Agape International Fellowship Church

03/28/2024

03/28/2024

Good morning, I love you, have a Blessed day.

Morning Prayer, Thursday,

JESUS SET THE EXAMPLE

“Act justly; show mercy; walk humble with Your God.”

In his final hour on earth, Jesus decided to show the disciples what true humility and unconditional love was all about. He takes off his robe, wraps a towel around his waist, and washes the feet of his disciples. Peter, that one who always had no problem speaking up, refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet. He saw Jesus as the Savior; someone they had obviously put on a high pedestal. Jesus needed to use that moment to teach them that none of us, even himself, was above humility and servanthood.

His response to Peter was, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” Peter then replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” He wanted every part of Jesus that was available to him. Peter wanted more. We, too, should want more.

As Jesus puts the final touch on his training of the disciples, it opened their spiritual eyes. This final lesson was one to show true humility and that we are not here just to be served, but to serve. To effectively walk with Christ, humility is required. Jesus did not just teach this lesson to the disciples, but to all of us as well.

Whether it is on our jobs, in our homes, churches, the grocery store line, or wherever we may be, we are called to walk humbly before God as His servants.

Prayer:
Father God, today, I humble myself before You, and if there is anyway that I can serve my fellow man, send me. Amen

Scripture:
John 13:14-16

02/20/2024

Good morning, I love you, have a Blessed day.

Morning Prayer, Tuesday,,

THE GREATEST PROTECTION

“Sometimes the Lord will slow you down so that the evil ahead will pass before you get there. Now that’s real Protection.”

Police Officers are here to protect not only from danger but sometimes from ourselves. On Saturday, it was raining pretty hard in some areas. As I was driving along, I saw someone get pulled over for speeding. On wet streets, which can sometimes be slippery, that is a good thing because it protects you and others from possible accidents and injuries.

As great as it is to have police protection, there is Protection that is even better. Nobody can protect us like God. He is the one that is all-knowing and all-seeing. He is everywhere at the same time. He can see impending danger up ahead and redirect us or slow us down to protect us.

How many times have you heard that little voice say “Don’t go that way,” and you ignored it. Thing is, we don’t always do well with taking directions, right? Sometimes, we are hell-bent on doing our own thing, and even if we hear that voice telling us to stop, we keep moving forward.

I love having the layer of protection that comes from God. He is truly my Safe Haven in the storm. He is my Rock, my Strength, my Peace, and the greatest Helper that I have ever known.

It can’t get any better than that. I don’t care what anyone tells you, God is the greatest PROTECTOR ever.

Prayer:
Father God, for all the times when You have protected me from a storm or even from myself, I say thank You. I am forever grateful. Amen

Scripture:
Psalm 91:1-4

02/15/2024

Good morning, I love you, have a Blessed day.

Morning Prayer, Thursday,

HOW BIG IS YOUR HEART

“Help others without any reason and give without the expectation of receiving anything in return.”

The Bible tells us that “the one who refreshes (or blesses) others is abundantly blessed.”

In this world of ours we live under different class levels. There is the upper class that will never want for anything that money can buy, all the days of their life. They will always have a roof over their head, food on their table, nice and expensive clothes in their closet and anything else they desire. On the other hand, sad to say that many in the lower class will struggle to make ends meet, unsure where their next meal will come from, or even if they will have a roof over their heads tomorrow.

Jesus said himself, that “the poor will always be with us.” The thing is, those of us blessed to have even a little bit are expected to be a blessing to those who do not have much at all. Remember the little boy with the two fish and five loaves in Matthew 14? Jesus took them and fed 5,000. What if that little boy had said, “This is all I have for myself. If I give it to you then what will I have left?”

The boy shared what little he had and look how it turned out. The Bible says there were 12 baskets full left over. Just as Jesus multiplied the two fish and five loaves to feed that group, he can make sure we have all we need when we reach out to help our brothers and sisters in need.

Never think you will not have enough for yourself if you give. God will make sure our needs are supplied when we open our hearts to help a neighbor.

Prayer:
Father God, what I have may not be a lot but if I see my brother in need, I pray that I will have a heart to share. Amen

Scripture:
Proverbs 11:24-25

02/14/2024

Good morning, I love you, have a Blessed day.

Morning Prayer, Wednesday,

THANK GOD FOR EVERY BLESSING

“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”

Life is full of different perspectives. While some people may see the glass half empty, others see it as half full. Similarly, when someone receives a gift of $20, some may feel like they've hit the jackpot, while others complain that it should have been more. But here's the thing: a blessing is a blessing, regardless of its size or weight.

We should be thankful for every single blessing that comes our way, no matter the size. Sometimes, we fail to appreciate the blessings that God sends our way, only showing gratitude for the major ones. As a result, we tend to overlook the small stuff.

If we learn to give thanks for everything, I truly believe the size of our blessings will increase. So, instead of receiving a baloney or peanut butter sandwich and thinking, "This sucks," let's change our mindset. Let's learn to be content with the car that barely gets us from Point A to Point B and not be discouraged or jealous when we see someone driving a fancier car.

Open your mouth and give thanks that you have food or that though your car breaks down a lot, you have one. With that attitude, sooner or later, God will enlarge your territory, and you might find yourself driving that big fancy car, too.

Life often starts small and then grows, but if we never appreciate the smallness of it, how can we expect to receive anything larger? Let's embrace gratitude for every blessing, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

In my life, I have discovered that "more" is all about gratitude, so be grateful and thankful in all things.

Prayer:
Father God, thank You for every blessing that You send my way no matter how big or small. Amen

Scripture:
I Thessalonians 5:16-18

02/13/2024

Good morning, I love you, have a Blessed day.

Morning Prayer, Tuesday,

I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU LORD

"When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives."

A young man named Robert considered himself a Christian fell on hard times. The harder he dug to get out of the financial hole, the more he seemed to sink into it. His friends gave him advice on how to get out of it. Desperate for answers, he quickly accepted it.

The problem is things only seemed to get worse. Up until that point, he had been praying but now, it seems to not matter to him anymore.

Finally, he gave up and decided to go back to his old lifestyle before Christ and wouldn't you know it, things got even worse. One night, frustrated to no end, he laid out on the floor in his house that was days from foreclosure and cried out to God, "I don't understand You, God."

Not expecting a response, he heard a voice say loud and clear, " Likewise. I don't understand you either Robert." As Robert stood up, tears streamed down his face. That night, for the first time in his life, he cried like a baby.

In the midst of his meltdown, he whispered, "I'm sorry Lord. I'm so sorry." He heard a voice say, "You are forgiven." In that moment, he felt a heavy weight fall off his shoulders. He realized then that all these years, he had replaced God with people. He was following men instead of God. He recommitted his life to God and suddenly his life changed for the better.

I have said it before and will say it again, people cannot replace God. He knows far more than all the people in this world put together. He knows each of us better than we know ourselves.

Prayer:
Father God, forgive me for all the times when I have sought the opinions of men over seeking You for instruction and direction in my life. Amen

Scripture:
Matthew 6:33

02/12/2024

Good morning, I love you, have a Blessed day.

Morning Prayer, Monday,

FORGIVENESS IS HARD

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love."

One of the things that I have discovered over my life is it is hard to forgive. When someone wrongs you on a real high level, the Bible tells us to forgive them. In fact, it says we should forgive not just seven times, but seven times seventy. That is a lot, especially when we can't even forgive one time.

On a number of occasions when someone has done me wrong, I knew that I should forgive them and believe me I tried but it wouldn't work. Every time I saw them, I thought about what they did, and the process started all over again. So how do you get pass that?

Well, to be honest, there is only one way, God.

I remember one incident in particular. I was what they call, "hotter than fish grease." Forgiveness was the farthest thing from my mind. You see, it takes a lot to make me mad, and when it happens, I used to would plant a flag in that spot and stay there for years. God had to work on me in that area.

I had to understand that all by myself, I could not forgive and forget, but if I pulled God into the equation, I got there a lot sooner. God is the only one who can help us to make peace with situations that have us angry, mad, upset, and unwilling to forgive.

Think about Jesus. Judas betrayed him in one direction, and Peter betrayed him in another. People lied on him, talked about him, spit on him, beat him, and God only knows what else, and yet, Jesus was able to forgive them all.

Now, true, I know we are not Jesus but when we commit in our hearts to follow God's Word, then we pull up from within us, what we need in order for us to get into that place of forgiveness.

Why, because it really is true that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me [forgives me, heals me, protects me and keeps me. ]

Prayer:
Father God, in those times when forgiveness truly is hard, please help me. Amen

Scripture:
Matthew 6:15