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Welcome to Heaven!

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  Welcome to Heaven! Scripture: 2 Peter 1:11, ESV “ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ” (2 Peter 1:11, ESV) Oh! How I love the Word of God! Yes, it is full of warnings, particularly for those who pay no attention to him. This is also true of believers who decide to take a “holiday” from living for Christ, who died for them. In fact, the warnings are stark and have eternal consequences. However, for believers who are aggressive in wanting to grow, God’s promises are an irresistible magnet, creating an ever-increasing desire to know him more. God motivates us incentives for obeying him. He has not given us a spirit of fear, “ …but of power and love and self-control. ” (2 Timothy 1:7, ESV) Can it get any better than the promise of having a “richly provided entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ”? I don’t think so! Based on the authority of God’s Word, Peter gives believers...
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Fresh Winds!

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  Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church…But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. Acts 8:3–4, NLT Fresh Winds In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit came like a rushing mighty wind and filled the disciples with power. They went throughout Jerusalem praying for people, seeing the sick healed, the lame walk, and thousands become believers. But then a great wave of persecution arose, and the disciples fled for their lives to Samaria and Judea and shared their faith. Had they not left Jerusalem, Christianity wouldn’t have spread. They would have just kept it for the Jewish people. God had to push them out of their nest. They were satisfied in Jerusalem, but what God had in mind was much bigger. Because of the opposition, the good news of salvation spread all over the world. We often don’t know what God is up to. In real time, all we see is an adversity we didn’t choose—persecution pushed us out, a friend walked away, the contrac...
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Follow the Footsteps!

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  Follow the Footsteps Scripture: Luke 19:13, NIV “So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ ” Some say we should redeem time, because time is short. The secular world often says that “time is money,” so be busy making money with the time you have. In the above passage the servants are told to put the master’s money to work until he returns. The master was saying he would return and would want a report or an accounting of what was done with his money. Jesus Christ said a lot about work when he was in this world. He was in the world for a purpose: “ ‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.’ ”  (John 4:34, NIV) “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38, NIV) “And He said to them, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business.’ ”  (Luke 2:49, NKJV) “I must work the w...
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Everything You Put Your Hands To!

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  The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. Deuteronomy 28:8, NIV Everything You Put Your Hand To The blessing is an anointing on your life, which means God has marked you or set you apart. You are marked for favor—that’s where people are good to you and don’t even know why, where doors open that weren’t supposed to open, where you get promoted when you weren’t the next in line. You are marked for opportunity to come looking for you. You’re marked to excel in whatever environment you’re in—whether people are for you or against you, whether the economy is up or down, whether you’re getting good breaks or doors have closed. The blessing is the reason you keep rising up when circumstances try to keep you down. The blessing doesn’t stop the adversity, but it causes you to triumph in the trouble. With His blessing, deep down you know that God being for you is more than what’s trying to stop you. Now do your part and have this blessed mindset. Ge...
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Feed Your Soul!

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  Feed Your Soul Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:6–7 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (ESV) Proper growth only comes from God. As we grow in Christ, our focus becomes sharper with a greater comprehension of what Christ wants us to do in this world. We also want to make sure that any “growth” we experience is growth sourced in God. The proper place to start the growth process is stated by Peter,  “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”  (1 Peter 2:2, NKJV) Without proper nourishment, we cannot grow. In Kingdom of God we strongly emphasize the importance of absorbing the Word of God to make it personally operative in our lives for the purpose of empowering and transforming us into cultivating the desire to become strategic kingdom investors. Furthermore, through the Word we discover our design, purpose, and work God has for us ...
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1 Peter 2:11-25!

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  Introduction 1 Peter 2:11–25: Today’s reading, framed by the context of the Roman Empire, reflects the challenges Christians faced in that pagan culture and its prevalent “household codes.” The author instructs believers to respect civil authorities, thereby demonstrating good conduct while, at the same time, living as free people and as “God’s slaves.” Today’s Key Verse: 1 Peter 2:24 GNT Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. Read 11  I appeal to you, my friends, as strangers and refugees in this world! Do not give in to bodily passions, which are always at war against the soul.  12  Your conduct among the heathen should be so good that when they accuse you of being evildoers, they will have to recognize your good deeds and so praise God on the Day of his coming. 13  For the sake of the Lord submit yourselves to every human authority: to the Emperor, who is the supreme authority, ...
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Be on the Lookout!

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  Be on the Lookout Scripture: Revelation 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”  (NKJV) As the Creator, God is always on the move. The landscape of “circumstances” of the world are constantly changing. Opportunities come and go. Scripture emphasizes the brevity of life many times:  “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”  (Romans 13:11–12, NKJV) This is an exhortation we had better listen to in order to be prepared! We are to be on high alert:  “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”  (Matthew 25:13, NKJV) Without question, Jesus Christ is returning to this world. This coming event can happen at any tim...
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