FAITHFULNESS AND SKILLFULNESS

While faithfulness in requirement for enlistment into kingdom stewardship, skillfulness is the yardstick for promotions – 1 Cor.4:2; Prov.4:7,8

Faithfulness is the base that skillfulness builds upon.

The more skillful you are the more promotable you become.

David’s faithfulness qualified Him for enlistment but it was His skill that gave Him access to the palace. Ps.78:72

Skill widens your scope of stewardship. Matt.25:21,23

Skillfulness promotes creativity and enhances productivity.

Skill is developed by commitment to continuous learning.

Faithfulness provides the platform but skillfulness creates the height.

Faithfulness makes you acceptable before God but skill makes you relevant among men

Investing God's Way

By Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin

"My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

-Phil. 4:19

There is a law of sowing and reaping in both the natural and the spiritual realms. And it's a law that works! Yet from my experience, more people fail when it comes to faith for finances than for anything else. The reason is that they're trying to exercise faith for finances, but they haven't planted any seed! They want God to bless their finances even though they haven't sown anything.

The Bible plainly states, "GIVE, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete [measure] withal it shall be measured to you again" (Luke 6:38).

The Bible also plainly says, "He which SOWETH sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully" (2 Cor. 9:6). If you want a bountiful crop, you've got to sow bountifully.

You can't reap a crop without sowing seed. You can't go out into your backyard and say, "I'm going to pick some tomatoes," if the ground hasn't been prepared and the seed sown.

The first step, then, toward getting your financial needs met is to obey the Bible.

MALACHI 3:10
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

God said we are to bring our tithes—10 percent of our income—into the storehouse, and in return He will open up the windows of Heaven. "Prove me now herewith," he said.

So just go ahead and obey the Bible in the area of finances. Pay your tithes and give offerings. Act on God's Word in faith, and God will bless you because He's faithful and true to His Word.

Then beyond cooperating with God's laws concerning tithing and giving offerings, be open to receive further light from His Word concerning giving to others. Also, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, Who will very often direct you specifically to give.

Now don't do something just because somebody else did. Don't operate on someone else's experience. Operate on what you know the Bible says, and operate on what the Holy Spirit is saying to you.

You don't have to have any "leading" to pay tithes and give offerings. You don't need to be led to give and sow. The Bible tells you to do those things, so just do them. But when you get out beyond that, it's when you obey the Spirit of God that things happen.

Start where you are. Be faithful to obey the Word by paying your tithes and giving offerings. And be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit when He directs you specifically to give. You can't out-give God. If you sow seeds bountifully in faith and obedience, you will reap an abundant harvest of blessings!

Health Food Devotional

The First Attitude

December 5, 2016

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
(Heb. 13:8)

Those with this first attitude believe that healing is not for us today. They believe that healing is a miracle, and that miracles do not belong to us today. 

I think this first attitude can easily be shown to be erroneous by the simple definition of a miracle. According to the dictionary, a miracle is an act or happening in the material or physical sphere that apparently departs from the laws of nature or goes beyond what is concerning these laws. 

A miracle is an intervention of God into the realm of natural laws or human activity. In other words, it's God coming on the scene. And whenever God comes into immediate contact with man, a miracle is performed. 

Every answer to prayer, regardless of how small or how big, is a miracle. Every New Birth is a miracle. In fact, you can ask God for no greater miracle than the New Birth. 

Think about it. In the New Birth, man becomes a new person. He is not just revamped or worked over. He is born again and becomes a new man, a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17). 

Therefore, an act of healing whereby God comes into immediate contact with man's physical body is no more a miracle than the New Birth in which God comes into contact with the spirit of man. It takes a miracle to change the nature of an individual. 

So to say that miracles belong only to the apostolic age would be to say that the New Birth is not for us today and that from the apostolic age until now, God is only a mere specter in the world that He created. 

It's easy to see the fallacy of this teaching. If miracles have passed away, then the New Birth has passed away, and no one can be saved in this day. We know this is not true. 

Confession

I know that the New Birth has not passed away, because I am saved. I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. Therefore, miracles have not passed away. I receive my miracle - my answer to prayer - now!

Source: Health Food Devotions by Kenneth E. Hagin.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications

HE'S THE WAY OUT

"Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore...I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him..." (Ps. 91:14-15). God didn't say you weren't going to have trouble. In fact, He rather infers that you will have trouble because you're a Christian! The world will persecute you, talk about you, speak evil of you. An enemy is arrayed against you. The god of this world puts pressure on you at every turn (2 Cor. 4:4). Some people think it's God who is putting pressure on them, but it isn't. Jesus contrasted His works and the works of the devil like this: "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). God is not a thief. That which steals, kills, and destroys is the devil - not God. God says in His Word, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all" (Ps. 34:19). The word "afflictions" here means tests and trials. And that's what your troubles are. But the Lord has promised to deliver you out of how many of them: half? No! Out of them all! The Lord didn't just promise to be with you in trouble and then stop there. He's there to deliver you out of that trouble. And He's more than enough! Confession: I have set my love upon God; therefore, no matter what the test or trial, I know that El Shaddai is with me to deliver me. And He's more than enough! Source: Faith Food Devotions by Kenneth E. Hagin. Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications

KEY TO DISTINCTION

Discipline is key to distinction.

Discipline means following the straight and narrow path.

Distinction accommodate only few who have subjected themselves to paying the price for it.

Distinction is not cheap to come by.

Discipline means refusing to take it easy.

Those who take it easy will be eased out of the race.

Taking it easy is path to destruction. Matt.7:13,14; Mic.2:10

START SPEAKING FAITH NOW KENNETH COPELAND

…Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

Matthew 12:34-35

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Words won’t work without faith any more than faith will work without words! It takes them both to put the law of faith in motion.

Many believers don’t realize that. They’ll continually speak words of doubt and unbelief, then they’ll jump up one day and say a couple of faith words and expect mountains to move—and to their dismay, they don’t.

Why not?

Because as Matthew 12:34-35 says, it’s the words that come from the heart that produce results. The person who just throws in a couple of faith words now and then isn’t speaking them from the abundance of his heart, so they’re not effective.

Does that mean you shouldn’t start speaking words of faith until you’re sure you have the faith to back them?

No! Speaking words of faith is good spiritual exercise. If you want to receive healing by faith, for example, fasten your mind and your mouth on the Word of God where your health is concerned. Instead of talking about how miserable you feel, quote Isaiah 53:5. Say, “Jesus was wounded for my transgressions. He was bruised for my iniquities. The chastisement of my peace was upon Him; and with His stripes, praise God, I was healed!”

If you’ll continue to meditate on those words and continue to say them, the truth in them will begin to sink in. They’ll take root in your heart and begin to grow. And eventually you really will be speaking from the abundance of your heart.

When that happens, it won’t matter what the circumstances look like. You’ll know you have what you’ve been believing for and the devil himself won’t be able to talk you out of it. You’ll cross the line from hope to faith, and you’ll start seeing those mountains move!

Scripture Reading:

Matthew 12:33-37

Is it necessary to speak in tongues to be raptured?

When Kenneth and Gloria started their journey of faith they had question too - lots of them! So, we've compiled the most frequent asked questions by people like you - people who earnestly desire to find God's answers to the practical, real-life challenges of everyday living. We have a new question every day, so check back often.

Q: Is it necessary to speak in tongues to be raptured?

A: No. Only one requirement is made in order to go with Christ in the Rapture, and that is to believe on Him. You meet that requirement at salvation when you say with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10). Ephesians 1:13 says that at salvation you are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the ability to speak in other tongues is invaluable for empowering believers for ministry. But no scripture indicates that a person needs to speak in tongues to go in the Rapture (the catching away of the Church). Though you are not required to speak in tongues to go in the Rapture, we strongly encourage you to pursue the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. With it you are given the power to do the works of Jesus on the earth and gain the ability to build yourself up in prayer (Acts 1:4, 8; John 14:12; Jude 20).