"Hope Is For The Future"

"Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel." Psalm 128:6

This whole chapter is about the blessings that are upon those who fear the Lord. When you read the Bible and the stories of the Israelites, you soon discover that besides their God there are two things on earth that are most important to them-- their children and their nation.

It was a big thing for them to have a lineage and heritage. In the scriptures if a man passed away his brother was to marry his widow and produce children in his name. Remember the story of Rachel and Leah, it was important for them to "out do" the other in giving children to Jacob. Hannah wept bitterly in the temple for a child. Elizabeth rejoiced to bear a child in her old age.

They also loved their home land and longed for it when they were in captivity. So as I read the verse above I see two things. The first thing I see is that the Lord tells us what the blessing is-- you will have a long life and see your grandchildren and you will see peace in your land. The second thing I see is hope. The two things they longed for are not always evident in the present, they are future happenings. But they had hope that they would see them.

Hope is not needed when the thing is seen. Hope is always for a future event. We know what we hope will happen in the future, but we can't see the future we can only see now. Even though we can't see the future, God can. And because He can see ahead He allows us to have a "glimpse" at it and gives us a promise of what is to come. So if you are waiting to "see" something that is still in the future, be encouraged. God is a God of hope and He is watching over your life-- from the past, at the present, and into the future.

Have a great day. Hope is always directed at what is still in the future. God is a God of hope and is watching over your future.

For further reading:
Hebrews 11:1
Romans 8:24,25

 

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or

Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"I Know He Does Not Change"

"For I am the LORD, I change not..." Malachi 3:6a

Although the Bible says that the Lord God will make Himself known to His people, He is so awesome and amazing there is no way that we can know Him in the fullness of who He is. What we do know about Him is only because He allows us to have that knowledge and revelation. If He did not reveal Himself to us we could never know anything about Him or know Him in intimate ways. The depth of God is so deep, the length of God is so long, the mind of God is so unsearchable, His thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts and His ways are beyond our ability to comprehend. Even when our mortality puts on immortality we will still not fully understand the complexity and grandeur of God. I believe that the angels who are constantly in His presence don't fully understand Him, but they stand in awe just like us. After all, how can the creation understand the Creator.

Having said all that, while God is so great that no one can fully know and explain this infinite Being, there is one thing that I do know about Him--- He does not change! He does not change in His unconditional love. He does not change in His faithfulness. He does not change in His mercy and grace. His strength does not change. His wisdom doesn't change. His compassion and loving-kindness for us does not change. His power never changes either.

He isn't like we are-- moody and fickle. People change. Often you don't know where you stand with them. They may be your friend today and your enemy tomorrow. They may start the day off in a loving mood, but before the day is over be full of anger. You just don't always know from one minute to the next where you stand with some people. You don't have to worry about that with the Lord because He does not change. This should give you great comfort and peace. You never have to wonder if He is going to love you today or not. You never have to wonder if He is going to be faithful, meet your need, fight your battle or be with you. He does not change. Whatever He is, is what He has always been and will always be.

Have a great day. We may not be able to know all there is to know about the Lord, but one thing we do know is that He never changes!

For further reading:
Hebrews 13:8
I John 5:20
Psalm 145:3; 103:7
Romans 11:33
Isaiah 55:9

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or

Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"Seek The Lord"

"And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper." 2 Chronicles 26:5

"...he sought the Lord..." In regard to the Lord, what are you seeking? So many are more involved in seeking what the Lord can do for them instead of seeking Him. They are seeking His blessings, His provisions and His benefits. But very few are just seeking Him- seeking to know Him, seeking to please Him, seeking to have a closer relationship with Him.

I understand that there are times when we have to seek the Lord because of a situation that we find ourselves in and need an answer from Him or His guidance. But for the most part, we have it "backwards". We tend to seek more after what He can give us and do for us; we seek His hand and what's in it; we seek after the tangible things that come from Him; but if we would seek HIM- then all these things (the things that we truly need) will be added to us.... without having to "seek" after them. They would come as a result from seeking Him first.

Ask yourself this morning, "What am I seeking?" Are you seeking the blessings or the giver of the blessings? Are you more interested in seeking what He can do for you instead of He Himself? Are you seeking after the things that He gives or to know who He is? Are you seeking Him for His gifts or just because of who He is?

Have a great day. Are you seeking the things that God gives, or are you seeking the God who gives good things?

For further reading:
Psalm 34:4
Deuteronomy 4:29
1 Chronicles 16:10,11
2 Chronicles 15:12
Acts 17:27

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from
About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.
Please feel free to
call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net
Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.
You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact.
Please remember to give credit to
About the Master's Business Ministry

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"Shall Follow Me"

"...He leadeth me ...." Psalm 23:2

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." (Psalm 23:2,3) Twice in these two verses it is said that the Lord leads us. He is the Shepherd and we are the sheep. The role of the Shepherd is to lead and the role of the sheep is to follow. It is not our place to do the leading- we can't. He is the leader, the one we are to follow. This is the charge that Jesus gives to those who would put their trust and faith in Him as Savior and Lord. "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)

We can make the choice to either follow Jesus and let Him be the leader, or we can choose to step in front of Him and take the lead ourselves. If we do the leading, we will always wind up going in the wrong direction, we will get ourselves into trouble and we will make a mess of our lives. (We have all seen the results that come from doing the leading- we have all done it at one time or other.) But when we will step back and let Jesus do the leading, we will reap a blessing, and a promise. He promises that if we will "follow Him", then He will cause something to "follow us"-- "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." (verse 6)

As we are being led by Him, then His goodness and mercy follows our lives. What a wonderful promise! And not only does it follow us just today, but everyday ("all the days of my life"). When we surrender the lead of our lives to Him, there is nothing but benefits that come from it. We have Him making the decisions, rightly dividing our path before us, leading us in the right way, keeping us out from destruction, and we have His goodness and His mercy following us everywhere we go.

Have a great day. If we follow Him, then His goodness and mercy will follow us.

For further reading:
Proverbs 3:5,6
John 10:11,14, 27

"The Process"

"By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land." Exodus 23:30

While speaking to the Israelites in the wilderness concerning their entering into the promised land, the Lord told them that He was going to drive the other nations out of the land little by little. He was not going to drive them all out at one time. It would be by the conquering of one city after another. Could God drive them all out at once? Sure He could, but He was not going to. He was going to do it through a process.

At salvation there is something that takes place in our lives right then- we become a new creation. But that is only the beginning, from there we go through a process. God could totally deliver us from all the vain imaginations of our heart, from the lusts of the flesh, from our flawed thinking, but He doesn't. The destruction of our biggest enemy (our own flesh) and transformation into the likeness of Christ, takes place through a process- a daily process of denying self, of renewing our mind and of presenting ourselves before the Lord as living sacrifices.

How nice it would be if He would just instantaneously change at salvation all the things about us that have to be put to death. But instead we have to do that on a daily basis as we encounter each one. So today, remember that you are in a process and every "enemy" you encounter has to be dealt with then and "driven out".

Have a great day. We are in a process- I must decrease and He must increase.

For further reading:
Exodus 23:25-31
John 3:30
Romans 8:13

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from
About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.
Please feel free to
call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net
Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.
You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact.
Please remember to give credit to
About the Master's Business Ministry.
Take time to visit our on-line Christian magazine and blogs.
http://livingstonesmagazine.homestead.com

"Follow Me"

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23

When Jesus said to, "Follow Me", He also said that there would be a cross to bear involved. In modern day Christianity we have a "one-sided" view of what it means to "follow" Jesus. We want to follow Him for the blessings and what He can do for us, like the multitudes that followed Him did while He was here on earth. "And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole." (Mark 6:56)

We want to follow Him in the works. We want to do the same works He did- miracles, heal the sick, teach, preach, minister. We want to follow His power. We want to follow in the glory. We want to be used in the gifts of the Spirit. And this seems to be our whole focus and desire when it comes to following Him. But there is more to following Jesus than what we consider the "glamorous" side of ministry- this is only one side of following Him.

There was a reason why Jesus said that those who would follow Him would also bear a cross. There is no gospel without the cross. There can be no discipleship without the cross. Jesus bore a cross and we do too.

So what does it mean to "follow Him"? It means to follow Him down the same path He walked. We are to follow Him on the path of obedience, the path of suffering, the path of sacrifice and self-denial. It is a path that surrenders to the will of God no matter what it cost us- “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39b- NIV) Following Him means that we will suffer pain, rejection and sorrow. And eventually it will mean death- death to self-- self-will, self-desire, self-ambition, self-love.

When you say you are a follower of Jesus, what do you mean? Do you mean that you are following His blessings, His power, His glory, His works? Or are you following Him by following Him to the cross as well?

Have a great day. What kind of follower are you?

For further reading:
Mark 10:21; 37-39
Hebrews 5:8Philippians 3:10

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from
About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.
Please feel free to
call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net
Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.
You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact.
Please remember to give credit to
About the Master's Business Ministry.
Take time to visit our on-line Christian magazine and blogs.
http://livingstonesmagazine.homestead.com