Total Praise - Richard Smallwood

| Daily Word Dr. James A. Lee

Home | Daily Word: "GRACE
I give thanks for the grace of God.
When I consider the things I enjoy in life--the gifts of friendship, home, work and community--I see the grace of God.

Through the divine faculty of understanding, I recognize that the qualities I use to co-create my life are truly gifts from God. With faith, I see the possibilities; with love, I make divine connections; with strength, I persevere. All these qualities are reflections of God's grace within me.

As I contemplate the fullness and beauty of life, I see that every aspect has been generated through the grace of God. It feels good to accept God's grace, and that good feeling is a gift as well.

Everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.--2 Corinthians 4:15"

'via Blog this'

Revelation 16:1-21 "And I heard a great voice out..." KJV - Online Bible Study

Revelation 16:1-21 "And I heard a great voice out..." KJV - Online Bible Study

And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways , and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. ² And the first went , and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. ³ And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. ⁴ And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. ⁵ And I heard the angel of the waters say , Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art , and wast , and shalt be , because thou hast judged thus. ⁶ For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink ; for they are worthy. ⁷ And I heard another out of the altar say , Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. ⁸ And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. ⁹ And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. ¹⁰ And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness ; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, ¹¹ And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. ¹² And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up , that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared . ¹³ And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴ For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. ¹⁵ Behold , I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth , and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. ¹⁶ And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. ¹⁷ And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying , It is done . ¹⁸ And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. ¹⁹ And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell : and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. ²⁰ And every island fled away , and the mountains were not found . ²¹ And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Esther 9:1-32

¹ Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution , in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;) ² The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people. ³ And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. ⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater. ⁵ Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them. ⁶ And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷ And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha, ⁸ And Poratha, andAdalia, and Aridatha, ⁹ And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha, ¹⁰ The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the spoil laid they not their hand. ¹¹ On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king. ¹² And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or what is thy request further? and it shall be done . ¹³ Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows. ¹⁴ And the king commanded it so to be done : and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons. ¹⁵ For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand. ¹⁶ But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together , and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies , and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey, ¹⁷ On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁸ But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another. ²⁰ And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, ²¹ To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly , ²² As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies , and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. ²³ And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun , and as Mordecai had written unto them; ²⁴ Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them; ²⁵ But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. ²⁶ Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them, ²⁷ The Jews ordained , and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail , that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year ; ²⁸ And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed. ²⁹ Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim. ³⁰ And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, ³¹ To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry. ³² And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.

Esther 10:1-3

¹ And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea. ² And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? ³ For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

Psalm 107:23-43

²³ They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; ²⁴ These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. ²⁵ For he commandeth , and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. ²⁶ They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. ²⁷ They reel to and fro , and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end . ²⁸ Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. ²⁹ He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still . ³⁰ Then are they glad because they be quiet ; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. ³¹ Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! ³² Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. ³³ He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; ³⁴ A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. ³⁵ He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings . ³⁶ And there he maketh the hungry to dwell , that they may prepare a city for habitation; ³⁷ And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. ³⁸ He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease . ³⁹ Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. ⁴⁰ He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. ⁴¹ Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock. ⁴² The righteous shall see it, and rejoice : and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. ⁴³ Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

The King James Version is in the public domain.

Our Daily Bread The Joy of Jesus

Our Daily Bread

The Wooden Rule

Text Size: Zoom In

October 16, 2011 — by Cindy Hess Kasper

Subscribe on iTunes

Play MP3 (Mobile)

Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn

Read: 1 Corinthians 12:14-26

The body is not one member but many. —1 Corinthians 12:14

Bible in a year:
Isaiah 47-49; 1 Thessalonians 4

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden had an interesting rule for his teams. Whenever a player scored, he was to acknowledge the person on the team who had assisted. When he was coaching high school, one of his players asked, “Coach, won’t that take up too much time?” Wooden replied, “I’m not asking you to run over there and give him a big hug. A nod will do.”

To achieve victory on the basketball court, Wooden saw the importance of teaching his players that they were a team—not “just a bunch of independent operators.” Each person contributed to the success of everyone else.

That reminds me of the way the body of Christ should work. According to 1 Corinthians 12:19-20, each of us is a separate part of one body. “If they were all one member, where would the body be? But . . . there are many members, yet one body.” Is the success of a pastor, a Bible study, or a church program based solely on one person’s accomplishments? How many people contribute to the smooth operation of a church, a Christian organization, a family?

Coach Wooden’s rule and 1 Corinthians 12 are both rooted in the principle of seeing our need for one another. Let’s use our gifts within the body of Christ to build up, strengthen, and help to carry out God’s purposes (vv.1-11).

All Christians have been gifted
By grace from God above,
Equipped to build and strengthen
The church in faith and love. —Fitzhugh

There are no unimportant people in the body of Christ.

FaithWriters.com-Christian Christian Living - Where is The Love?

FaithWriters.com-Christian Christian Living - Where is The Love?: Why are people falling out of love today? There is so much violence that family are beginning to kill each other in the home. War has destroyed the idea of peace. All of the resource to build a society is being directed for death. Jesus came to give us peace and love.

The end days will take a serious look at the prayers of the righteous. It is so important to pray for love. God is love. Jesus is the pure refection of God on Earth. Jesus gave us a solid example of love when He being Lord washed His disciples feet. Jesus cared for His people. He took care of them as an act of love. Who is this concerned today as to take care of the people?

Jesus gave His life so that we may have life, and have it more abundantly. To died on the cross for our sins is the greatest act of love. God raised Jesus from the grave, and the good news is that Jesus will return to set love right. All evil will be be put to death. Love will and is The Joy of Jesus.

'via Blog this'

Home | Daily Word

Home | Daily Word: "INNER PEACE
The stillness is my sanctuary of peace.
The Christ presence within calls my attention inward. I seek a time of respite from responsibilities, distractions and my own wandering thoughts. Time apart is necessary for my well-being and my peace of mind.

I retreat to a quiet place I find comforting. I may go to a chapel, a favorite spot outdoors, a serene corner at home, or simply close my eyes right where I am and take a deep and relaxing breath. I am revitalized by extended times in the silence and brief moments apart. I turn my attention inward to the stillness that is my sanctuary, and I find peace. I consciously connect with Spirit and bask in divine light and love.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.--Philippians 4:7"

'via Blog this'

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread

A Debt Of Gratitude

Text Size: Zoom In

October 15, 2011 — by Bill Crowder

Subscribe on iTunes

Play MP3 (Mobile)

Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn

Read: Romans 16:1-16

[They] risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. —Romans 16:4

Bible in a year:
Isaiah 45-46; 1 Thessalonians 3

Dave Randlett was someone of whom I can say, “Because of him, my life will never be the same.” Dave, who went to heaven in October 2010, became a mentor to me when I was a new follower of Jesus in my college years. He not only invested time in me, but he took risks by giving me opportunities to learn and grow in ministry. Dave was God’s instrument to give me the opportunity to be a student preacher and travel with a college music team. As a result, he helped shape and prepare me for a life of teaching God’s Word. I’m glad I was able to express thanks to him on a number of occasions.

Just as I am thankful for Dave’s influence in my life, the apostle Paul was grateful for Aquila and Priscilla, who served the Lord with him. He said they “risked their own necks for my life.” In gratitude, he thanked them, as did “all the churches of the Gentiles” (Rom. 16:4).

You too may have people in your life who have taken risks by giving you opportunities to serve or who have greatly influenced you spiritually. Perhaps pastors, ministry leaders, friends, or family members have given of themselves to move you further along for Christ. The question is, have you thanked them?

Consider what the Lord has done
Through those who’ve shown you love;
And thank Him for each faithful one—
A blessing from above. —Sper

For those who have helped you, take time to give them thanks.