"Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn." – Genesis 48:14 REFERENCE: Genesis 48:9-19 Manasseh and Ephraim were brought to Jacob, their blind grandfather, to bless them. Their father Joseph placed Manasseh, the firstborn, by Jacob's right hand and Ephraim on the left. The reason is that the first in the order of birth should receive the double portion blessing of the spiritual inheritance. However, a switch occurred, and the younger was blessed by...
“You pushed me violently, that I might fall, but the Lord helped me.” ~ Psalm 118:13 REFERENCE: Psalm 118:13-15 There was a song by Maranatha Music that comforted me as a young believer going through adverse times. It says, “I look up to the mountains, to the hills I lift my eyes, who will come to help me, can I find a place to hide? The One who made the heavens and the earth will hear my call; the Lord will come to help me, and He will not let me fall.” The Chorus says, “He will not let...
"Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate." Esther 5:13 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE Esther 5:7-13 The ability to focus is a potent skill. The power to focus on something, a job or assignment, ignoring every distraction until it is done, is a virtue worth celebrating. However, focus can be just as powerful negatively as it is positively. Haman was a great and favored man, but none of these 'blessings' meant anything to him because of Mordecai, the Jew who did not honor him. He was so focused on the...
"Now it happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, that there was the woman whose son he had restored to life, appealing to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, "My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life." ~ II Kings 8:5-6 REFERENCE: II Kings 8:1-6 Nothing changes a man's life quicker or more dramatically than finding himself at the right place at the right time and with the right people. This rarely happens, but it...
“The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine.” ~ Proverbs 4:18 (MSG) REFERENCE: Proverbs 4:18 (MSG) Deuteronomy 33:25 says, “As your days are, so shall your strength be.” God wants your life to shine brighter as you grow older so that the glory of your latter is greater than that of the former. Being stagnated and stale in life doesn’t look like God’s plan for His children. God is committed to your progress; you must refuse to live a dull and lackluster life. A man who walks with God can be sure that life will...
“Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and lifted him up and said, “What little faith you have! Why would you let doubt win?” ~ Matthew 14:31 (TPT) REFERENCE: Matthew 14:22-33 We are in constant battle with doubt; doubt and faith try to get control over our lives, and I can tell you that doubt is an aggressive contender. It goes for the jugular; it aims to suffocate your faith and break your gaze from God. Doubt has many weapons in his arsenal – bad news, open-ended questions, painful experiences, stories of people’s failures, or adverse medical reports. When Peter...
“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom…” ~ Ezra 1:1 REFERENCE: Ezra 1:1-6 “That the word of The Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled…” It was the word of the Lord, but it came by Jeremiah’s mouth; the word of God in his mouth was as powerful as God’s word in God’s mouth. Hence, the power of prophecy extends to...
“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom…” ~ Ezra 1:1 REFERENCE: Ezra 1:1-6 The Bible is a book of prophecies,’ containing over a thousand eight hundred prophecies. A prophecy is a prediction of future events (near or far). The power of prophecy is revealed in the fulfillment of many prophecies like the one in our verse of consideration today. Jeremiah gave a prophecy...
“Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.” ~ Romans 4:18 KJV REFERENCE: Romans 4:18-21 (KJV) Abraham has forever earned a spot in Faith’s Hall of Fame. It is easy to read about him today and not fully understand his situation when he hoped or believed in God for a son. It is easy to have hope for something that we know is possible, but when all signs show that it is impossible, hope is hard. Abraham had no reason to...
“And the Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.” ~ Numbers 17:8 REFERENCE: Numbers 17:1-10 God told Moses to bring the fruitful rod of Aaron back before the Ark of Testimony to be a sign for always. A sign in this context is an omen, signal, or proof; it has a prophetic significance. So, the rod of Aaron has prophetic implications for generations to come; through it, God made a promise or prophecy that...