Sorry that I haven't been able to blog daily this week. My schedule has been vibrant, to say the least. LOL
One of the things taking much of my time is HPC's involvement with the Haiti Relief efforts. I am excited to say that God is favoring our endeavor to help in a supernatural way We have received over 100 cases of water in the first 3 days of the collection drive!
Check out www.HPChaitirelief.blogspot.com for more updates!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
HPC's Haiti Relief Blog
Higher Praise Church's Haiti Relief Blog is now up and running!
Stay up to date with how you can participate in finding needs and meeting them in Haiti by visiting: http://www.hpchaitirelief.blogspot.com/
Stay up to date with how you can participate in finding needs and meeting them in Haiti by visiting: http://www.hpchaitirelief.blogspot.com/
Day 23 - Such as I Have
Acts 3:6 - And Peter seeing the (begging lame) man said, "Silver and gold have I none, BUT SUCH AS I HAVE I give unto thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."
You may not have the largest house in your city or even your neighborhood. Perhaps your car is held together by Christian bumper stickers and the description, "struggling to make ends meet", is a vast understatement to describe your financial situation. But irregardless, of what you lack financially all you need is a relationship with the Holy Spirit and an impartation of his power to change lives.
Simon Peter was running short on funds. His paycheck hadn't come through yet via direct deposit and the money he needed hadn't been wired. Meeting a beggar and being moved with compassion he was obviously discouraged that he couldn't help meet the need before him.
As a result, Simon Peter turned to his only option. Silver and gold were out of the question, but he did have the power of God at work in his life. With faith swelling in his heart he commanded the lame man to rise by the authority of Jesus' name and walk! The rest is history.
Acts 3, quickly leads me to hold fast to the truth that money is over-rated. One touch from Jesus as he moves through us to touch others will surpass the fulfillment all the gold in Fort Knox could ever possibly bring to your life.
You may not have the largest house in your city or even your neighborhood. Perhaps your car is held together by Christian bumper stickers and the description, "struggling to make ends meet", is a vast understatement to describe your financial situation. But irregardless, of what you lack financially all you need is a relationship with the Holy Spirit and an impartation of his power to change lives.
Simon Peter was running short on funds. His paycheck hadn't come through yet via direct deposit and the money he needed hadn't been wired. Meeting a beggar and being moved with compassion he was obviously discouraged that he couldn't help meet the need before him.
As a result, Simon Peter turned to his only option. Silver and gold were out of the question, but he did have the power of God at work in his life. With faith swelling in his heart he commanded the lame man to rise by the authority of Jesus' name and walk! The rest is history.
Acts 3, quickly leads me to hold fast to the truth that money is over-rated. One touch from Jesus as he moves through us to touch others will surpass the fulfillment all the gold in Fort Knox could ever possibly bring to your life.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Day 22 - Favor Ain't Fair
Acts 2:47 - Praising God and enjoying the FAVOR OF ALL PEOPLE...
TD Jakes famously once preached, "Favor ain't fair!"
Unfortunately, I can't break it down quite like Bishop Jakes, but I can make you this promise via my Scriptural understanding: FAVOR STILL AIN'T FAIR!
It's that simple and it is settled.
When God opens a door for you that no man can close, it can and most-likely will catapult you to the front of life's lines.
Acts 2:47, lays a foundation for the fact that promotions others may have been waiting for, can suddenly belong to you simply because you were faithful in your praise to God! I.E. - Daniel, Darius, and the Lion's Den....
Our Heavenly Father will raise up whom he will and cast down whom he will, and there is nothing the systems of the world can do to destroy his agenda.
If God be for you, then no one can effectively be against you. Isaiah said, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper." In other words, "It doesn't mean the enemy can't form a weapon, it just means that if he does, in the end it can not harm you."
It seems that favor can in essence remove the ammunition from hell's weaponry.
Daniel was attacked by manipulative peers, but then he found favor with the king. He may have not had favor with everyone, but he found it with the one person who mattered most.
Which leads us to this disclaimer: The act of possessing favor doesn't mean that if you praise God and gain it you will have reached a place where no one will ever choose to not like you. Instead, to have the favor of God at work in your life simply means that while some people will never like you, it will always cause the people who need to show you favor, to do just that.
Keep praising God and watch him place his FAVOR on your life!
Remember it this way, as the praises go up, the favor comes down, and you will wear it like a mantle as: doors open, influence is gained, and blessings follow you.
NOTE: It is important to add that sometimes favor doesn't show up on earth and believers are martyred. The amazing thing about such an occurrence is that God will then show them favor in heaven and their reward will be greater than anyone else's for all of eternity! (Reference Hebrews 11.)
TD Jakes famously once preached, "Favor ain't fair!"
Unfortunately, I can't break it down quite like Bishop Jakes, but I can make you this promise via my Scriptural understanding: FAVOR STILL AIN'T FAIR!
It's that simple and it is settled.
When God opens a door for you that no man can close, it can and most-likely will catapult you to the front of life's lines.
Acts 2:47, lays a foundation for the fact that promotions others may have been waiting for, can suddenly belong to you simply because you were faithful in your praise to God! I.E. - Daniel, Darius, and the Lion's Den....
Our Heavenly Father will raise up whom he will and cast down whom he will, and there is nothing the systems of the world can do to destroy his agenda.
If God be for you, then no one can effectively be against you. Isaiah said, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper." In other words, "It doesn't mean the enemy can't form a weapon, it just means that if he does, in the end it can not harm you."
It seems that favor can in essence remove the ammunition from hell's weaponry.
Daniel was attacked by manipulative peers, but then he found favor with the king. He may have not had favor with everyone, but he found it with the one person who mattered most.
Which leads us to this disclaimer: The act of possessing favor doesn't mean that if you praise God and gain it you will have reached a place where no one will ever choose to not like you. Instead, to have the favor of God at work in your life simply means that while some people will never like you, it will always cause the people who need to show you favor, to do just that.
Keep praising God and watch him place his FAVOR on your life!
Remember it this way, as the praises go up, the favor comes down, and you will wear it like a mantle as: doors open, influence is gained, and blessings follow you.
NOTE: It is important to add that sometimes favor doesn't show up on earth and believers are martyred. The amazing thing about such an occurrence is that God will then show them favor in heaven and their reward will be greater than anyone else's for all of eternity! (Reference Hebrews 11.)
Day 21 - Everyday
Acts 2:46 - And EVERYDAY they continued to meet together in the temple...
Many people struggle to go to church one morning a week. Imagine this: EVERYDAY the early Church believers met in the temple for the purpose of prayer and praise.
This morning I witnessed a young teenage girl, who is recovering from an accident, attend church with 500 stitches in the temple region of her head. She had every excuse to stay home and yet she refused to abstain from assembling together with her friends to praise God.
When you're feeling like a drag on Sunday remember that EVERYDAY the apostles went to the temple! And if that doesnt encourage you, then know that a young lady has raised the bar high on a hillside in Russell Springs as she overcame a horrible wreck (and so many stitches that the doctor stopped counting), so that she could be faithful in gathering to corporately worship our God.
Regardless, of what is going on in our lives more often than not we can spare at least one morning a week to gather together.
I believe as you commit yourself to Sunday morning attendance it will so encourage you that you will find yourself also regularly showing up on Sunday nights and even Thursday nights!
Join us Sundays @ 9am, 11am and/or 6:30pm and don't forget the Thursday night 7pm service...
Many people struggle to go to church one morning a week. Imagine this: EVERYDAY the early Church believers met in the temple for the purpose of prayer and praise.
This morning I witnessed a young teenage girl, who is recovering from an accident, attend church with 500 stitches in the temple region of her head. She had every excuse to stay home and yet she refused to abstain from assembling together with her friends to praise God.
When you're feeling like a drag on Sunday remember that EVERYDAY the apostles went to the temple! And if that doesnt encourage you, then know that a young lady has raised the bar high on a hillside in Russell Springs as she overcame a horrible wreck (and so many stitches that the doctor stopped counting), so that she could be faithful in gathering to corporately worship our God.
Regardless, of what is going on in our lives more often than not we can spare at least one morning a week to gather together.
I believe as you commit yourself to Sunday morning attendance it will so encourage you that you will find yourself also regularly showing up on Sunday nights and even Thursday nights!
Join us Sundays @ 9am, 11am and/or 6:30pm and don't forget the Thursday night 7pm service...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Day 20 - All Things Common
Acts 2:44-45 - And all that believed were together, AND HAD ALL THINGS COMMON; 45)And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, AS EVERY MAN HAD NEED.
It is no wonder that the apostles had such power in the Spirit. Not only does the Book of Acts consistently testify of their unity in the faith in Acts 2:44-45 it points out that they also shared ownership of their possessions.
AS EVERY MAN HAD NEED, they would come together and do whatever the situation called for to see the need resolved--and to that all I can say is Wow!
It seems almost unfathomable that the families of the apostles and their followers had such degree of unity that were willing to sale their own valued possessions to meet a need in someone else's life. It is one thing to give money or an occasional gift, but to sale your possessions to make it possible to meet an otherwise impossible need is something only the Spirit of God can birth in our hearts!
My Prayer:
Father, bring a level of compassion to my heart that can only be described as heavenly in nature. May my heart melt like wax at the knowledge of a need! In Jesus name, Amen.
It is no wonder that the apostles had such power in the Spirit. Not only does the Book of Acts consistently testify of their unity in the faith in Acts 2:44-45 it points out that they also shared ownership of their possessions.
AS EVERY MAN HAD NEED, they would come together and do whatever the situation called for to see the need resolved--and to that all I can say is Wow!
It seems almost unfathomable that the families of the apostles and their followers had such degree of unity that were willing to sale their own valued possessions to meet a need in someone else's life. It is one thing to give money or an occasional gift, but to sale your possessions to make it possible to meet an otherwise impossible need is something only the Spirit of God can birth in our hearts!
My Prayer:
Father, bring a level of compassion to my heart that can only be described as heavenly in nature. May my heart melt like wax at the knowledge of a need! In Jesus name, Amen.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Day 19 - Reverential Awe
Acts 2:43 - AND FEAR CAME UPON EVERY SOUL: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
When we think of fear we often immediately conjur up images from horror films in our mind. Fear is almost always considered a negative thing and rightfully so. I myself love to quote Paul's declaration, "The Lord has not given you the spirit of fear!" However, there may be more for us to learn from a Biblical stand-point on the subject of fear...
There is a fear that is liberating, because it is holy in its nature. The struggle with understanding it comes from our difference in the use of the word today versus the time in which the Bible was being written.
Solomon spoke of this fear, "The FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of all wisdom and knowledge."
In definition, the fear of the Lord is: a reverential awe of the presence of the Lord.
Acts 2:43, describes a culture being shifted by the manifestation of the power and presence of God. As the apostles operated in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit with the demonstration of signs and wonders, FEAR CAME UPON EVERY SOUL.
Imagine the possibilities that could transpire if we, the Body of Christ, began to walk in the highways and hedges of our culture with the empowerment of the Spirit! The result would be the same as it was 2,000 years ago: Reverential awe would spread across the land.
Why is this important?
It is my belief that the greatest stumbling block to the acceptance of salvation on behalf of the unsaved is the their lack of reverence for God. They, as I once did, seem to think they are in charge of much more than they actually are.
There is a Sovereign God whose might is unfathomable and his throne is unattainable. Just read Job or Psalms to hear the magnificence of his capabilities described.
The reality is this: we have no wisdom or knowledge until it is founded upon the revelation that God is not to be approached casually or irreverently. The Heavenly Father, whose name is hallowed, is worthy to be feared in a way that produces reverential awe!
When we think of fear we often immediately conjur up images from horror films in our mind. Fear is almost always considered a negative thing and rightfully so. I myself love to quote Paul's declaration, "The Lord has not given you the spirit of fear!" However, there may be more for us to learn from a Biblical stand-point on the subject of fear...
There is a fear that is liberating, because it is holy in its nature. The struggle with understanding it comes from our difference in the use of the word today versus the time in which the Bible was being written.
Solomon spoke of this fear, "The FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of all wisdom and knowledge."
In definition, the fear of the Lord is: a reverential awe of the presence of the Lord.
Acts 2:43, describes a culture being shifted by the manifestation of the power and presence of God. As the apostles operated in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit with the demonstration of signs and wonders, FEAR CAME UPON EVERY SOUL.
Imagine the possibilities that could transpire if we, the Body of Christ, began to walk in the highways and hedges of our culture with the empowerment of the Spirit! The result would be the same as it was 2,000 years ago: Reverential awe would spread across the land.
Why is this important?
It is my belief that the greatest stumbling block to the acceptance of salvation on behalf of the unsaved is the their lack of reverence for God. They, as I once did, seem to think they are in charge of much more than they actually are.
There is a Sovereign God whose might is unfathomable and his throne is unattainable. Just read Job or Psalms to hear the magnificence of his capabilities described.
The reality is this: we have no wisdom or knowledge until it is founded upon the revelation that God is not to be approached casually or irreverently. The Heavenly Father, whose name is hallowed, is worthy to be feared in a way that produces reverential awe!
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