"Held Back"

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1

 

I was talking with a little guy yesterday and asked him if he was in the second grade. He told me,"No. I am in the first, I got held back". I told him that was all right. It was for his good to help him. We all need to be "held back" sometimes-- spiritually speaking. 

 

There are times when we are "held back" because of our disobedience and sin. The Israelites were held back from entering into the Promised Land for forty years because of their unbelief. But then there are times when God-- not the devil, or self-- will "hold us back". Usually we think of it as a "bad" thing, but when God holds you back it is a "good" thing. It is for your good and for His glory. 

 

Joseph was held back from entering into his destiny until he could get trained for the position. He was also held back until he could get to the place in his heart where he would not abuse, or use for personal revenge, his position of authority. There is so much we need to learn before we are ready to go forward. There are areas that we have to grow in before we are ready to go to the next level. 

 

God also holds us back because of divine timing. He held back the birth of Isaac until the timing was right-- until Sarah's womb was completely dead and they could not produce the promise on their own. Even our beloved Jesus was "held back" in the mission He came to earth to fulfill until the appointed time. "My time is not yet come." God held Him back from the cross until everything had been fulfilled that was spoken by the prophets, and until all things were prepared and in order. 

 

Do you feel like you are being "held back"? Ask God if it is because of some sin or disobedience in your life. Ask Him if there is something you need to do that you aren't doing. If it is neither, then just trust Him, be led by Him and wait on Him to move you "up" when it is in His plan and timing. 

 

Have a great day. There are times when God "holds us back". In those times trust Him-- it is for your good and for His glory.

 

For further reading:

John 7:6,8

Galatians 4:4

Job 32:18

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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.

"Looking At Jesus"

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40

 

When I woke up this morning, I was thinking about a dream that I had last night. The setting of the dream was the Wednesday night service that we have at our church. We meet in the fellowship hall and sit around the tables and discuss a chapter out of the Bible. In the dream I saw several people that I know who attend my church, but I also saw some strangers, and I saw one lady that I recognized from coming in my shop. One of the guys there seemed to be mentally challenged. The lady is poor, unpopular and would be considered an "outcast". After a few minutes of thinking about the dream, all of a sudden I remembered, "Jesus, I asked You to let me dream about You last night when I went to bed". (I wanted to dream about You, not other people.) Then that still, small voice said, "You did", and I began to see the faces of those in my dream. 

 

I wanted to see Jesus in His glory and majesty. I wanted to see the Good Shepherd. I wanted to see Him as my Heavenly Lover. He let me know that I did see Him, but in a different way. I saw Him in the faces of His people (the church). I saw Him in the faces of the stranger, the infirmed, the imperfect, the poor, the unlovely, the outcast. I am not saying that they "are Jesus" or they "become Jesus"-- there is only One Jesus. But when we look at other people, in a sense we are looking at Jesus. There is no one who is not made in His image. When we look at others, when we meet their need, when we show them love, no matter who they are, it is as if we are looking at and doing it to Jesus. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 

 

I saw Him in the "study of His Word"- that is where we get a true revelation of Him. He is the Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us. The scriptures testify of Him. As we sat around the table reading His Word, His Word came to life and put on flesh and blood in the people who sat there. We have to be careful how we look at people. We have to be careful how we treat others. We have to be careful in our opinion of others because when we look into their faces, we are looking into the face of Jesus.

 

Have a great day. When we look at others, we are in a sense looking at Jesus. 

 

For further reading:

John 1:1,14; 5:39

Matthew 25:34-46

 

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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.

"Mistakes - Part 2"

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil." 1 Corinthians 13:4,5

 

Yesterday we talked about how we all make mistakes and there are some people who like to hold our mistakes "over our head" and not let us forget them. We also were reminded that God never holds them "over our heads"-- He doesn't keep bringing them up to us.

 

As I thought about this, I couldn't help but think about how often this happens in marriages. When there is a conflict or disagreement, one spouse will bring out their "little black book of mistakes" and begin reading it off. This book records all the other spouse's past mistakes, harsh words that may have been spoken, the time they did this or didn't do that, the time they let them down, or did something against them. This list is used as "ammunition" or "leverage" so they can "shoot" at and use it against their spouse-- hopefully to their advantage. I can assure you that it is never to your advantage, but instead to the demise of your marriage. A marriage will never survive like this-- no relationship will.

 

"Love... thinks no evil". This literally means that love will not keep a record of all the times it was mistreated. Real love doesn't take into account the bad that has been done to it. Real loves doesn't keep a list of of the wrongs that were done to them. Real love doesn't have a "book of remembrance"-- unless it is a book of the good things that were done for them. 

 

Do you have one of those "books"? Are you keeping a list of the times your spouse made a mistake or didn't do what you wanted them to do or thought they should do? Are you using it against them like ammunition? Then you aren't walking in love. You have missed the true meaning of love. Aren't you glad Jesus doesn't have a "book" that He is writing down all the mistakes you have made in and all the times you have done Him wrong? He doesn't because He truly loves you. As His children, we should be following His example and get rid of our book of wrongs done to us.

 

Have a great day. Love doesn't keep a record of the wrongs that has been done to it. 

 

For further reading:

1 Corinthians 13

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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.

"Mistakes"

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1

 

We all make mistakes. No one is perfect. If you have never made a mistake, I would like to meet you. We are human, fail, learning and don't know it all. The Bible is full of mighty men and women that God used in amazing ways who made mistakes-- some very serious mistakes too. 

 

Mistakes often bring consequences with them. And much of the time we have to endure those consequences. Mistakes often bring with it those who are eager to point out your mistakes-- even past mistakes. They like reminding you of "what you did". They are continually bringing it up and reminding you. They won't let it rest and move on. We have all experienced that. Hopefully we aren't the ones who are doing the "reminding". Hopefully we aren't the ones who are keeping someone else in the bondage of "what they did". 

 

Perhaps you can't escape your mistakes because someone is always bringing them up to you? All I can tell you to do about that is pray for the one who is holding your mistakes over your head. Let God deal with them. But I can tell you this... God never holds our mistakes over our heads. He never uses them against us. He never "controls or manipulates" us with them. He never threatens us with them. He never keeps reminding us of "what we did". 

 

Take heart this morning. Although you can't control others and what they do, you can rest assured that God is not going to beat you up with your mistakes or keep reminding you of them... ever!

 

Have a great day. God does not hold our mistakes over our heads.

 

For further reading:

Psalm 103:3

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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.

"That Is Not The Problem"

"For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up." Hosea 8:7

 

Our nation is facing great calamity. Our religious freedoms are being taken away. Laws are being passed that take away our freedoms and put us in bondage. There Is much confusion. It is, for the most part, in a mess. We definitely have a problem. Some say our problem is the government. Some say it is the president. Some say it is the Republicans/Democrats. Some say it is our school system. Some say it is the media. There is a whole list of reasons that people give as "the problem". Yes, they are a problem, but these things are not "the problem". They are the consequence of the real problem. The real problem that this nation has is we have turned our back on God. We have forsaken Him. We have shut Him out of our society. We are serving our own false gods. And we are shaking a fist of rebellion in His face. 

 

The whirlwind (in the scripture above) was not the problem-- although it was a problem; it was the consequence. Their problem was they sinned against God's covenant and laws, set up their own kings and replaced God with their own idols that they worshipped. 

 

Israel's problem was not their wicked kings-- although they were a problem; that was their consequence. Their problem was rejecting God as their King.

 

The wilderness was not Israel's problem-- although it was a problem; that was their consequence. Their problem was unbelief in God's word and promise.

 

Any time you remove God, any time you turn from Him, any time you break His commandments, any time you refuse to believe His word and follow it, it brings a consequence-- whether it is in a nation, a corporation, a family or in our own individual lives. So often, what we see as "the problem", is really the "consequence" of a greater problem. 

 

Have a great day. Our real problem is not always the problem at hand. The problem at hand is more likely the consequence of a greater problem.

 

For further reading:

Hosea 8

1 Samuel 8

Hebrews 3:8-19

 

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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.