RCCG Victory Temple Chantilly's Podcast

"I know you by name and you have found favor with me." Ex 33:12 NIV

Moses talked with God like a friend, sharing what he felt and thought. And God wanted it that way. Here is how the conversation went: "Moses said to the Lord,

'You have been telling me, "Lead these people,"... You have said, "I know you by name and you have found favor with me."''" Moses is mirroring back to God what God had previously said to him. Remember saying to your spouse or your best friend, "You were the one who said."? That's what Moses is doing here:

reminding God of His own words. And God wants you to remember His Word and to speak it back to Him (See Isa 43:26). Not because He needs to be reminded but because you do! And because His Word is the only Word that He is committed to fulfill (See Mt 24:35). When you pray using God's Word, you are praying in His will, and you're guaranteed to get a hearing. So, learn and memorize Scriptures that touch on your needs and desires, and when you talk to God, recall them, and pray them back to Him. For example, when you pray, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mk 11:24 NIV), God will acknowledge it! The more you learn of His Word, the more your prayer time will conform to His will and the more you will feel aligned with Him. Keep your Bible handy when you talk to God so that He can direct your thoughts to the words He wants you to pray.

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"Clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Col 3:12 NLT

The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, "If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility." In his documentary on twentieth-century wars, Jonathan Glover refers to what he calls "sympathy breakthroughs." Even in the situation of war, acts of compassion supersede the conflict. Most sympathy breakthroughs, according to Glover, are triggered by eye-to-eye contact, and that eye-to-eye contact displaces hand-to-hand combat. Have you ever had a sympathy breakthrough? If not, pray for one. It's a moment when your tendency to hate is overcome by your will to love. A moment when proactive compassion overrules negative anger. A moment when you're concerned more about someone else's pain than vour own. Those are the moments when you discover what it really means to love God with all your heart. It's much simpler to act like a Christian than it is to react like one. Anybody can put on an act. But your reactions expose what is really in your heart. And if you love God with all your heart, you won't merely act like it. You will react like it. The apostle Peter puts it this way: "Clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony" (vv. 12-14 NLT).

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"To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown." Job 6:14 NKJV

A pastor writes: "What makes you glad or sad or mad? What puts a holy smile on your face?

What causes your spirit to sob uncontrollably? What makes you pound your fist on the table out of righteous indignation?

Somewhere in the mixture of that gladness, sadness, and madness is your God-ordained passion. Or maybe we should say compassion, because you are feeling what God feels. And once you identify it, doing something about it isn't optional. You can't not do something about it." In 2006, Blake Mycoskie was touring Argentina when he noticed that many of the children didn't have shoes. He could have returned to the United States and gone about his business. Instead, he started TOMS shoes, a business with a mission of putting shoes on the feet of children in third-world countries. It works like this: When you buy a pair of TOMS shoes, you're giving a pair of shoes to a barefoot child somewhere. For every pair of shoes purchased, a pair is given away. Their mission is straightforward: one for one. Blake identified a need. He personalized it. And he decided to do something about it. It didn't start out big, it started out small. Yet that is how primal moments begin. A person decides to do something about something that makes him glad or sad or mad. It was barefoot kids who broke Blake's heart. And he literally placed shoes on his faith. When you discover the thing that makes you glad or sad or mad, the only question left is this: What are you going to do about it?

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"The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.!"

Ps 23:1 NIV

We need to know two things: (1) Our shepherd's character. Jesus distinguished good shepherds from bad ones (See Jn 10:11-

16). Bad shepherds look out for their own interests, not the welfare of the sheep.

They're unreliable; when a threat arises, they abandon the flock. But Jesus claimed, "I am the good shepherd" (Jn 10:11). What makes Him good? "The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep" (v. 11 NKJV). Their needs and their security come before his own, and if necessary, he will die for them. "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me" (v. 14 NIV). Jesus knows each of His sheep individually and desires an intimate relationship with them. He calls each one by name; they trust Him and follow where He leads (See Jn 10:3). You can rely on your shepherd to protect and guide you! (2) The sheep's condition is the shepherd's business.

He can't be a good shepherd if his sheep's needs aren't being met. Sheep don't know the path to the pasture, the location of the watering hole, or the strategy for their own safety. But the shepherd does. His sheep believe in him, rely on him, and follow him. But believing in and relying on His protection and provision isn't instinctive-it's the only decision you make; an act of your will.

Regardless of your feelings or circumstances, you make up your mind to trust the shepherd to handle things and act as your security.

When you turn your worries and concerns over to Him and rest in His goodness, He fulfills His promise that you will "lack nothing."

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"We stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God." 2Co 1:9 NLT

Are you feeling hopeless about the situation you're in and don't know which way to turn?

Maybe you're struggling to find a reason to keep going, but you're so tired and overwhelmed that you just want to give up. If that's the case, you're in a vulnerable place.

Look out-Satan will try to convince you there must be sin in your life, or that you're out of God's will, or that He is unhappy with you because you have disobeyed Him in some area you're unaware of. Don't buy it! You can be in the center of God's will doing everything the right way, and still experience adversity.

The apostle Paul writes: "You ought to know... about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 

And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us. And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety" (2C0 1:8-11 NLT). Two elements are at work in your life today. First, God is teaching you to lean on Him instead of on yourself. Second, people around you are being strengthened and encouraged as they see the grace of God at work in your life.

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Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

Send us Fan Mail

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Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

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"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me." Ps 23:4 NKJV

Here is the truth about death: (1) It's a sure thing.

The story is told of a hypochondriac who put these words on his tombstone: "Now maybe you'll believe

I was sick." Seriously, if you're wise, you won't obsess about death, but you will prepare for it. (2)

It's a sojourn. The word "walk" means each step you take brings your departure date one day closer. The word "through" tells you it's only a temporary passage and not your final destination. The word metamorphosis pictures a humble caterpillar being transformed into a beautiful butterfly that can soar.

Likewise, the Bible describes your new body in these words: (a) "Incorruptible," meaning you will never again contend with pain or sickness (See 1Co

15:53). (b) "Immortal," meaning you will be ageless and incapable of dying (See v. 53). (c) "Shadow." Now, a shadow might frighten you, but it cannot harm you. Indeed, the only way to have a shadow is to have a light shining. Don't you find it interesting that many of the people who have died and come back tell others about emerging from a tunnel into a bright, celestial light? No wonder we need "fear no evil." Why? Because the Lord is with us, and He has conquered death, hell, and the grave. Jesus said, "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death" (Rev 1:18 NKJV). Rejoice; the key to your eternal destiny is not in your own hands or anybody else's but in the hands of the One who loves you.

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Do not be drunk with wine.. but be filled with the Spirit." Eph 5:18 NKJV

The Christian life isn't only a changed life but an exchanged life. At the moment of conversion, we give our old life to God and He gives us a new life in its place. But He does more; He comes to live within us by the power of the Holv Spirit. Paul made the contrast between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit. One causes you to be out of control, while the other enables you to be in control.

One is counterproductive, while the other is productive. One makes you powerless, while the other empowers you. One brings you sorrow, while the other brings you joy. This Scripture is not a promise or even an option, it's a command: "Be filled with the Spirit." And Paul gives us three evidences of a Spirit-filled life: (1) "Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (v. 19 NKJV). This song isn't induced by circumstances but despite them. "At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God...and immediately all the doors were opened and evervone's chains were loosed" (Ac 16:25-26 NKJV). Praising God can open doors and break chains. (2) "Giving thanks always for all things to God" (Eph 5:20 NKJV). Spirit-filled people have troubles like everyone else. But they don't focus on their troubles; they count their blessings and stay positive, upbeat, and grateful. (3) "Submitting to one another in the fear of God" (v. 21 NKJV). Spirit-filled people are "others focused." They know that what you make happen for someone else, God will make happen for you (See Eph 6:8).

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