I am strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in my inner man by the Holy Spirit indwelling my innermost being.  Christ actually dwells, settles down, abides, and makes His permanent home in my heart! Today is encouragement from Kenneth Hagin Sr, from his book Faith Food Devotional.

May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty Power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit {Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality}.  May Christ through your faith {actually} dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts. . .  (Ephesian 3:16-17).     
                                  
How does Christ actually dwell, settle down and make His permanent home in your heart?  Through your faith.

That’s what God wants to do:  Make His permanent home in your heart!  But that’s what Christians haven’t allowed Him to do!  (Remember:  This scripture was written to born-again, spirit-filled Christians.)       
                                
Christian sing, “Come by here, Lord, come by here,” implying that the Lord’s not here. But if we could just get Him to come by, He might do something for us.  And, we sing, “Reach out and touch Jesus as He passes by.”  All of these sentiments are based on physical sense knowledge.  I don’t have to reach out and touch the Lord, BECAUSE, He lives in me!  And we sing, “Just to have a touch, O Lord, from You.”  What do I want with touches when I’ve got the Holy spirit living inside me?
Trust God who already dwells within you!  Learn to become "God-inside-minded!”                                             

Follow: Greek-akoloutheo - it can mean “accompany” and “assist’ and “follow.” The word “acolyte” is derived from akoloutheo. An acolyte is an assistant or attendant.

This is such a simple word that has more meaning to it than just, “follow along.” Jesus wanted the people to be doers of what they heard and saw him do. He wanted them to learn to do the work of the gospel. He wanted them to “assist” and “accompany” him. His job in calling the disciples to “follow” HIM was so much more. He was training them to “assist’ and “accompany” him in learning and doing the work of the gospel. As He spoke what He heard His Father say, and did what His Father told him to do, He in turn taught his disciples to do the same thing. Jesus told them to “follow” Him.

This word follow carries the same meaning when Paul said to follow his example. 1Corinthians 11:1. You must follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. [Contemporary English Version]

In other words, we are to imitate Jesus. That is what Paul told the Christians. To follow his example as he fol-lowed the example of Christ.

So first of all we are to “follow” the examples of Christ; we are to learn of His ways. Then there are others that we are to “follow” as they follow Christ.

The body of Christ is what the world sees. They should be able to “follow” our examples, as we follow Jesus.

So, your life may not be in the lights of famous, but it is in the lights of Jesus. People will see righteousness and truth living through you. Because of that, it will help them to re-adjust their way of life that may be off track of God’s Word. They will “follow” your example.

Next time you are “following”, or “assisting”, or “attending “someone compare their life to The Word and make sure it lines up. If you are not for sure, ask Holy Spirit. He will tell you. He came to be our ‘helper, teacher, . . . anything we have need of. He is there to help us.

Compromise (noun or verb) (1) An agreement made between two people or groups in which each side gives up some of the things they want so that both sides are happy at the end. (2) A settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions

The following story came from a daily devotional that was sent to us. I do not know who the author of it is, but it is a great example of compromise.

A Russian parable tells of a hunter who once raised his rifle and took careful aim at a large bear. When the man was about to pull the trigger, the bear spoke in a soft, soothing voice. “Isn’t it better to talk than to shoot? What do you want? Let us negotiate the matter.” Lowering his rifle, the hunter replied, “I want a fur coat.”

“Good,” said the bear. “That is a negotiable question. I only want a full stomach, so let’s negotiate a compromise.” They sat down to negotiate, and after a time, the bear walked away alone. The negotiations had been successful. The bear had his full stomach, and the hunter had his fur coat.

The moral of the parable is that compromise never satisfies both parties in equal measure.

Relating that to the Christian walk, we could say this: The Christian who compromises his or her Christian values always ends up on the losing end. James 4:4 says, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” When we compromise with the world, we set ourselves against God’s best guidance and end up getting swallowed by something foolish in the world.

Compromise short-circuits the believer. How do we avoid the pitfalls of compromise? Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Be wise, believer! Walk circumspectly, walk carefully, don’t compromise with those things in the world that can easily cause you as an individual to fall.

Hey… let us all consider the word compromise.

Care: CARE: Greek word melo (verb) - It can mean anxiety or earnest concern, depending on the context. Care: Greek word mevrimna (noun) - anxiety. Both are used in 1 Peter 5:7 - “Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you.”

In the New Testament the word “care” can carry the undertone of positive or negative.

Let’s start with the positive. “… a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.” (Deuteronomy 11:12)

13 ‘And it shall be that if you diligently obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,

14 ‘then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 ‘And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’

Did you get what He just said to us? He loves and cares for the land! Why? Because He cares for us! The land is what sustains us physically. That is why He cares for the land. He loves and makes sure His rain from heaven tends to the land/ground, which in turn gives us blessings. The ground/land meets our needs. What is your “ground/land” that needs tending, needs rain from heaven?

What is it that you need a change in that can only come from heaven’s rain? Trusting that God will let His rain from heaven fall on our situation is faith. It shows He cares for us. It shows He loves us. It shows He provides for us.

1 PETER 5:7 says, “Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you.” Maybe we could say, “Cast all your anxiety (merimna) on Him, because he cares (melo) for you.”

When there is anxiety/earnest concern in our hearts or head then there is fear of an outcome that we have no control over. Remember the damage that stress, anxiety and fear do to a body? Those things start attacking the body.

Think back to Jesus riding on the donkey and people flinging their clothes upon the donkey for Jesus to sit on? Remember the clothes and palm branches they flung upon the ground? All of that to honor the coming King Jesus. That is a principal of us throwing all of our burdens [cares] upon Jesus (our burden-bearer), and He takes them and keeps riding toward His destiny.

Can you see it? King Jesus rides off with our burdens! We no longer have them. We must not go after them. Trust that Jesus has your answer!

CASTING: Greek word epiripto. Epi means upon as on top of something, and the word ripto, means to hurl, to throw, to cast, or to violently throw or to fling some-thing with great force.

This word cast is used twice in the New Testament “Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) “And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast [epiripto] their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.” (Luke 19:15) Can you SEE the followers of Jesus flinging their garments upon the donkey? For HIM to set upon? Then can you see them throwing their cloaks and scarves upon the road? Can you see them placing the palm leaves upon the road? Why did they do that? There are many reasons this was done, but for this teaching, it’s a principal for all of us to learn. They did this so the chosen donkey would have a clean, pure path to carry the Messiah on, in preparation for the coming of their Savior.

The donkey is a burden bearer. Jesus is our burden bearer. Jesus prepared the way for you to “cast all your cares upon Him … BECAUSE HE CARES FOR YOU.

Now that you know He cares for you, what are you going to do with this piece of information? Will you just violently CAST it upon the ground and keep your burdens loaded upon yourself?

By faith we must learn, practice, and activate this principal in our Christian walk. Have we all fallen short of this princi-pal and sinned? Yes! But HE is faithful and just to forgive us as we repent. Is this an easy road for us to “cast all our cares upon Him, because He loves us?” For some it is easy, but for the majority it is not. It is a behavior for which He has supplied the answer.

Meditate on these scriptures:

“Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you.”

Do you believe He cares for you?

Do you believe He loves you?

Give it a whirl and see what The Lord will do for you! :)

Encouragement: The action of giving someone support, confidence, or hope *** persuasion to do or to continue something *** the act of trying to stimulate the development of an activity, state, or belief.

John 16:33 Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take COURAGE; I have overcome the world.”

Isaiah 41: 10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anx-iously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Psalm 34: 4-5,8 I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces shall never be ashamed … O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Proverbs 3: 5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Pastor Petie’s encouragement to you: Reading of the Word is always life to the spirit, soul and emotions of man. The Book of Ecclesiastes is great food for the triune parts of man. As you read it, you will find yourself in his sayings; you will pick up much wisdom, advice, and corrections. It is super awesome to hear from the gentle voice of Holy Spirit as His Word is read. Be encouraged! Jesus loves you.

I wonder sometimes what part of repentance applies to me personally. Do you ever think the same thing? What part of repentance applies to you personally? So, let’s look at the word REPENTANCE. “RE”-prefix. Again: back to an original place, condition, etc. Now, try to re-member the “RE” part for later on, and include condition of the soul: mind, will and emotions. Now for the rest of the word RE-PENT.

“PENT”: adjective. Confined, repressed, kept inside: not re-leased.

With the meaning of these words separated to reflect on, bringing them together helps us to know there are things in our minds that don’t line up with the Word of God. So, we must think about repenting. What do we have repressed in our minds that we don’t want to deal with? What has God asked us to do that we have repressed in our minds? And if we don’t think about it, hopefully the request will go away. Then we move on with life. And not doing what God has asked us to do. Is that part of the word meaning to not “release?” Maybe in unforgiveness, obedience to something, cheating, lying, etc.

Remember Jonah? He had been given an assignment by God. He at first refused to accept the assignment. But God had chosen Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah needed to repent. He needed to return to his original obedience [condition] of mind for God. But Jonah had pent up feelings for the people of Nineveh. That city was like Sodom. There was much evil in it. Jonah didn’t want to go; he had judged them in his own heart. But with all Jonah went through God was dealing with his heart. Jonah needed to repent of his judgment. God was working in both Jonah and the people in Nineveh.

Maybe there are things that God is dealing with us as individuals. Maybe He is wanting us to return to our loving, willing obedience to love and serve HIM. Also, do we have a bad attitude towards the sinners here in America? They, like the people of Nineveh, need to hear The Word of God for the opportunity to repent or God’s judgement will be upon them. I liked the outcome for the city. They fasted and they found favor with God. Because they REPENTED. Isn’t that incredible? The whole region REPENTED, because they heard the Word of God. What are we as individuals holding back in our minds? What is repressed in our soul that needs God’s Word? Let us absorb the Word and repent as needed.

And he said unto them, Go ye unto all the world, and reach the gospel to every creature . . . And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:15,17-18)

Let’s stop and analyze here: Which of the sick did Jesus say we were to lay hands on?

Jesus just said “the sick” ——— period.

Then, if God were the author of sickness — if God did put sickness and disease on people — if it were the will of God for some to be sick — this statement would be confusing. Because in it, Jesus authorized us to lay hands on ALL sick.

If God weren’t in the healing business, Jesus would have had to say something like, “lay you hands on those that it is the will of God to heal, and they shall recover. And those that it isn’t — they won’t recover.”

But, no! God set the Church against sickness — period!

Here is something to consider: God is not in the sickness business. God is in the delivering business. God is not in the bondage business. So, we should consider: refuse to allow the enemy to try to get you to accept sickness or bondage as being from God. Satan is the author of sickness. God has set me against sickness!

So, consider this in your thoughts: does fear over take your thoughts in this area? Please remember:

Casting every imagination down and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to obedience to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Vain imaginations start with a thought, and if you do not take that thought captive immediately, that thought forms a mental picture in your mind. Then you begin “seeing” your fears, anxieties and worries play over and over in your mind. Vain imaginations elicit terror, depression, discouragement, stress, anxiousness, worry and doubt — all of which originate from the enemy. WHOSE REPORT WILL YOU BELIEVE?

OVER COMING VAIN IMAGINATIONS begins with asking yourself, “Is that thought or image from God?” If you do not know, ask yourself, “Do I feel peace and can I find this in the Word of God?”

Consider this: Retrain your mind to believe the report of God’s Word. It will balance out your thoughts and keep you in line with your thinking positive about sickness, and other issues in your life.

By FAITH he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who was invisible.
(Hebrews 11:27)

As a believer there should come a time when you separate yourself from others’ way of thinking. You should consider being around those who think, act and do, and talk like you do.

Soon after building a relationship with Jesus, friends and family notice the difference and soon they will start to separate themselves from you. They get uncomfortable with your NEW you. Your language is different. Your actions, and reactions, are different. So, one or the other will need to separate in the relationship.

Don’t risk your spiritual life for unnecessary pleasures, un-necessary risk, or unnecessary gains. Learn to have SEPA-RATING FAITH. Stay strong in the faith that will keep you close in your relationship with Jesus.

Insist on being around someone who can speak positive words into your life. Stay away from the “negative-speaking Nellie’s”. The negative words will begin to drain you of your spiritual growth. They don’t understand your goal is to get closer to Jesus, therefore, their behavior doesn’t change. Then the conflicts of “different thinking” starts. Stay away from those going backwards. Pray for them to have a revelation of who Jesus is. Don’t take in their negative words that are contrary to God’s Word. Don’t compromise to please them. Stay firm to honor God with your faith.
 

Please reconsider this repeat of FAITH (Hebrew Strong’s #530 emunah): an action-oriented word meaning “support.” Western concept of faith places the action on the one you have faith in, such as “faith in God.” But the Hebrew word FAITH places the action on the one who “supports God.” It is not a knowing that God will act, but rather I will do what I can to support God.

HOW CAN I SUPPORT GOD?
One day, when we’ve seen the gates of pearl and streets of gold, we’ll know that it has been worth it all to serve God/Jesus and that nothing in this world can compare with the stash of treasures we’ve been storing up in Heaven. And it’s your faith that will get you to that glorious place.

WHAT CAUSES US TO SACRIFICE FOR GOD? Why would a man or woman leave the comfort of home (temporary or permanently) or their business and go to some strange place and serve (be obedient to) God? It can be assumed they have made a proper evaluation of the circumstance.

REFUSE TO BELIEVE THE ENEMY’S LIES. When the enemy tries to make you feel that your life has no value and that your choice (to support God) was a wrong one, just stop and take a good look around you. Look at the fruit of the lives of those who have chosen the high road and take an equally good look at the fruit of the lives of the compromisers, and you’ll again be set on the proper course in life. ALWAYS TAKE THE HIGH ROAD.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gi3 of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD. (Romans 6:23)

Moses’ Evaluating Faith: Moses knew this thousands of years before Paul wrote it, and based on his knowledge, he made a proper evaluation. He was not willing to live for the moment, and he was not willing to live for the day. He chose to live for the future, realizing that what we do today affects all our tomorrows. He had an eye for eternity.

DON’T LET YOUR SUFFERING/SERVING BE YOUR OWN FAULT. Some people bring reproach upon themselves by their foolishness and lack of wisdom, and there is no reward for bearing this type of reproach. If you act on your own, God is never obligated to bail you out of your trouble. If you do something for HIS sake, He’ll be with you every step of the way. So, let EVALUATING FAITH ARISE IN YOUR HEART TODAY. START LIVING BY FAITH.