Emmanuel Faith Ministries

06/05/2024

YOUR WORD FOR TODAY

Theme: Moving from failure to success (2)

Tue, 7 May 2024

Job 8:7 NKJV ‘Though your beginning was small, Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.’

It’s easier to recognise success looking back than it is looking forward. For some of us, it can be many years before we recognise our success, celebrate it, and feel secure in it. That’s because we lack a proper perspective.

At its widest point, the Mississippi River requires a three-kilometre-wide steel span bridge to get across; while at its source, the stream is so small you can jump over it. But it’s still the same river. Most things start small! Have you ever heard the Serenity Prayer?

It goes like this: ‘God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.’ It was first prayed in a little church in Massachusetts by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr during a Sunday morning service.

Only a small group of people was in the congregation that day, but one person liked the prayer and, after the service, he asked Niebuhr for a copy. ‘Here,’ Niebuhr responded, handing over a crumpled piece of paper. ‘I doubt I’ll ever have any more use for it.’ Well, guess what? Next to the Lord’s Prayer, it’s the most used prayer in the world.

Isn’t it ironic that Niebuhr’s prayer became so popular? Evidently, his perspective wasn’t too good because he didn’t know what he had. With that story in mind, read this Scripture again and really think about it:

‘Though your beginning was small, Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.’ (Job 8:7 NKJV)

With God’s help, you can turn your failure into success and go on to greater things.

SoulFood: Deut 11-13, Mark 6:45-56, Ps 37:16-24, Pro 11:30-31

Shalom

17/03/2024

YOUR WORD FOR TODAY

Mon, 18 Mar 2024

Learning to listen to God (3)

1 John 2:27 ”But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.“
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When you pray diligently and believe you have heard from God, but then you start asking other people what they think, you’re honouring their opinions above God’s. That kind of mindset will prevent you from developing a relationship where you constantly hear from Him.

You need to trust Him. If you have made bad decisions in the past, this can be difficult. But you must learn to listen to God without constantly needing reassurance from others. The Bible says: ‘But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true.

For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.’ (1 John 2:27 NLT). That doesn’t mean you don’t need teaching and instruction when it comes to understanding God’s Word; it means you have God’s Spirit living inside you and that He will guide and direct you personally.

You might have to ask somebody for advice from time to time, but you needn’t constantly go to other people and ask them about decisions you’re making for your life. If you’re ever going to develop the ability to listen to God and be led by His Spirit, you must start making your own decisions—and trust the wisdom God has deposited in your heart.

The devil wants you to think you’re not capable of hearing from God. Don’t believe him. The Holy Spirit who dwells inside you will give you confidence, comfort, and counsel for your life. So, learn to listen to Him.

SoulFood: 2 Kings 16:1 – 18:16, Matt 24:29-51, Ps 26, Pro 7:26-27

Shalom

16/03/2024

YOU WORD FOR TODAY

Sun, 17 Mar 2024

Theme: Learning to listen to God (2)

Isaiah 1:19 NKJV ”If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land;“
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People think they can’t hear from God when, in reality, there are things they already know He wants them to respond to, and so far, they haven’t done it. The quicker you do whatever the Lord has already told you to do, the sooner He will reveal the next step to you.

His promise is, ‘If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;’ (Isaiah 1:19 ESV).

Hearing from God is something you only develop with practice – especially if you’re a talker! That’s why He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10 KJV).

Our flesh is full of energy; we always want to be doing something, and it can be difficult for us to be still. Don’t just talk to God when you need something; spend time listening. He will open up many issues if you will just be still before Him. You say, ‘I don’t think I have ever heard God talk to me.’

Maybe that’s because you haven’t learned to listen! When you ask God for something, tune your ‘receiver’. Even if He doesn’t respond at that very moment, rest assured He will in due time. You may be doing some ordinary task when He decides to speak to you.

And if you have honoured Him by learning to listen as you fellowship with Him, He will speak to you at exactly the right time. Perhaps you have spent years going your own way. If so, don’t despair; it’s not too late to change direction. If you’re willing to obey God, He will guide you on the exciting journey of learning to hear from Him every day of your life.

SoulFood: Gal 5:22, 1 Cor 13, Eph 3:14-21, John 15:1-17

SHALOM

09/02/2024

YOUR WORD FOR TODAY
Sat, 10 Feb 2024

The right attitude

Proverbs 23:7 NKJV ”For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.“
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What separates the best from the rest? Have you ever given that some thought? What separates a gold medallist from a silver medallist in the Olympics? What separates a successful entrepreneur from someone who doesn’t make it? What makes it possible for one person to learn and flourish after making a mistake while someone else just gives up? It’s attitude!

The Bible says, ‘For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.’ (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). Your attitude can be your greatest asset or your greatest liability. It makes you or breaks you. It lifts you up or drags you down. The right attitude may not let you do everything, but it will help you to do anything better than you would when your attitude is wrong.

The happiest people in life don’t undoubtedly have the best of everything; they simply try to make the best of everything. They’re like a person in a remote village who daily goes to the well for water and says, ‘Every time I come to this well, I come away with my bucket full,’ instead of saying, ‘I can’t believe I have to keep coming back to this well every day to fill up my bucket!’

Your attitude has a profound influence on your approach to life. Ask a doctor if a patient’s attitude can affect recovery time when he or she is healing after an illness. Ask a teacher if a student’s attitude has an impact before they take a test. Jesus said, ‘According to your faith be it unto you’ (Matthew 9:29 KJV). Like a magnet, faith draws on the strength that God offers.

SoulFood: Num 32:25 – 33:56, Matt 12:38-50, Ps 134, Pro 4:5-13

SHALOM

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.

08/02/2024

YOUR WORD FOR TODAY
Fri, 9 Feb 2024

Theme: Moving from failure to success (4)

Psalm 126:2 NKJV ”Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”“
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To move from failure to success, you must do these:

1) Learn to laugh at yourself. No matter what you lose or how often you lose, never lose your sense of humour. When you take your mistakes too seriously, everything becomes a life-or-death issue. The psalmist wrote: ‘When the LORD brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.

And the other nations said, “What amazing things the LORD has done for them.” Yes, the LORD has done amazing things for us! What joy! Restore our fortunes, LORD, as streams renew the desert. Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy’ (Psalm 126:1-5 NLT). You may not be able to laugh about your mistakes, but you can learn to laugh in them! Note the phrase ‘when the LORD brought back’. God can bring you back!

American Pastor Tim Masters says, ‘Failure is the productive part of success. It provides the road you don’t have to travel again, the mountain you don’t have to climb again, and the valley you don’t have to cross again.’ When we’re making mistakes, we have a choice to give up or turn to God for guidance. If we maintain the right attitude, mistakes can lead us to do what we should be doing.

2) Learn from your mistakes. Successful restaurateur Wolfgang Puck said, ‘I have learned more from the one restaurant that didn’t work than from all the ones that were successes.’ Isn’t that usually the way it is? You don’t lose – you learn!

SoulFood: Num 30:1 – 32:24, Matt 12:22-37, Ps 125, Pro 4:3-4

SHALOM

Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

07/02/2024

YOUR WORD FOR TODAY
Thu, 8 Feb 2024

Theme: Moving from failure to success (3)

Psalm 3:2 ”Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah“
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A Christian leader writes: ‘Oliver Goldsmith was born the son of a poor preacher in Ireland in the 1700s. Growing up, he wasn’t a great student. In fact, his schoolmaster labelled him a ‘stupid blockhead’.

He did manage to earn a university degree, but he finished at the bottom of his class. He was unsure of what he wanted to do. At first, he tried to become a preacher, but it didn’t suit him … Next, he tried law but failed at it.
He then settled on medicine, but he was an indifferent doctor … not passionate about his profession. He was able to hold several posts only temporarily.

Goldsmith lived in poverty, was often ill, and once even had to pawn his clothes to buy food. It looked like he would never find his way. But then he discovered an interest and aptitude for writing and translating. At first, he worked as a Fleet Street reviewer and writer.

But then he began to write works that came out of his own interests. He secured his reputation as a novelist with The Vicar of Wakefield, a poet with The Deserted Village, and a playwright with She Stoops to Conquer.’ Goldsmith’s story sounds a lot like the psalmist David’s – and maybe yours too: ‘Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head’ (Psalm 3:2-3 NKJV).

You may be down today, but God will lift you up if you turn to Him for guidance and cooperate with His plan for your life.

SoulFood: Num 27-29, Matt 12:15-21, Ps 67, Prov 4:1-2

Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah

06/02/2024

YOUR WORD FOR TODAY
Wed, 7 Feb 2024

Theme: Moving from failure to success (2)

Proverbs 6:2 NIV “you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth.“
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A noted psychiatrist remarked that two of the saddest words in human vocabulary are ‘if only’. He believes people who get trapped by their failures spend their lives saying, ‘If only I had tried harder. If only I had been kinder to my kids. If only I had been more truthful. If only …’ The way to change that mindset is to change your vocabulary by substituting ‘if only’ with the words ‘next time’. ‘Next time, I will try harder. Next time, I will be kinder to my kids. Next time, I will be more truthful.’

The Bible says, ‘You are snared by the words of your mouth.’ And a snare is a trap. Have you ever seen an animal caught in a trap, struggling to be free? Your words can do that. And they don’t just affect you; they affect others. Maybe you think we’re making too big a deal out of this. If you do – read on: ‘A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit’ (Proverbs 15:4 NKJV).

‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue, Aand those who love it will eat its fruit’ (Proverbs 18:21 NKJV). Jesus said, ‘… whoever says to this mountain, ‘“Be removed and be cast into the sea,’” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says’ (Mark 11:23 NKJV).

What do these Scriptures have in common? They confirm that our words breathe life (or death) into everything! So instead of defeatist talk, speak victory over your situation. Instead of speaking failure, start speaking success. When you do, God will honour the fruit of your lips.

SoulFood: Num 25-26, Matt 12:1-14, Ps 120, Pro 3:33-35

SHALOM

you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth.

05/02/2024

YOUR WORD FOR TODAY
Tue, 6 Feb 2024

Theme: Moving from failure to success (1)

Hebrews 11:34 NIV ”quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.“
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The writer of Hebrews said: ‘I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets … whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies’ (Hebrews 11:32, 34 NIV).

Some of the biggest success stories in Scripture are about people who struggled with weaknesses and character flaws. They were mired in seeming failure and defeat, yet by God’s grace, they overcame the obstacles and odds stacked against them.

The overriding theme of the Bible is resurrection – getting back up again! Here is the question: if you can’t avoid failure, and you’re not supposed to give in to it or let it colour your thinking, how do you handle it?

First, change your attitude. Don’t listen to people who put you down when you fail or tell you not to bother trying something because you’ll fail. These people are underachievers with a negative mindset.

They never get anywhere for lack of trying and stay stuck in a rut, and they feel more comfortable if you stay stuck with them. The people who succeed in life have faith and tenacity. They refuse to give up; they have decided not to let failure defeat them.

Note the words ‘whose weakness was turned to strength’. You may start out weak, but by God’s grace, you can become strong. You can rise from the ashes of failure, achieve your goals, and live the life God intends. How do we know? Because God’s Word says so!

SoulFood: Num 22-24, Matt 11:20-30, Ps 108, Pro 3:31-32

SHALOM

quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

04/02/2024

YOUR WORD FOR TODAY
Mon, 5 Feb 2024

Theme: Who are your true friends?

Proverbs 18:24 NKJV A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.“
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Ancient Roman writer Marcus Tullus Cicero said, ‘Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.’ The fact is, it’s impossible to have more than a few close friends because true friendship takes time, attention, and commitment. ‘One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother’ (Proverbs 18:24 NIV). The hallmarks of real friendship include these:

1) Trust. American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: ‘The glory of friendship is not in the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.’

2) Giving and receiving.
Sometimes, one person will be the primary giver, and sometimes the other. But true friendships are always two-sided.

3) Sharing your lives. Blind and deaf American author Helen Keller said: ‘My friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways, they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges and enabled me to walk serene and happy in the shadow cast by my deprivation.’

4) Mutual enjoyment. In a true friendship, you spend time together just for the joy of it. What you do isn’t necessarily of significance. Unfortunately, the busyness of life makes us forget what a joy this can be.

5) Respecting one another.
How do you build respect? By not letting obstacles or circumstances become more important than the relationship. When the pressure is on, you continue to treat one another with patience and kindness. And when the relationship is struggling, you work to preserve it.

SoulFood: Num 19-21, Matt 11:10-19, Ps 111, Pro 3:29-30

SHALOM

03/02/2024

YOR WORD FOR TODAY
Sun, 4 Feb 2024

Theme: Never stop learning and growing (2)

Proverbs 8:11 NKJV ”For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.“
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To keep learning and growing, you must recognise these:

1) Successful people view learning differently than unsuccessful people.
Joshua learned from Moses. Timothy learned from Paul. Who have you chosen to learn from? American author Sydney J. Harris wrote: ‘A winner knows how much he still has to learn, even when he is considered an expert by others. A loser wants to be considered an expert by others before he has learned enough to know how little he knows.’ It’s all a matter of attitude. It’s truly remarkable how much a person has to learn before he or she realises how little they know.

2) Nothing is interesting if you’re not interested.
In Quality Is Free, American author Philip B. Crosby writes: ‘There is a theory of human behaviour that says people subconsciously re**rd their own intellectual growth. They come to rely on clichés and habits. Once they reach the age of … personal comfort with the world, they stop learning, and their mind runs idle for the rest of their days. They may progress organisationally, they may be ambitious and eager, and they may even work night and day. But they learn no more.’

The Bible says, ‘… Jesus increased in wisdom and stature …’ (Luke 2:52 KJV). He didn’t just grow physically; He grew spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. It’s a tragedy when you let yourself get into a rut and never climb out; you miss out on the best that God has to offer. By contrast, teachable people are completely engaged in life. They are enthusiastic about things. They’re interested in discovering, discussing, applying, and increasing. So, never stop learning and growing!

SoulFood: Exo 20:12, Jer 35:1-19, Pro 1:8, John 19:25-26

SHALOM

For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

02/02/2024

YOUR WORD FOR TODAY
Sat, 3 Feb 2024

Theme: Never stop learning and growing (1)

Ecclesiastes 2:13 ASV ”Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.“
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The most important skill you can acquire is learning to learn. Gifted people can sometimes act like they know it all, which makes it hard for them to keep growing.

Teachability isn’t so much about competence and mental capacity as it is about attitude; it’s an innate hunger to grow. It’s a willingness to learn, unlearn, and relearn. The famous American basketball coach, John Wooden, said, ‘It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.’

Only as you remain teachable will you keep growing and continue to make an impact on the world around you. Lifelong learning is an ongoing daily pursuit.

The Roman scholar Cato the Elder started studying Greek at eighty years old. When asked why he was tackling such a difficult task at his age, he replied, ‘It’s the earliest age I have left.’ Unlike Cato, many of us regard learning as an event instead of a lifelong process.

It’s estimated that only one-third of adults read an entire book after leaving school. Why? Because they view education as a period in life, not a way of life.

Science confirms that while your physical body may atrophy, your mind retains much of its capacity for continued growth. Every stage of life presents lessons to be learned. You can choose to be teachable and keep on learning, or you can close your mind and stop growing.

Try this simple experiment for a week: Ask others for their advice, and deliberately withhold the advice you would normally give. At the end of each day, write down what you have learned by being attentive. You will be amazed!

SoulFood: Num 16-18, Matt 11:1-9, Ps 107:33-43, Pro 3:27-28

SHALOM

Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.