Are you familiar with the concept of predestination? It is the idea that there is an ultimate and decided outcome. This concept is mentioned in the Bible in Romans 8:30 - And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified (NIV). In the Good News Translation, this same verse states, And so those whom God set apart, he called; and those he called, he put right with himself, and he shared his glory with them. As such, certain people have been selected to be saved and experience the glory of the Lord in their lives. These are the individuals whom the Lord knows will choose Him.
This issue of predestination also arises in 1 Peter 2:8, which speaks about how some react to Christ. It says, [a]nd, “He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them." Written when Christianity was in its infancy, this message taught believers not to be like those who refused to obey God's word. These types would meet an unfortunate end that every believer - including you and me - must avoid.
The scripture continues in 1 Peter 2:9-10 -But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Just as these words were given to believers then, these verses speak to those who have submitted their lives to Christ and His Father in this dispensation. We, believers who obey God's word, have become the people of God who are to praise Him and enjoy His grace and mercy.
So many of us Christians struggle to understand the privilege of being set apart for the Lord. We don't always appreciate what this means. To be set apart means that we are carriers of God's glory and His power. This is why we are told we are His royal priesthood called to serve Him. We are the ones He wants to use to put His will into effect. This means that when we embrace how precious we are to the Lord and how crucial we are for His purposes, many of the mental, spiritual, and physical obstacles we face will melt away. Recognizing God’s boundless might and His ability to exceed our expectations will transform us and the very atmosphere around us.
Thus, it should be no surprise to us that satan works tirelessly to keep God's children caged in darkness so they never lift their eyes to see the light of God's grace upon them or the crown of glory that He already placed on their heads. If they were to see themselves the way God sees them, then nothing could stop them from destroying every single one of the devil's plans.
Praise God the scriptures teach that we are not unaware of the devil's schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11). Therefore, believers in Christ can declare that they have overcome the evil one (1 John 2:13-14). We were predestined to have victory over the enemy. God knew that we would be the ones He could use to terrify hell and send satan running. We have won. We are winning. We will win. It was predestined so don't give up on God. Don't let life's difficulties compel you to turn from the Lord. Don't let satan's lies convince you into thinking you are less than a conqueror. Romans 8:37 - No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
From M22 - Father Lord I thank you for this wonderful community. Thank you Father that you have predestined to win. Thank you Father for choosing us and many others that will continue to join us in prayer and fellowship. I pray Father we continue to see ourselves just as you see us. Help to never think less of ourselves and how much you cherish us IJMN Amen
From M22 - Father Lord I commit sis @FFJ into your loving hands. I pray that you will continue to bless her and her loved ones. I pray that you will continue to increase her in supernatural wisdom, favour strength, knowledge and understanding IJMN Amen
From AC - El Rapha we give You all praise for Your healing power. Please bless my prayer subjects with renewed health and restoration.
We decree and declare that every cell, every system, all bones, organs, tissue, nerve ending, and vessel shall come under the authority of the Almighty Healer Jesus, by Whose stripes we are healed, and into alignment with Psalm 30:2. Please bless them with easy access to quality healthcare and guide the hands and minds of their medical team.
For those waiting for tests and test results, may You guide these health reports and grant them the favourable outcomes they seek, for Your glory Lord! Abba please comfort Your children and guard their minds and hearts against the spirit of fear with Your transcending peace.
By the power of the Holy Ghost, heal Your children from disease, infirmity, weariness, and pain for Your victory and glory! In Jesus' mighty name, I pray, Amen.
From M22 - Abba Father I su mir my application before you. I am grateful my last reference finally submitted his recommendation today. I give you all the glory Father for seeing me through from start to finish of my application journey. I pray Father for your mercy over my application. Help me Father to expel every fear I might have because of last rejections. Help me to wait on you and above all may your will be done IJMN Amen
Lord, thank You for being the God of all flesh. Because of this, we know that nothing is difficult for You (Jeremiah 32:27). You are the God who can do all things and does all things as He wills because Your dominion is everlasting and Your authority cannot be contested.
Father, I lift up those who will be experiencing surgery soon.
God Your word states that nothing is difficult. Even Jesus taught us that with You, all things are possible. As such, we know that for those who will go into surgery soon, You will usher them in and bring them out successfully. The doctors and nurses shall be Your hands here on earth, bringing healing to bodies. All by Your grace and to Your glory, IJMN, Amen.
Thank You, oh mighty God. Our Jehovah Rapha. Thank You for using doctors and medicine to heal, IJMN, Amen.
From M22 - Abba Father I want to thank you for myself and my siblings. Thank you Father for taking care of us in all circumstances. Thank you Father for teaching, renewing, transforming strengthening and pruning us for your glory. Thank you Father for seeing my brother through and helping him obtain his graduation certificate. Father Lord I thank you for all you have been doing for him and I trust you to help him make a decision that aligns with your will to better his life moving forward. I pray Father that you will help him settle every debt IjMN. Abba Father I commit my twin to you that you help her make the right decisions as she prepares for her exams this December. Father Lord I commit my baby sister to your hands I pray that you help her navigate her academics as she prepares for her exams in August. I pray that you will continue to perfect her health and heal her of every illnesses. IjMN Amen
From AC - God of the impossible, please hear my pleas for Your children who are in a season of waiting and are growing weary.
Please help them to remain faithful and patient and trust Your timing in all things. Help them to remain steadfast in the wilderness and keep their eyes fixed upon the things of Heaven. Reassure them that no matter their current circumstances they are secured and covered by Your wings. Remind them You are not deaf to their cries and that You are working everything together for Your glory and their good. Cast out the spirit of fear and doubt weighing down on them and consume their hearts with Your transcending peace, supernatural strength, and gospel joy through the power of the Holy Ghost. In Jesus’ name, I pray Amen.
From M22 - Abba Father I pray for people struggling with their faith. I pray that you grant them supernatural discernment as they navigate their walk with you. I pray that you uproot every spirit of confusion, doubt and fear from their hearts and minds. I pray that you search their hearts and support whatever is hindering their faith form being renewed and strengthened IjMN Amen
From JIR - I pray for my mom who was told that she would need to retake her mammogram exam. I pray that nothing is detected and the test shows up negative. I pray that she remains calm and that You bless her with the courage, strength, comfort and peace that she needs to get through the test again. I rebuke any fear from her mind in Jesus name. I declare a negative test IJMN. Amen.
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Isaiah 41:10 KJV
I come to You Lord and ask You to help my mom and anyone else going through this and rebuke any anxieties that may be running through their minds. Please Lord, uphold them all with the right hand of Your righteousness and bless them all with favorable results. IJMN. Amen.
From M22 - Abba Father I pray for people struggling financially and for hardship issues people are experiencing. I pray that you will supply all of their needs through your glorious riches. I pray Father that you open them up to streams of opportunities and the right connections to improve every aspects of their lives IJMN Amen
From M22 - Abba Father I pray for people that are sick that your healing power permeates every inch of their bodies. I pray that you use the treatments and procedures to perfect your healing over them. I pray that you coordinate the eyes and hands of operating surgeon to carry out successful surgeries IjMN Amen
Great and Mighty God. You are the everlasting God. The Beginning and the End. You are the great Judge and Vindicator.
Praise the Lord.
Father, I lift up this gathering and call on You for Your kind mercy to rest upon us. Lord, the devil wants us to think that we cannot access the mercy of our God. However, You are He who will have mercy upon whom You choose (Exodus 33).
And so I plead with You to consider us as recipients of Your blessed mercy. It is not because we are righteous. It is not because we pray enough or do good works. I call on You to be seated on Your mercy seat regarding the members of this fellowship based on Your holiness and Your kindness. You are the perfect Lord, and have instructed us to pray in accordance with Your word.
Thus, I lift up the words of Your servant David in Psalm 57:1 - Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
Please pour out Your mercy and forgiveness upon us for the sins we have committed against You. In Your loving kindness, overlook our iniquities as we seek Your forgiveness and mercy. IJMN, Amen.
From M22 - Father Lord I lift couples waiting on you for the fruit of the womb. I pray that your turn their waiting into fruitfulness. I pray that you bless them with beautiful healthy babies that they will nourish and nurture in your ways. I pray that you will put an end to miscarriages, failed IVFs and difficult adoption processes IJMN Amen
Glory be to You, Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Not just upon myself, but upon my friends.
Lord, I use this opportunity to lift them up to You, knowing that You want the best for them and have them at the top of Your mind.
Lord, I decree that each and every of the enemy's plans for my friends are destroyed by the power and fire of the Lord God Almighty. I call on You, who foils the devices of the crafty, to ensure that where my friends are concerned, the enemy will be greatly disappointed.
Father, I pray that Your purpose and plan for my friends will be fulfilled to the fullest. For Your word states that Your plans will not be thwarted. I pray that my friends will walk on the path of righteousness and grow in the knowledge of You. Cover them, God, in Your grace and mercy, IJMN, Amen.
From M22 - Faithful God, I thank you for bringing us together to fellowship together today. I bless you for your grace over us. Thank you Lord for teaching, pruning, transforming, strengthening and renewing us for your glory. Thank you Lord for having mercy on us even when we fall short. Thank you Father for supplying all of our needs. Thank you Lord for increasing us in the fruits of the spirit. We glorify your name Abba. IJMN Amen
Lord, I come before you thanking you for you have met the needs of the needy. You are the God who can't help himself for You have said in 2 Timothy 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
My steadfast God!!!
Thank You for Your mercy upon the widow, the orphan. You give strength to the weary. You provide justice for the oppressed. You show love and heal the brokenhearted. You provide healing to the sick. You are the Lord who feeds the hungry and quenches the thirst of the thirsty. You provide homes for the homeless and give the stranger a place to lay his head.
Thank You Lord for all You are doing for Your children. You alone know what any of us needs the most and once we call on You, You come running to provide.
Father continue to show favor upon the world. As people return to work, keep them safe on the roads, safe from disease, safe from the evil the enemy seeks to accost them with. To You oh Lord be the glory!
From JIR - I pray for every person in this community to continue seeking Your face Lord. I pray that You continue to prune us, guide us, correct us and teach us all for Your glory Lord. I pray that we continue to seek You to show us Your ways and we walk in Your light all the days of our lives. IJMN. Amen.
PRAYER TIME
It is now time for us to pray.
The Lord has shown great favor upon you, so now is the time to cover someone else in prayer. And because you have given Him praise, He can't help but hear and answer you.
Not sure he's answered?
Consider Hebrews 4:16 which states Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Also Psalm 66:19 tells us But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
Use the next 25 minutes to cover others in prayer and be assured He has answered. Also know that for not praying for your needs - an offering in itself - He will in turn honor your sacrifice by providing for your needs.
Thank You Lord for loving us so much!!!!! You have an abundance of love for us and we enjoy the fruits of that blessing!
Glory be to Your Holy Name!
From AC - Thank You, thank You Adonai, two nights ago when I was so broken and I felt dejected and rejected by You, in all of Your compassion, love, kindness, and faithfulness you lifted me up and armed me with the weapons to defeat the enemy within 48 hours. I can't praise You enough for what You have done for my family. I give you honor and glory! I bless Your name! How mighty and magnificent You are! I love You!
From AC -
From AC - Amen Amen! I can't even begin to tell you how deeply today's P&P resonated with me, glory glory Hallelujah!! I will post my testimony later and why this blog post is right on time. God, You are soooooo good. Too good! So full of grace and compassion towards Your children. Thank You sis @FFJ for sharing this beautiful and powerful message, the Lord placed on your heart. I know many of us here needed this today.
Sweet Heavenly Father, thank You for this profound reminder of Your love and faithfulness and the privilege we have received by being set apart for You. Help us to embrace our identity as Your chosen people and grant us the wisdom to understand and appreciate the significance of our predestination. Lord, we declare Your victory over every obstacle and scheme of the enemy for we know that we are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. In Jesus' mighty name, we pray. Amen!!
Glorious God, I praise You. You are the King of kings. The Lord of lords and the God who is forever above every man-made god.
Thank You Lord for being the One whom I fear. The One whom I dread.
Thank You for being my King, my Lawgiver, my Judge.
Thank You for knowing me from before I was placed in my mother's womb.
The God who knows me and has claimed me as His own.
Thank You.
Father, I thank You for helping me write today's message. I've experienced pushback from the enemy's camp before but nothing like the way the devil fought me writing this message.
Lord, I thank You so much for not allowing the devil to win. Thank You, that despite everything the enemy threw my way, You opened my mind to understand what I needed to learn so I could share it.
Thank You for Your grace. Be Thou highly lifted up. Father, increase as I decrease for You alone are God and all eyes must look to You.
Hallelujah to my Rescuer.
Hallelujah to my Defender.
Hallelujah to the Mighty Man of War who sits on the throne.
Hallelujah!
From JIR - Thank You Lord for Your grace and mercy. You are so good to us. Words can’t explain our gratitude towards You. All things in this world are Yours and belong to You, Lord.
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.”
1 Chronicles 29:11-12 NLT
We give thanks for everything You have blessed us with, Lord. We do not take anything for granted. You are the reason for it all Lord. Thank You! All glory be to You. IJMN. Amen.
PRAISE TIME
This is the time when we give God our praise. This is the moment to thank Him for the air in your lungs. In the US there are high cases of RSV, the flu, Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses. So, again, this is the time to thank Him for the air flowing freely through your lungs.
Thank Him for more than that, of course. The fact you got through 12 months of the year and are still standing today is only because of His grace. Well, it surely is the case for me.
Please take this opportunity to worship the King!
From JIR - Thank You Lord for another beautiful day. Thank You for breathing life into us all this morning and blessing us to reconvene for fellowship today. We Thank You Lord for shining Your light down on us and giving us the endurance to continue on. We thank You for guiding us and leading us in the paths of righteousness. We would be nothing without you and thank You for keeping us under Your wings. Thank You Lord. IJMN. Amen.
Thank you sis, @FFJ for today’s message. It seems like a lot of God’s children feel like they are not worthy of God’s love in some point of their walk with Him, which is an attack from the enemy trying to fill our heads with lies. I say this because this is not the first time I have read or heard this. I struggled with this for the longest and am just now starting to embrace how precious I am to the Lord. As I draw closer to God I am starting to realize the enemy’s schemes which I was oblivious to when I first started walking with the Lord.
Lately, I have been experiencing the Lord’s grace and mercy more than I could ever imagine. He really loves us so much more than we can express and I am so grateful that He not only communicated this to me but He has also shown up for me more than words can explain. He cares for us so much and I am witness to His tender love and care which is undeniable. He works miracles and moves mountains for all of His children and wants the best for each and every one of us.
I am so grateful and it is a privilege for us to be chosen and set apart as God’s children. We are His special possession and are placed on this earth to carry out His will for His glory. There is no greater honor. What an amazing, magnificent God we serve. I am in awe of His goodness, grace, mercy and humility. Who are we that we are given such an honor? God is truly wonderful! All glory be to Him. IJMN. Amen!
From CD - This word means so much to me!! Just yesterday, I was observing the schemes, plans, plots, and devices the enemy uses in the work place and just started giving thanks, because in actuality, it is the people who choose to employ the enemy's devices in an effort to obtain with God gives us freely!!
I am not like them, I am set apart & a royal priesthood!!
A colleague and fellow believer asked me how can I so easily remain cordial to someone who I know "attempted" to sabotage and backstab me? I told her for 2 reasons: 1. God blocked it, so it wasn't successful and 2. Jesus knew Judas was going to betray him & He still washed his feet.
Praise God!!
From EC - Amen and good morning ladies!
From M22 - Thank you Father for another beautiful fellowship day. Thank you Lord for the gift of life, mobility, shelter, provision and protection. Thank you Father for taking care of everything concerning us. We glorify your name IJMN Amen.
Thank you for today's word sis @FFJ . We give glory to God that he has predestined us to win and he has chosen us for such a time as this. It is a privilege for God to chose us. I pray that we will continue to capable vessels through which God's glory always shines IJMN Amen