Tag: #deliverance

Why Do We need to Focus on the Truth?

A Bowl of Encouragement by Herb Cotton

God Speaks:

Psalm 119:129-136 King James Version (KJV)

129 Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.

130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

131 I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.

132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

134 Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.

135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.

My Opening Prayer:

Father, open my heart so that I might see the truth, and open the hearts of your people who are seeking a word from you. Father, may all who pray, ask you to sanctify them by the power of Your Word. Father, we need mercy in this world so that we will not have to face the wrath of God when the time of mercy has expired at the first death.

Father, please save the lost from the penalty of sin, and keep the redeemed from the power of sin, and we look forward to the day when Jesus will deliver us from the presence of sin. Father, may we work while it is the day because night is coming when no man can work. In the name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

Listen to God Speak & Obey:

Allow me to ask you a penetrating question about what I heard and received in last weekend sermons at my church. I got a double barrel of truth; Saturday night and Sunday morning. 

I heard the truth that confession purges your heart of the shame that appears when the light of the Word of God shines into the dark places of your mind, heart; this darkness affects your total body; from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet.

My family and friends, we are all imperfect people. We all miss the mark of our creator, and He gets the final word. The Bible says:

Romans 6:22-23 New Living Translation (NLT)

22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

It’s time for each one of us to have a real talk with God. The next step is to talk with three to five closest friends of the same sex in our circle of influence. Notice what the Bible says:

Galatians 5:16 King James Version (KJV)

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Prayer:

Father, I pray that men and women who are within reach of this message will surrender their hearts to You, and will surrender their shame in exchange for the deliverance of our mind, soul, and body from the darkness of death, and move into the light of the presence of God now and for eternity. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

 

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Link to my new devotional book Amazon Author’s Page. Everything about the book is found there with pictures, and more to come.
 

What is the Most Dangerous Weapon in the Hands of Man?

Text:

James 3:5-8 (ESV)

5  So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

6  And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

7  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,

8  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Observation: 

The most common answer to the question asked in the title is nuclear weapons; especially in the hands of people with evil desires to kill and destroy innocent people.

However, our focal passage for today describes a weapon that has destroyed more lives than all the wars of the world. It is the tongue, and we all have one.

In my reading today, I read Psalm 5. In this Psalm David talks about the enemies he was facing, and he knew that they could destroy him, but he also knew that God could deliver him.

In times like these there is great profit in looking to the Psalms for encouragement.

Are you a child of God? Then why not turn to the Lord in prayer, and put your troubles, and worries in His hand. David turned to the Lord in prayer.

Psalm 5:1-3 (ESV)

1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning.

2  Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.

3  O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

Prayer:

Father, we love and adore You. Father, if we ever needed You, we sure do need You now. Father, we associate ourselves with David in the final words of his lament before You.

Psalm 5:11-12 (ESV)

11  But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.

12  For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Father, we look to You for protections and deliverance. Father, we rejoice not in winning, but we rejoice in You. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

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Isaiah 55:11 (KJV) 
11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

Hear the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

https://soundcloud.com/praying-for-you-ministry

How Do You Respond to Trouble?

Text:

Deuteronomy 33:27 (KJV)

27  The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.

Observation:

There is a school of thought that says that we are either fear or anger prone. If this is so, which are you?

In fact, we don’t have to be stuck in either of these responses to external or internal trouble. The secret to deliverance is found in the eternal God; He can be your refuge. This can take place when we broaden our focus from the temporal to the eternal.

The way to live the abundant life through all of the troubles of living in a fallen world is to give your life to Jesus, and receive from Him the gift of eternal life.

1 Peter 2:9-10 (KJV)

9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

When the risen Christ is alive in you, and the Holy Spirit of God lives in you,   there is nothing that you will lack to live the abundant life in Christ.

1 Peter 1:13-16 (KJV)

13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

14  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Prayer:

Father, hallowed be Your name. Father, we give our whole life to You, and we receive in exchange the life of the living God in us. Father, we rejoice, and shout for joy for the exceeding blessings, and favor You have so generously and gracefully given to us. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

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Isaiah 55:11 (KJV) 
11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

Hear the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

https://soundcloud.com/praying-for-you-ministry

Who Will Deliver Us From Our Problems

Text:

Malachi 4:4-6 (HCSB)

4  “Remember the instruction of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

5  Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the LORD comes.

6  And he will turn the hearts of fathers to ?their? children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Observation:

If there ever was a time we needed leadership in this world, we surely need it now.

To whom are you looking for deliverance? May I recommend you to look to Jesus, the Messiah of God.

John 1:1-4 (HCSB)

1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2  He was with God in the beginning.

3  All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.

4  Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men.

John 1:14 (HCSB)

14  The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

If not Jesus, then to whom shall we look? Pause for a moment, and think about that.

There are two leap off the page, and into my heart moments that I experienced when I read our text today.

The first is “look” in verse five, and the second is this verse.

Malachi 4:6 (HCSB)

6  And he will turn the hearts of fathers to ?their? children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Oh, how all of God’s people need to look to the Word of God, and to look to God in constant and fervent prayer.

Psalm 119:16 (HCSB)

16  I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

James 5:17 (HCSB)

17  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours; yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.

The most effective way to change hearts and minds is to give instruction in the Word of God, and for God’s people to pray the Word.

Hebrews 4:12 (HCSB)

12  For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

Psalm 138:3 (HCSB)

3  On the day I called, You answered me; You increased strength within me.

Prayer:

Father, I adore you, and give you the highest praise my soul can muster. Praise God!

Father, I ask that you would birth in your people a hunger and thirst for the Word of God, and prayer. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

—

Isaiah 55:11 (KJV) 
11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Hear the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

https://soundcloud.com/praying-for-you-ministry