“He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding. The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”—Prov. 15:32-33, NIV

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”—2 Pet. 3:18, NIV

This past Sunday, a minister at my church openly admitted that he had learned a few things about god and His Word from one of his own students—a boy at that. He said the knowledge the Lord had allowed the young man to obtain both convicted and challenged him to take a deeper dive into the Old Testament scriptures.

Wow! What a testimony. That minister was demonstrating a very important characteristic for the believer to develop and maintain called “teachability.”

When a person has a teachable spirit, he is open and willing to hear from God—no matter how the Lord decides to get a message to him. That message could come through a variety of sources: His Holy Word (the Bible), the Holy Spirit, a dream, a vision, your spouse, your parents, a friend or mentor, your siblings, a member of your congregation, your “enemy,” a talking donkey, or even a little boy in the class that you have been called and assigned to teach.

Having a teachable spirit opens us up to a world of opportunities for growth—both naturally and spiritually. It shows that we are humble and submitted to God. And that is the kind of person that God seeks to bless (See 2 Chron. 16:9; 1 Pet. 5:5; et al.)

It was such a blessing to hear the minister at my church share his testimony and show his teachable spirit. It must have put a big ol’ smile on God’s face when he did it, too. I pray that by and by I will increasingly do the same.

If you desire to be more teachable, then please pray this prayer with me:

Father, I pray in the name of Jesus, that You would help me to become more teachable, as You desire for all of Your children. Lord, open my eyes and ears, so that I might receive whatever You desire to teach me—whether it comes from the Word, the Holy Spirit, or Your people. I ask that the Holy Spirit would convict me in any area where I am not teachable—where I lack humility or fail to submit to Your authority or that You have given to others. Help me, Father, to learn and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Transform my mind and help me to conform to His image. Dear Lord, my desire is to worship and serve You with all that I am and all that I have, for everything that I have comes from and belongs to You. In all things, get glory, God! Be magnified high above measure! May Your name be made great in and through me—not just by the things I say and do, but also by the demonstration of godly qualities, like teachability, in my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

May the Lord help you to become what He designed you to be by helping you develop a more teachable spirit.

Firmly In His Grip,

Genikwa

~ Learning and Growing!

By Bishop Donald Hilliard

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:  a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Psalms 51:17 (KJV)

Un-repented sin can lead to a stronghold.  You see first of all I need to be sorry for my sin, not because I got caught in it.  I want to be sorry for my sin because I displeased God. 

I want to be sorry for my sin because I transgressed against the God that has done so much for me.  I don't want to act like I'm sorry because you caught me or because you read my phone bill and my phone bill was not right.  I don't want to be sorry because someone exposed me.  I don't want to be sorry because someone got pregnant out of wedlock.  I don't want to be sorry because you caught me in the Lotto line.  I want to be sorry because I'm sorry. 

And until we have confessed our sin before a Holy God, all our sin - everything that displeases Him, we walk around with unforgiven sin and we build strongholds up in our lives. 

Join me in prayer--

Lord,

I ask forgiveness for my sin.  I am truly sorry that I have sinned against you and you only.    I confess all of my sin, those done consciously and unconsciously and I am truly sorry that I have transgressed against you.  Wash me pure with the blood of the Lamb.  Create in me a new heart and renew a right spirit within me that I may worship you in spirit and in truth and leave a sanctified life before you.

In Jesus' Name... amen.

Bishop Donald Hilliard, Jr. is the Pastor of one church in three locations in New Jersey: Cathedral International in Perth Amboy, Cathedral Assembly by the Shore in Asbury Park, and Cathedral Assembly in the Fields in Plainfield. Dr. Hilliard's willingness to say "YES" to the Lord fostered his ability to grow the church from 125 in 1983 to well over 5,000 members today. As a result of Dr. Hilliard's unwavering faith, multifaceted mindset, and ability to trust in the Lord, over fifty ministries are at work within the three cities. For more information on Bishop Hilliard's ministry, visit www.thecathedral.org. Click here to purchase After the Fall by Dr. Donald Hilliard, Jr.!

© Bishop Donald Hilliard all rights reserved.

By James Smith

I love adventure. I like eating at restaurants that I’ve never eaten at before. I like going places I’ve never been before. I will often take a wrong road intentionally just to see what is there that I’ve been missing. I want to see countries, I’ve never seen before. I want to enjoy what is just ahead.

I want to enjoy some things in the spirit realm too. I look into the Bible and I see the Apostolics in the New Testament having an all night prayer meeting for Peter. The miracle to me was not Peter getting loosed from prison. The miracle to me was a body of believers putting their agendas, and personal motives aside long enough to agree that something had to be done about Peter’s condition.

In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins states "Good to Great companies do not focus on what to do to become great; they focus equally on what not to do and what to stop doing." We are too often seeking the next gimmick or program that will take us to where we’re desiring to go in the terms of church growth or revival.  The problem with that is we start new things constantly but never do perfect them, only to go on to start something else without burying what we just gave up on.

As a result of that, we have our interests and labors so divided that many of our churches are dysfunctional with regards to evangelism, instead of being the driving evangelistic force that our Lord desires us to be.

There are a few things we can stop doing that would bring us closer to having Great evangelistic moves instead of simply good moves. I believe we would go from having good church to having Great church if we would stop trying to entertain one another.  Too many of our musicians are all hung up trying to entertain the crowd instead of entertaining the presence of the Lord.

We have it all backwards. We think if we sing good enough. We think if the choir ever gets it all together we will really have church. We think if we hit the right note. We think if we gesture correctly as we sing. We think that somehow the crowd will be impressed enough to give their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ.

We can’t sing good enough to give someone salvation. You can’t sing good enough to heal a broken body. You can’t sing good enough to give deliverance to a drug addict. You can’s sing or play or act good enough to save even one person’s soul, so why don’t we just entertain the Lord with our singing? It might be that we could draw his presence closer with our sincerity and hunger to worship him. If He came closer there is no telling what could happen in this place before we leave here tonight!

We don’t have Great church because we have been satisfied with good church. We don’t have Great worship services, because we are satisfied with good worship services. We don’t have Great results from our evangelist labors, because we are satisfied with good results. We don’t have thousands come in, because we are satisfied with a dozen or two per year. Just enough to make up for the ones we lost this year. We don’t have Great moves of God because we are satisfied with good moves of God. We don’t have a Great walk with God, because we are comfortable with having a good walk with God.

According to Collins, to go from good to great requires “transcending the curse of competence.” What’s wrong with competence?  Competence is GOOD!

Just because we had some measure of success, it shouldn’t satisfy us to the point that we don’t want to experience something far greater. Just because we had a little growth. Just because we had a little move. Just because “we liked what we felt in the service” is not enough. We have to expect far greater things from a God of the miraculous. We can’t be satisfied with a few being added to the church in a year. We have to expect something far greater than that to happen. We can’t say that one or two per month is good enough. We have to expect one or two dozen per week.

You might say "there is no way our church could have that kind of revival".  I say, "You are right", if you are thinking with mans wisdom.  However, if you are thinking by FAITH, then anything is possible!

Source: Preach It Newsletter (www.PreachIt.org)

By Bonnie Ricks

So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight-why the bush does not burn up." (Exodus 3:3 NIV) And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. (1 Samuel 18:9 NIV)

Discernment is extremely valuable to a Christian. But sometimes we label suspicion with the pious name of discernment and think we're being super spiritual. So it’s important to learn the difference between discernment and suspicion. And that difference is quite simple… Discernment will recognize evil for what it is. Suspicion will imagine evil when there is none.

When Moses saw the bush burning on the mountainside, he said, "I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up." He was genuinely curious and wanted to go see what was going on. He didn't imagine all sorts of evil lurking near that bush. He merely saw the bush and went to see what was up. In the alternative, Saul was suspicious of David, letting his imagination run wild. He imagined evil motives when there were none.

I know a young man who has been blessed with a beautiful young woman in his life. She is warm, caring, a hard worker, dedicated to Jesus, and devoted to the young man. But he is unable to relax and enjoy the blessings God is pouring upon him through this young woman. Instead, he is suspicious of her every move, wondering what is really motivating her to be so nice to him! If he doesn't let go of his suspicions soon, he could lose the relationship.

You and I can be guilty of the same thing - letting imagination take over when discernment and wisdom should rule. Suspicion destroys relationships... it destroys lives. When we are constantly suspicious of the motives of others, we drive people away that could be great blessings to us. Check your life today... are you discerning... or merely suspicious?

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11

Source: Newsong Ministries

Oh, that men would always pray and not faint! This is the will of God for His people (See Luke 18:1, 21:36; 1 Thes. 5:17; et al.).

I pray that you are doing well this morning. Below is a devotional article I read this morning and it is SOOOOOOO TRUE. I know I’ve experienced all kinds of attacks when it comes time to get into serious prayer. I’ve been hit with everything from last-minute illnesses (ask my mom) and schedule changes to weird and major drama at home or in my personal life. I kid you not! I realize now that it’s the Enemy, trying to prevent me from being in God’s will, but I didn’t always see it. Thank God for the prayers of others! Hallelujah!  

Maybe you’ve experienced such impediments to doing the things of God from time to time? If so, we’d love to hear about it. Tell us what you did (or what you are still doing) to overcome the issue. Tell us how the Lord worked in it. Please read the article below and pray earnestly that the Lord will give you the strength to stand firm in His will. This is my prayer for you, too.

Be blessed!

Firmly In His Grip,

Genikwa

What the Devil Fears

By Sara Elias Foulkes

The devil fears nothing like prayer. He knows that if he can break our communication with God, he has cut us off from all power. Hence, he sentinels the gateway of prayer with his seducing agents. He deadens the spiritual sensibilities,  hatches excuses, makes evasions in the mind, causes us to suddenly grow dull and drowsy and indolent, and in a thousand other ways he works untiringly to keep us from getting hold of God in earnest prayer.

He engineers strange circumstances to keep us from our knees. He incites a false zeal and, in a multitude of church activities, crowds out prayer. To the degree that he succeeds in causing us to neglect prayer, he has won the day. Our victory comes in arousing and stirring up all the faculties of taking hold of God in the combats of prayer.

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:
ACTS 26:16–18

TODAY'S PRAYER:
Lord, stir me to prayer that I may be Your instrument to strike continual fear in the devil! Keep me covered in Your blood and give me the grace and fortitude to pray always. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Source: Charisma Online’s “Bread of Life” Daily Devotionals