"Father's Day"

".... Our Father which art in heaven..." Matthew 6:9

 

We are celebrating Father's Day this weekend. I would like to say Happy Father's Day to all of our fathers out there who are readying this. I pray your day is very special. 

 

I want to remind you to take time to honor your Heavenly Father as well. (Which we should do everyday.) Make it a point to give Him praise and glory for His great love for you. 

 

Regardless, of how great and loving our earthly fathers may be, they can never compare to Him. Our earthly fathers are flesh and blood men. They make mistakes. They miss the mark at times. They can't always provide like they might like to. They may have wisdom, but it is limited. You can't say that about your Heavenly Father. He is a Father who loves and cares for you deeply. He meets and supplies your every need. He comforts you in your time of trouble. He strengthens you when you are weak. He never leaves you nor forsakes you. He can never be accused of child neglect, child abuse, or child abandonment. He is not a dead-beat dad. 

 

For years there has been the joke about the "Father's Day tie". What to get dad? The answer is always a tie. You can't give Father God a tie, but you can give Him a gift. That gift is yourself. It is the surrender of your heart, soul and will to Him. That is the one gift that He desires to receive from you. 

 

Have a great day. Give your Heavenly Father honor and glory everyday and the gift of yourself. 

 

For further reading:

Matthew 6:32

Luke 11:13

Psalm 103:13

James 1:17

 

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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.

"Divide And Conquer"

"Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name." Psalm 86:11

 

We are all familiar with the phrase, "Divide and conquer." This is a strategy used by one opposing force against another. If you can divide groups of people, if you can divide nations, if you can divide a family, then you will conquer them. This is also a strategy that the enemy of our soul, the devil, uses against us. 

 

He uses it against the church and tries to put us at odds against each other within our congregations. He uses this tactic to bring disunity within the Body of Christ. But he also uses it against us individually and tries to divide our own heart against itself. He tries to get us to have a divided heart so that we will not love the Lord and serve Him with all our heart. 

 

He tries to divide our hearts between God and mammon. He tries to divide our hearts between God and materialism; God and entertainment; God and pleasure. He tries to divide our hearts between God's will and our own will. His goal, as with any enemy, is to destroy us. If he can divide our hearts, he can conquer us, and ultimately destroy us because a divided heart is a lukewarm heart.

 

Is your heart divided? Is it divided between God and something else? It doesn't have to necessarily be something we consider bad or evil. Even good things, when they take part of your heart away from God, can be just as effective a weapon of the enemy as besetting sins. 

 

If your heart is divided? Then repent, ask the Lord to forgive you, pray the prayer above-- "Unite my heart to fear Your name", and be on guard to not allow anything to divide it again.

 

Have a great day. Love God with all your heart and do not let the enemy divide your heart. 

 

For further reading:

Matthew 6:24; 22:37

Revelation 3:16

 

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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.

"Jesus Walks On The Trouble"

"But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea." Matthew 14:24,25

 

I went fishing with my husband yesterday afternoon. As I looked across the lake my thoughts went to the time when Jesus walked on water. I could imagine Him walking on the lake where I was, but then I remembered when Jesus walked on the water to the boat where His disciples were, the sea was not calm and smooth as glass. Instead the waves were beating on the boat and the wind was blowing hard against it. 

 

Our lives are not always "smooth". There are times when the winds of adversity blow. There are times when trials, temptations, difficulties and problems beat upon us. Take comfort when those times come because Jesus didn't walk on water to His disciples when the water was calm, He came when the waters were troubled. Jesus will come "walking" on the troubles to get to where you are. He doesn't only show up when things are going well. He will be there even when they aren't. 

 

Have a great day. Jesus doesn't just show up in your life when things are calm and smooth. He shows up when things are "beating" against your life. 

 

For further reading:

Matthew 14: 22-27

 

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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.

"Don't Limit God"

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us," Ephesians 3:20

 

The verse above has been on my heart for the last week. Each time I think about it, I find myself breaking it down in such a way where my understanding gains greater enlightenment and my faith is becoming stronger in its truth. Let me break it down for you this morning.

 

"Him"-- God, not man.

"that is" -- not will be, but already is.

"able" -- not unable, but well able, always able.

"to do" -- that's action, not passive, at work.

"exceeding" -- to go beyond, in great measure.

"abundantly" -- plenty, more than enough, excess.

"above" -- more than just enough, but over the top, beyond.

"all"-- not some, not a little, not just barely enough, not just part.

"that we" -- you, me, anyone.

"ask or think" -- what I can say, request, hope for or imagine.

 

Do we really take this verse to heart? Do we really believe what it says? Do we believe it with limitations on God? Martha believed that Jesus could raise her brother Lazarus from the dead, but she believed it for the future- in the Resurrection. She was limiting His ability to do exceeding abundantly above what she could ask or think at the present. She was limiting Him because of the situation-- he was already dead and buried for four days. She was limiting Him because of her own reasoning-- he stinks.

 

When you ask the Lord concerning a need, don't limit Him in your asking. When you think about the Lord, don't limit Him and bring Him down to the level of just another person. He is not a person, He is God, and He is able-- more than able-- to do exceeding abundantly above all that you can ask or think.

 

Have a great day. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.

 

For further reading:

Jeremiah 32:27

John 11

 

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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.

"Learn Him"

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matthew 11:29
 

"... Learn of me..." Jesus did not say to "learn about Him", but to "learn Him". Many are just learning about Him. They are learning facts and figures, so to speak, about who He is and the work that He did. They know He healed the sick, opened blinded eyes, died on the cross, and rose from the dead, but that is all they know about Him. This doesn't mean you know Him though. 

 

We all have individuals in our lives that we know such details about as where they live, where they work, what their spouse's name is, how old they are, but past that we don't know anything else about them. Then there are also individuals in our lives that we know more personally. We know more about them than just facts about their lives. My sister is my best friend. I can tell you more than her street address or where she works. I can tell you what her gifts are. I can tell you about her character. I can tell you what makes her happy, what makes her sad, how she feels about certain subjects, in certain situations I can tell you exactly what she is thinking and how she is going to respond. Why is that? Because I know her. I have spent my whole life with her getting to know her.

 

This is the "knowing" that I am talking about where Jesus is concerned. Do you know Him in such a way where you know how He thinks about certain things? What makes Him happy, what makes Him sad? What His heart looks like? What His thoughts on certain issues are? 

 

He wants us to know. "He made known his ways unto Moses." (Psalm 103:7) Moses not only knew what God was doing in His dealing with His people, but why He was doing it. He knew God's heart on the matter of the children of Israel. He knew why God was bringing the plagues on Egypt. He knew what pleased and displeased the Lord. If God showed Moses who He was in the Old Testament how much more in the New Testament under grace does He desire to show us who He is. 

 

Learning who He is only happens one way. It happens by spending time in His presence and in His Word. This is not the same as just having your little ten minute prayer time where you give God your list of wants. This is not the same as doing your daily reading through the Bible in a year program. This is quality time spent daily waiting on Him, being still and quiet before Him, listening to Him, reading His Word with the intention of discovering Who He really is. As you spend more time with Him, you will get to learn/know Him in a more personal way.

 

Have a great day. Knowing about God and knowing God are not the same thing,

 

For further reading:

2 Corinthians 2:9

Hebrews 8:11

John 4:9

 

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

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.