"Preaching Jesus"

"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." 2 Corinthians 4:5

 

We have been studying the Book of Acts on Wednesday nights at church. The majority of the book is about Paul the Apostle's journeys preaching the gospel. As you look at the life and ministry of Paul you see he had one message--- Jesus. Yes, he taught the believers how they should live but his main theme was always Jesus.

 

What is the church preaching today? Are we preaching Jesus? For the most part-- especially in the church in America-- we are preaching a lot of other things. We preach about our plans, our programs, our churches, our visions, ourselves, money and politics. But where is the preaching about Jesus? 

 

Jesus is the central theme of the whole Bible. God Himself preached the first message about Jesus in the very beginning in Genesis. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15) From Genesis to Revelations Jesus is there. All the prophets preached through prophecy Jesus. The early church, the apostles, the disciples, they all preached Jesus.

 

What are you preaching? Pastors, teachers and ministers, what are you preaching from the pulpit? Don't think the rest of us are exempt from that question. You may not be called to preach the gospel through an office (Ephesians 4:11-12) in the body of Christ, but you are called to "preach the gospel" (share the good news) where you are. So what are you preaching in your conversations? What are you preaching to the strangers on the street? Is Jesus what you talk about? Or do you talk about everything else but Him? Are you lifting up Jesus to others? That is the preaching of the gospel--- Jesus.

 

Have a great day. If we aren't preaching Jesus, then we don't have a message. 

 

For further reading:

1 Corinthians 1:18,23

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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.

"Great Praise"

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness." Psalm 48:1

 

God is great, so our praise to Him should be in proportion to His greatness. God is great, therefore, He deserves great honor; He deserves great praise; He deserves great worship. We worship Him in proportion to who He is--- great! So God is worthy of not just praise, but great praise. He is worthy of our praise in every way, with all we have and on every level. 

 

There are seven Hebrew words for praise:

1) Shabach: to shout, to address in a loud tone.

2) Towdah: an extension of the hand in adoration.

3) Yadah: to worship with extended hand.

4) Halal: to boast, show, to rave, celebrate, to be clamorously foolish.

5) Barak: to kneel down, to bless God as an act of adoration.

6) Zamar: praise with musical instruments.

7) Tehillah: to sing in adoration.

 

Great praise to this Great God shouts to Him with the voice of triumph and is not afraid to let His greatness be known. Great praise lifts up its hands in surrender and adoration. Great praise does not mind getting "beside" itself and dancing before the Lord like David did. Great praise celebrates God's greatness. Great praise kneels and bows down humbling itself before the Lord acknowledging how great He is. Great praise praises Him with musical instruments and singing. 

 

Great praise to this God who is great involves our whole being and not withholding anything from Him-- shouting with our voice, kneeling with our knees, lifting up our hands, dancing around on our legs, using our fingers to play instruments, and using our breath to sing unto Him. What kind of praise are you giving to this great God?

 

Have a great day. Our praise to God should be in proportion to who He is-- great!

 

For further reading:

Psalm 95:6; 21:13; 22:3; 47:1; 63:1; 149:3

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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 Spend It All"

"Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment." Proverbs 13:23

 

I recently went to the market to purchase a bag of peanuts. I wanted to get the jumbo size but was told that they would no longer be getting that size because the farmers are not selling them any more this year. They are putting them back for seed for next year. This is a wise move on the farmer's part. Although they could sell those peanuts now and get the extra money for them, they made the choice to save them.

 

The Proverbs addressed this very thing in the verse above. Sometimes we complain about not having enough but the truth is it is not because the Lord hasn't blessed us, most the time it is because of what we do with it. Often we use poor management with what we get--- we want to spend it all now with no foresight. Those peanut farmers had the foresight to know that if they were still here next year they would need seed to plant another crop so they saved them in order to get more later instead of a little now. also we don't use good judgment-- we want to spend it on needless things that have no value. 

 

Let me give you an example of this. Many years ago my husband worked offshore. I will never forget this one guy he worked with and his wife. As soon as they got his pay check they would go to town and spend every bit of it on needless things. (They would spend it all and have nothing to show for it.) The next day they would be crying and worrying about how they were going to pay their rent, car note, utility bills and buy groceries. The man made a good amount of money, but one day after he was paid it was all gone and nothing important was paid. 

 

What are you doing with the material things that God has blessed you with? Are you being a good steward with it? Are you making wise choices? Are you managing it well? Are you using good judgment? Are you thinking ahead? Or does it (like my mama used to say) "burn a hole in your pocket"? I know that often what we do have may not be much, but if we will use good judgment and take care of it properly, we will have more than we realize.

 

Have a great day. Don't spend all you have without any thought to tomorrow.

 

For further reading:

Proverbs 6:6-8

 

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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.

"Consider The Source"

"For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." Psalm 103:14

 

My husband's grandmother had a word of advice that she would always give in dealing with difficult, obnoxious, gossiping, disagreeable and rude people. It was,"Consider the source". In other words, she was saying-- you know how that person is, don't let it bother you. 

 

During those times when we fail and fall, I tend to believe that the Lord does that very thing--- "considers the source". He knows who we are--- people made from dust. He knows we are weak, frail, make mistakes, mess up, helpless on our own and have problems doing what is right because of what we are made of. Because He remembers our frame-- our makeup, our source-- He shows us love, pity, mercy, grace, compassion and kindness. He understands who we are better than we understand ourselves. He doesn't get mad at us, write us off, cast us aside, scold us or throw His hands up and give up on us. 

 

When a baby is learning to walk, they fall a lot. We don't scold them, spank them or get mad at them for falling, they're a baby and are learning how to walk and do something they have never done before. It is the same way when potty-training them. We are patient and understanding with them. They will mess up many times before they actually learn how to go to the potty. Why are we patient with them; why are we understanding; why do we not give up on them? Because we know their "frame" (we consider the source-- they are little children).

 

When the Lord looks at us with all our faults and mistakes, He remembers who we are and His love for us compels Him to be patient, longsuffering, forbearing and gracious to us. He knows who we are so He doesn't get mad at us when we mess up. He is not mad at you when you mess up, but He understands and doesn't give up on you.

 

Have a great day. The Lord remembers that we are made from dust; so He doesn't give up on us when we make mistakes.

 

For further reading:

Exodus 34:6

Numbers 14:18

2 Peter 3:9

 

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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.

"The Lord Is My Source"

"So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Hebrews 13:6

 

If you don't know that The Lord is your Helper during these trying and uncertain times you will not be able to stand or endure them. You have to know-- not think so, not hope so-- that HE IS YOUR helper. This is a personal assurance. You have to know that He is your helper on a personal, individual level. Just because He may be your parent's helper, your spouse's helper or your friend's helper won't "help" you through hard times. You have to know Him for yourself personally and that He is YOUR helper.

 

You also have to know that The Lord-- not your boss, not the government, not your savings account, not your welfare check, not your spouse, not some other person-- is your helper. He alone is your SOURCE. He may use different avenues, different means and other people, but they are not your source-- HE is your source. Who sent the Israelites food for forty years? The corner grocery didn't; some leader of another country didn't ship it in; Moses didn't. God rained it down on them from heaven. Who fed Elijah at the brook during a drought? God did. He used a raven, then He used a widow, but God was His source of provision. Who caused Isaac to prosper even in a time of famine? God did. 

 

If you aren't settled in your heart that God alone is your helper then you will not be able to boldly say, "The Lord is my helper". Your faith will be weak because faith is grounded in truth. If you think that something other than God is your helper, then you are trusting in a lie. Your faith is based on something that is false, therefore, it will not stand the times of testing. It has to be rooted and grounded in truth. Jesus is the Way, TRUTH and Life. It has to be rooted in the Lord and the truth of His word. When it is, you will have boldness to stand during those times. This word boldness means: to be courageous, confident. When trying times come, if you are settled and established in the truth that God alone is your help, your source and your provider, and not something else, then you will have the courage to stand in adversity because your confidence is rooted in God who cannot lie, who cannot fail, who will not leave you nor forsake you, and can make a way even where there seems to be none.

 

Have a great day. The only way to stand during trying times is by being confident that the Lord alone is your source of provision. 

For further reading:

Genesis 26:1,12

John 14:6

1 Kings 17:1-9

Exodus 16:4,15

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

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.