminate to this. All deep revelations exposed, spiritual information given, and ethical arguments preached must ultimately lead a believer to consecration. If our spirituality does not get us to yield to the Lord then it is not divine. If our spiritual knowledge just puffs us and inflate our religious ego but does not affect our character then we have missed it.

Paul pleads with the church to offer themselves as a living sacrifice referring to the animal sacrifices that was offered at the temple then. He used the bringing of the sacrifices to the altar as a metaphor to effectively portray the picture he was communicating to the church. At that time, the person offering picked out the best of his flock, brought it to the altar and presented it there as an atonement for burnt offering for sin. The worshiper transferred to God all his right, title and interest in it by laying his hands on the head of it. Paul therefore exhorts them to give themselves up to the Lord in the Spirit of the sacrifice then, to be wholly the property of the Lord. A burnt offering to the Lord but useless to the world. When they do this, they will be holy, acceptable and their service will be reasonable.

It is interesting to note the progression of acceptable service. After you have heard the doctrine of the Christian faith, you must offer yourself as living sacrifice, then you will be able to bear holy fruits, you will be acceptable person before the Lord and your service will be reasonable. If you are not holy, you are not accepted by God and all your service is rejected. Their consecration was necessary to make their earthly service heavenly relevant. What makes their services reasonable is their consecration. Therefore, if you arm yourself with biblical knowledge with excellent dramatics yet live a lifestyle of profanity then your service is not reasonable.




The church today does excel in communicating the gospel message, our religious dramatics is flawless however our life does not reflect that holy life that will legitimate our service. The original Greek word translated service is “latreia” which also means worship. Therefore true worship must be based on a consecrated lifestyle. It unreasonable to perform any Christian duty without first living a consecrated life.

It is unreasonable for us to purchase expensive musical instruments to be played by musicians who are homosexuals, fornicators, who live profane lifestyle and expect the blessings of God. It is irrational to pray for our hours and live offence, unforgiveness, bitterness, murmuring, backbiting. It is illogical to pay your tithes and offering and not live right to receive its blessings. It is inappropriate to build empires for God, build ministries in His name yet not live a holy lifestyle. It is crazy to use demonic powers in your ministry and expect to die and go to heaven. Why go to Church and live like Satan? Why bother being a religious hypocrite whiles you know the God who rewards will find you out? We offer unreasonable service to placate our religious burden but fail to realize it is God that validates our service. God is calling us to examine ourselves in this time. Let us not be just excited about what we know but how we live. It is time we offer what God is demanding. HE DEMANDS A LIVING SACRIFICE, HOLY AND ACCEPTABLE then our services will warrant a divine response of Blessings.

By Pastor Reindorf Mantey
http://www.crusaders.biz

The Guarantee of Consecration

14And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. 16 But Jesus said unto them, they need not depart; give ye them to eat. 17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18 He said, Bring them hither to me. 19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20 And they did all eat, and were filled and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. - Matthew 14:14-27

Christ’s ability to touch the core of human suffering with the power of God drew the crowds to His side wherever He went. His compassion was like a fountain that flowed into parched lives, cracked with infirmities and immoralities. There was no doubt about His ability to demonstrate the power of God to heal every manner of disease that He was confronted with. However, his ability to supply the needs of a famished multitude was called into question when he was confronted with at least five thousand hungry men, women and children. He taught the multitudes, healed their diseases and now they were hungry and needed to be fed. They had enjoyed the delicacies of God’s word, awed by

His miracles but that did not alleviate their physically hunger. They were still human and needed to be nourished naturally. They needed physical food for their physical need. To feed this great multitude was a daunting task.

Moreover, they were in the desert place, a parched place with no amenities that could aid in the supply of their need. There were no stores, markets, or any resources in that location where they could buy anything for the multitude. And if there were any markets, they did not have the financial budget to purchase victuals for the size of this great multitude. Furthermore, the time was far spent. It was past the time for any reasonable solution to this problem. It was evening now and there was no way they could possibly gather enough resources to meet this need. These overwhelmed the disciples because they could not see any possible means to maintain the hungry multitude around Jesus. Something had to be done and they assumed that the way out was to send them away.

They had seen the Lord heal all their disease but they could not see how the Lord could feed them. It seemed unrealistic and humanly impossible to feed five thousand men in the desert, not counting the women and children. Therefore, they decided that they will disperse the crowd to go and fend for themselves. They believed in Christ’s power to heal all their diseases but to feed at least five thousand starved bellies was unrealistic. They believed that physical needs demand physical solutions. They presented their carefully thought out recommendation to Christ and assumed that He will definitely agree with them. They told the Lord to send away the multitudes because they were in the desert and it was past time for any meaningful solution so they could get themselves some victuals.

The disciples had hoped to keep the multitude by Jesus but they did not see any possible means for this to be realized and at the same time feed the hungry multitude. The only reasonable option left was to disperse the crowd. They were overwhelmed with this great responsibility and felt that the safest option was to suggest a break way from Jesus. The pressure generated by the needs of the multitude caused the disciples to allow a break away from Jesus so they can survive this need. Dispersing the multitude will deny them their fellowship with the Lord and they will miss out on the power of God and all that Christ stands for.

However, the disciples were willing to sacrifice all that for the multitude to go and fend for themselves. They were assured their survival was dependent on that. Sending them away from Christ implied a break from consecration to Jesus. They could not possibly see how you can be with Jesus and at the same time get your physically needs met. Their thinking was that you can come for your healing but when it comes to your physical needs you need to break away from your consecration to survive. The disciples were willing to sacrifice the consecration of the multitudes at the expense of their physical nourishment. They could not see how to maintain their consecration to Jesus and still feed them. To them the best thing at that moment was to send the people away so that they could survive.

The Challenge of Consecration

This daunting dilemma of the disciples also challenges many believers of this era. We love Jesus and we want to be in consecration to Him yet the pressure of our needs forces us to depart from the faith so we can survive the onslaught of our bills. How many believers have compromised their faith for their temporary physical comfort? Our commitment to the faith is daily broken because of our need for survival. We are daily confronted to the blind fact that we need physical nourishment and material supply to sustain our spiritual commitments. Without it there will be a definite breaking away from Christ. And because we don’t see any other way to reconcile our spiritual passion with our physical needs, many believers’ faith is undermined. Those who maintain their faith do it in frustration, disgrace and financial liabilities because they don’t know what to do. We must realize that genuine consecration can only be maintained when our spiritual and physical needs are met.

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. -Matthew 4:4

However, our piety causes us to focus more on our spiritual supply at the expense of our physical nourishment. The Church does excel in spiritual edification yet we lack the practical stewardship principles that will equip believers for financial stability. We believe in the supernatural, we invite people to come to Church for spiritual impartation however when it comes to physical support we send them away to fend for themselves without teaching them the principles to unearth the divine resources to supply their physical needs. The Church is so experienced in serving the hot bread of life served by the fiery messages from our pulpits but has not equipped believers with the tools to nourish their physical needs. Most believers are sumptuous fed with the delicacies of God’s word and yet are malnourished in their physical sustenance. The leadership of the churches have not effectively taught the right recipes to bake the “bread” that will alleviate or remedy the financial ailments that has plagued many believers with many social vices. Many pastors tolerate this compromises because we assume that there is no other option. We turn a blind eye on the obvious lapse of consecration and divine integrity to maintain the crowd.

The pressure of our needs is tightening a noose around our necks of our spiritual lives as we gasp for survival. In our desperation, we breathe in any air or relief to survive and we care less if it is contaminated with any social vices. Many have sold out their calling for their physical survival. How many are choked by the yoke of their needs, and burdened by the weight of their expenses. Our consecration is not entire because we are distracted by the glare of our financial liabilities. If our financial dilemma is not resolved, there will be ultimately a breaking away from Christ. When this happens, your joy evaporates; your commitment dwindles and you easily become susceptible to the virus of discouragement. The pressure for survival has caused many believers to compromise their faith. To survive, many chase for material resources at the expense of their conservation and it has caused many to deviate from the faith.

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. - 1Ti 6:10 (KJV)

The deficiencies in consecration has caused many believers to be liars to get ahead, cheats to stay in the game of life or connivers because of their needs. How many believers have neglected their Christian ethics for their physical comfort? How many sacrifice their spiritual disciplines (prayer, bible reading and meditation) just to hurriedly run to their jobs. Most ministers of the gospel have become hirelings, compromising their integrity for financial gain. They preach for the money and they respond favorably to the highest bidder. They tend to lean towards ministries who can afford to give them fat honorariums than those who are in dire need of their ministry. How many believers have entered into sin by the bribery of the enemy? He will buy your allegiance just for you to sacrifice your commitment to Christ. We need help. How can we really serve God right whiles we are pulled to the world by the pressure our needs? Many believers do embrace the compromise of their Christian ethics so they consecrate for a moment and go to the world for the physical needs. They come to Jesus for their spiritual needs but apply the corrupt principles of the world for their secular sustenance. They falsify documents, lie, cheat or compromise their morals just to make ends meet. Until we accept the blunt fact that we need our secular needs to be met to sustain our spiritual consecration, we will not seek for the divine principles to make this happen.

We need our Material Supply

Here on earth, you will need physical sustenance to maintain your spiritual life. Your spiritual revelation cannot be fruitful without the supply of your needs.

Wisdom is good with an inheritance and by it there is profit to them that see the sun. -Ecc 7:11 (KJV)

Deep spiritual revelations, transcendental wisdom without material inheritance do not profit your earthly life. It is frustration to have divine insights and lack the material provision to implement it. Wisdom is not effective without the material supply to substantiate it. If the enemy can sabotage your material supply, he will render your wisdom useless. Therefore, the wisdom of the gospel needs financial support for it to be propagated. A minister of the gospel can be endowed with powerful grace, anointed, and filled with wisdom yet if he lacks the finances for transportation, he will be hindered from reaching his audience and at the end his wisdom will not profit. A believer needs financial supply to implement the wisdom of God’s word. It is therefore the will of God to empower His people for financial wealth so they can implement the wisdom of His covenant.

But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. -Dt 8:18 (KJV)

God wants His people to be wealthy so He can establish the covenant.the spiritual covenant needs material wealth for it to be a reality. It is therefore the obligation of God to supply our needs to empower us to fulfill His covenant expectation. We must all then agree that we need physical sustenance for our Christianity to be effective. However, how to get the wealth also brings up many intriguing challenges. What must we do to access the supply of heaven? Is it possible to be faithful to God and expect my needs met? Is there any possible solution to cancel my overwhelming debt without compromising my faith? Can God really supply my needs irrespective of my location, ethnicity, or size of my needs? These are some of the questions that flood the terrain of Christian minds eroding their peace and setting many in the peril of disillusion.

The Price of Consecration

The disciples were confronted with some of these questions when they were challenged with an overwhelming need and they were forced to submit the only logical solution to Jesus. When the disciples brought their recommendation to send the multitudes away from the Lord to fend for themselves, they were surprised that Jesus disagreed with them. He said that the people need not depart yet He expected them to be fed.

And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. -Mat 14:15-16

As far as Christ was concerned, sending them away was not the only way they could survive. He agreed that they needed to be fed yet He disagreed with their method of sending them away. They need not break away from Christ to survive. It was not necessary to terminate their consecration for their physical supply. Departing from the Lord is not the only option for you to survive the barrage of your needs. You must not falsify documents, lie, and cheat to survive as a Christian business man.

The disciples thought it was impossible to maintain the multitude by the side of Jesus and still feed them. To them there were no reasonable means for this to be realized. Jesus however knew this could be done. Though the disciples had exhausted all human possible options to keep the multitude, Jesus had something up His sleeve that was not restricted to human principles. It was humanly impossible to feed five thousand in the desert in such scrupulous time yet Jesus purported to have a way to the impossible.

Many believers live in the plain of the natural therefore they respond to their needs with natural methods. Many are barraged with so many needs and they assume that the only way of survival is to break away from the Lord. How many believers cannot participate in their Church activities because of their jobs? Many assume that is the only way they can survive. Family units are being disrupted because we need to work more hours to pay the bills. We increase our hours at work, take on overtime hours, and sometimes work two or more jobs to catch up on our financial expenditure.

We assume that is the only way to make ends meet. Therefore we are pressured to break away from the Lord to maintain our livelihood. Many believers are too tired to read their bibles, some are so overwhelmed with their needs that they cannot even pray right. If we had approached the Lord we will find out that there is a way to maintain our consecration and still receive our material supply. This is what the Lord indicated to the disciples when He refused to disperse the multitude for their nourishment. With Christ, there was other means for them to be fed. If they stayed with Him, He will disclose a way to maintain their consecration and still be fed. Consecration launches us to the altitude of wisdom that unlocks the providence of God.

Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise. -Isaiah 43:18-21(KJV)

Consecrations Offers a Divine Option

The Lord refused to send the multitude away yet He still wanted them to be fed. Inspite of their desert location and the time far spent, Jesus told them that they must be fed. He did not want them staying with Him hungry. Jesus’s desire for them was to be well fed and not for food to be rationed out to them. Christlikeness is not meager living, impoverished lifestyle, mediocrity or tolerance of despair. It is Christ’s will that we live in abundance irrespective of our circumstances.

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly -Jn 10:10b (KJV)

If Christ wants them to stay then He is obligated to feed them. How they will be fed is His prerogative. As long as they stay with Him, He will take care of their needs. The burden of your consecration is the responsibility of God. Your submission to His will makes God responsible for your livelihood.

O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. -Ps 34:9 - 10 (KJV)

Your consecration guarantees your divine provision. The Lord will utilize His sovereignty to override any natural impediment to supply the needs of His people. He is the God that supplies manna in the desert, fed the Prophet Elijah with bread and meat supplied by a raven at the brook cherith. There is no stopping to what God will do for His consecrated ones. The devil knows this so he will do everything possible to cause you to compromise your consecration so he can stop your divine supply. Our God is obligated to take care of those who have made up their mind to stay with Him in spite of their perilous conditions.

Jesus had something up His sleeve when he asked the multitude to stay. He had a divine strategy to do the humanly impossible task of feeding five thousand men in the desert. With every humanly impossible financial problem, there is a divine solution. Therefore we are not to throw in the towel in despair as we are confronted with overwhelming needs. As we keep up with our consecration, He is obligated to take care of our needs.

God has Guaranteed your Provision

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. -Mt 6:31 - 33 (KJV)

God is not ignorant of our needs. However the process by which He supplies our needs is unlike the Gentiles. You cannot behave like a gentile (People with no covenant relationship with God) and access the supply of God. Our needs do not overwhelm God. What has stopped the flow of divine supply is our lack of commitment to the kingdom and it’s righteousness. It is not necessary to break away from the Lord to survive. We must not apply worldly principles to fulfill divine endeavors. We cannot chase material supply at the expense of our divine commitment. There is a way to stay with the Lord in righteousness and still be financially fulfilled. It is therefore not necessary to sell out your faith for your temporal comfort. Don’t withdraw from Him because of the pressure to go into the world to survive. There is a way by the Lord for you to be financially fulfilled. There is a divine strategy to your needs in the midst of your consecration.

These divine principles are articulately revealed in this book so you can be launched into the arena of divine resources. If you want to be liberated from the yoke of financial bondage and experience the abundance of God, read on. Let us take the journey together to our wealthy place.

"Judas Bag" - The Selfish Agenda Behind our Heavenly Zeal

Jn 12:3 - 6 (KJV)Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein..

Mary's passion for the Lord drove her to break her alabaster box and pour out her precious spikenard on the Lord. To her the Lord was worth such extravagant expenditure. However the disciples did not see it that way. They considered it a waste. Her action provoked Judas who mobilized the disciples to express their indignation. He argued that the spikenard could have served a better use than being wasted on Christ. He stirred the disciples by making a compassionate case for the poor, who he thought would have been better off to receive the proceeds from the sale of the spikenard oil. The undiscerning apostles bought his argument ignorant of the hidden agenda behind such compassionate stance. However the light of God’s word dissects his darkened heart and expose the motive for his compulsion. He was motivated by greed than compassion.

Jn12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

Judas sounded righteous and compassionate yet he was motivated with a devilish agenda. He did not care for the poor but tried to create an opportunity to fill the bag which he was responsible for. His compelling argument was a facade that covered his covetous heart and the undiscerning disciples bought it. How much of such arguments are being propagated in our churches for covetous agendas? What good causes have been concocted in the dish of deception? What compassionate causes have we championed under the disguise of filling our coffers? How many revival meetings have we organized for the monetary benefits than the edification of the audience? We must be discerning because the Judas spirit has sneaked into the heart of many zealous leaders.

If you are dedicated to the contents of the “bag” more than Christ, there is a tendency to sell-out Christ for your selfish ambition. To Judas everything was for a price as long as it will be deposited into his bag.

Judas was the treasurer of the apostolic team and he was in charge of the bag of money. He used his office to serve his greed. He was a thief and stole from the treasury anytime he had the opportunity. Therefore it was to his benefit if the bag was filled. His office served as the vehicle to drive his hidden agenda. The bag represent anything spiritual that we have been entrusted with. Most of such “bags” has now become an instrument to satisfy our covetous ambition. Therefore we use the ministry to organize meetings to fill our pockets. Most of our convocations and conferences has become a business investment rather than a means to edify believers. Therefore every facet of the meeting is set to fleece the flock. We focus on the merchandising of our products than spiritual growth of the people. However we have validated our actions with the zeal of our compassion for the flock that serve to cover our hidden agenda. We increase the frequencies of our church meetings, revivals or conferences not because of its necessity for spiritual growth of the believer but a way to raise more money. This was also the way of the religious leaders at Christ’s era.

Mk 12:38 - 40 (KJV) And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.

The religious leaders made long prayers not because the extra prayers was necessary for their spiritual breakthrough but it was a pretence to devour the widows houses. Are the frequency of our meetings that necessary? Or is it a way to assure ourselves of more offerings? We exaggerate our testimonies, embellish our spiritual experience and dramatize our preaching to facilitate our greedy agenda. Some even generate fake tears to exaggerate their burden on television to win over the undiscerning to give more . Oh what we do to fill our bags is contemptible. Our Judas heart has corrupted our heavenly zeal. We must repent before the judgment of God is released against us.

Rom 16:18 (KJV) For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple

I was once praying zealously for a numerical increase of my church and the Lord spoke to my heart and asked me a very penetrative question. He asked me whether I truly wanted the members or money? I was really praying for members not because of my zeal to expand the kingdom but I assumed that the more members I had the more tithes and offerings I could receive. The Lord’s question exposed my hidden agenda. I had to confess and asked him to provide financial support for me irrespective of the increase of the flock so that it will not be my motivation. The pressure of my needs exposed made me susceptible to the Judas spirit. I was zealously praying for Church increase but my real motive was for the money. You would not have known this if you had seen the fervency of my prayers that day. We must be sincere in the light of God’s presence and expose any devilish agenda that is clothed with a divine zeal. Will you preach if they don’t pay you? Will you go to areas to preach if your ministry will not be promoted or will not receive a fat honorarium? Christ definitely wants to take of the poor. However we must do this after the Lord has been fully satisfied with our character or motives. Therefore taking care of the poor with an evil agenda has no divine benefit.

Christ definitely wants his ministers to be well taken care of but how this is done must not be contrary to Christ’s character. We cannot charge to preach and call ourselves the minister of the gospel. God will not use devilish means to supply your needs. The true impact of the gospel is not being realized because there are leaders who are infested with the Judas spirit holding the reins of the Church. Let us be discerning and expel every wrong motives from every righteous endeavors.

Are you Believing God?

I woke this morning overwhelmed with the magnitude of my mandate, the severity of my discipline and the financial budget it entails. It just dawned on me, I will have to believe God for all my desires to become a reality. It got me thinking. It sparked a fiery debate in me that consumed me with an earnest desire to dissect the word "believe" and to grasp its significance, and expectation on my life as a Christian. What is belief? I queried in my mind. The search was on and I was not letting up until I have some concrete biblical facts that could unlock the reality of my expectation.

The dam of ignorance was broken and the flood of divine revelation flooded my soul sprouting the bud of understanding. I realized I have slipped into the same passiveness that had knocked out many church goers who called themselves believers. The word "belief" has become a casual word that we declare to express our expectation in God. Does believe relinquish our responsibility of actions. Do we just park our mandates while we are left in the wake of ambitious unbelievers who just scramble to achieve and possess everything in their path? Does believe mean we do nothing? I wondered. As I pondered on these and searched the living word, I noticed that believe is not just a passive state of “do nothing" but a call to trust the Lord in the path of obedience. Believe is not initiated by your whims, the pressure of your needs or the religious norm that is prevalent in your denominational circles but it is based on the word of the Lord. You cannot believe until God has spoken.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rom 10:17)

God's promises in His word or divine revelation is the foundation of our belief. However belief is not complete until you have embraced God’s word as true and taken an action in obedience. Our belief must also be reflected in our utterance. You cannot be speaking against what you believe. What you say in the heat of your circumstance is an evidence of your belief. Your belief must also affect your emotional responses to your challenges.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
(Isa 28:16)

This flood of divine revelation eroded away any root of ignorance that had been planted in my soul. Now I know what it really means when I say am believing God. I accept His promise as true; I walk in obedience, full of expectation, drowned in the rivers of His peace, with my mouth filled with praise and the declaration of my affirmations of his promise. I believe, am believing, I AM A BELIEVER.

We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
(2Co 4:13)

We need Discernment

A young woman was nervous about meeting her boy friend's parents for the first time; she wanted to look her absolute best. As she glanced at herself in the mirror, she noticed her black pumps looked a little dingy, so she gave them a fast swipe with the paper towel she had used to blot her breakfast bacon. When she arrived at their home she was greeted by the parents and their spoiled, cranky poodle. The dog got a whiff of the bacon grease on her shoes and followed her around all evening. At the end of the evening, as she was getting ready to leave, her boyfriend's parents said, "Cleo really likes you, dear, and she is an excellent judge of character. We are delighted to welcome you into our little family."