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Praise Day 2024 - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) December 3, 2024

We are officially in the last month of 2024. How have the previous eleven months been for you? Now, before you launch into sharing all you've endured, permit me to ask you to do one thing first: tell God 'thank you'. Yes, do that one, simple thing.


Did you do it? Are you sure? Then tell him 'thank you' once more.


We've all been through some interesting things over the course of the year. There have been moments that should have broken you and somehow, you are still standing. That 'somehow' was not your intelligence and it didn't depend on how good you've been. That somehow was and is the sheer grace of the Lord working for you.


So, tell Him 'thank you' once more. And say it with true intent this time.

There are many who began the year but are no longer here. There are those who are alive but so oppressed by their challenges that they can't lift their eyes to heaven and can't find cause in their hearts to acknowledge God with gratitude. Then there are those who are sick and dying. If they had known they would be in their current position, I assure you, they would have made it a point to give the Lord more appreciation when they could.


Speak to your spirit man. Tell yourself that it is time to worship the Lord God Almighty. You are privileged to do so and you should take advantage of that. David spoke to his very soul in Psalm 43:5 - Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.


I encourage you to do the same this very day. Speak to your soul and command it to praise the Lord. Command your inner man to shake off the despair, the disillusionment, the disappointments, and everything else caging you from breaking into rejoicing.


Praise Him. Thank Him. Glorify Him. Exalt the King of kings.



TLDR: We are doing things a little differently today. It's Praise Day 2024!!! We're going to honor the Lord with our offerings of thanks during fellowship. Yes, Thanksgiving Day is over but let's keep it going. So prepare to love up on the Lord. Share your worship music. Tell the rest of us why you are grateful to God. Come armed with scriptures to glorify Him. Give lots of praise. We'll do this to commemorate December 2024 and to prepare us as we praise our way into 2025.





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The Threshing Tool - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) November 29, 2024

If someone called another person a 'tool', it would be no surprise if their target got upset. Ordinarily, that term is an insult guaranteed to offend. When it comes to God, however, being a tool for His kingdom is one of the highest compliments one can receive.


The reason lies in Isaiah 41:15 - See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. This verse reveals God's plan to use His people to separate the 'wheat' from 'chaff'. The threshing sledge was and is an agricultural tool for this very purpose. With enough force, it ensured that the wheat grain separated from the chaff which kept it enclosed in the field. That grain could be further processed to make flour and other products.


When God referred to a threshing tool in this scripture, He was talking about how people would be used to fulfill His will and His word on the earth. For instance, Jehu became the implement of God's promise to 'thresh' the House of Ahab, a king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. After Ahab's death, God intended to keep His prophetic word to destroy Ahab's family so none of them could ever rule the people of that kingdom again. Thus, the Lord sent a prophet to Jehu and instructed him to eliminate the family, resulting in the death of Queen Jezebel and her late husband's family members (2 Kings 9-10).


Then there was the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, who was also used to 'thresh' in the Old Testament. Specifically, the Lord sent Nebuchadnezzar as the implement of His punishment for the Southern Kingdom of Judah for their many years of disobedience. He had repeatedly called on them to repent and turn away from the worship of false gods and idols, their occult practices, and the injustice that pervaded their society. Nonetheless, His warnings fell on deaf ears and so, He fulfilled His word to punish the people and used the King of Babylon to accomplish this.

God doesn't just 'thresh' to punish with death and destruction. He also uses threshing tools to highlight the distinction between His light and the devil's darkness in a situation. The early disciples operated as threshing tools everywhere they went. Their presence would place a spotlight on individuals and even ways of thinking, revealing them to be satanic. One such example was Jesus. Everywhere he went, he destroyed the works of satan and displayed the mighty power of God so that people started thinking differently about their relationship with the Almighty Father and how He wanted them to live.


Philip followed in His footsteps with Simon, a powerful sorcerer who captivated the city of Samaria and was called “the Great Power of God” (Acts 8:10). The people called him this because they were convinced that the miraculous things he did were because of God even though Simon gained his powers from satan. In response, the Lord brought His disciples to show that He alone was powerful. When Simon heard Evangelist Philip teach about Jesus Christ, even he believed and was baptized.


As he later watched Apostles Peter and John perform signs and wonders by the Holy Spirit, he wanted that ability. However, because his desire was for power to likely continue to dominate the city (a common theme for those in the occult), he tried to pay to receive the Holy Spirit. Peter issued a strong rebuke upon him. The entire encounter was used by the Lord to show the people that the sorcerer was not His servant, thereby destroying satan's hold over Samaria.


Just as Isaiah 41:15 reflected God's purpose for His people then, it reveals His plan for today's believers. The Bible teaches in Romans 8:14 that the children of God are those who are led by His Spirit and it is these children that He empowers to thresh. These ones, as individuals and as a collective, are to be the instruments of His will in this age. Through His Spirit and His Word, we are to bring change to the places He sends us to. Our presence should trigger a threshing that brings God's light into dark places to destroy the devil's wicked schemes. Be it in the Body of Christ or in the world. We are to serve as His ambassadors, empowered to do exploits in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.


May the Lord build us up to be threshing tools for His glory. By His grace, He will fashion us into the implements He can use for the advancement of His kingdom, IJMN, Amen.




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God Is Waiting On You - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) November 26, 2024

The patient nature of God is explained in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. Although we've likely heard that scripture too many times to count, do we really understand what His patience means?


From our perspective, the Lord seems slow to punish but that is one way to comprehend His patience (2 Peter 3:9). He kindly gives people ample time to choose Him, so much so, that the wicked begin to think there will be no consequences for their evil (Zephaniah 1:12). However, His patience is an opportunity to spare many from an eternity in hell. Sadly, they're often too stiff-necked to realize before it is too late.


Another key way the Lord displays His patience is in how long He waits on us to figure out His word has already been spoken concerning our lives. Covenants and promises made long before we were born. All assuring of His love and the great inheritance He's apportioned to those who would have confidence in Him. He's just waiting for us to believe what He said because without that faith, we'll miss the miracle making a beeline our way.


It is easy to think God is slow to keep His promises. We may think He has delayed in fulfilling His word in our lives. But what if the person who's been slow and the one who delayed was...you?​

​God is waiting on us to believe He is faithful and to trust Him. He wants us to study His word and know that He poured out His compassion, love, grace, mercy and more through it. He is waiting for us to believe He is able. He is waiting on us to have faith that He will do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ask or imagine. He's waiting on us to ignore that voice of disbelief and fear that chokes out faith. He wants us to take a Jairus Stance and believe the word Jesus spoke in Luke 8:50 - ...Don't be afraid; just believe...


Walking in faith isn't easy but God is determined to help every person that is willing. When our confidence in Him fractures, we must speak out like the father in Mark 9:24 who cried out to Jesus, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief." And we must be like the disciples who said, "increase our faith" in Luke 17:5. The Lord enjoys answering our prayers. He understands we are mere mortals and so it is in our weakness that His power is displayed (2 Corinthians 12:9).


May we all realize that we simply need to believe without a doubt that God is faithful and will do what He has said He will do. He will help us to continue to serve Him (Philippians 2:13). We must repent when we sin, listen to His Holy Spirit, and choose to be guided on His path of righteousness. Through Jesus, we have overcome the evil one. We are more than conquerors by our testimony, the blood of the Lamb, and our lack of fear of even death (1 John 2:13; Romans 8:37; Revelation 12:11). Our miracle shall surely become tangible and IJMN, we shall be like those who proclaimed, [w]hen the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed (Psalm 126:1). Amen.


And as we allow Him to help us in our faith journey, He will patiently persevere for our hearts, minds, and bodies. Waiting on us to believe Him fully in all things.​



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