Not Enough< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Isaiah 29:13-14, Luke 8:19-21

It is not enough when you hear and not do what you have heard in the word. Are you religious, or are you a believer? If what you are hearing is not evident in your life, it means you are not living the word. Hearing the word does not qualify one as a believer.  Hearing the word and doing the word is what qualifies one as a believer. JesusÕ response to those that went to deliver a message that His mother and brothers were looking for Him was a clear message that just hearing and not doing the word is an error; it is incomplete and will not count one as a believer. Luke 8:19, ÒBut He answered them and said to them, ÔMy mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.ÕÓ It does not matter how much or how often you draw to Him, the word has to be in you and you need to do what the word says. In these days, drawing to Him should never be a yardstick in measuring or identifying one as a believer. Today, so many are drawing unto God with their mouth while their heart and ears are outside. Matthew 15:8, ÒThese people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.Ó  Ask God for the grace to open the ears of your heart that will enable you in His word. You hear the word of God with the ear and you listen with the heart.

Not a Letter< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

2 Corinthians 3:6-18

The word of God is not a letter, it is Spirit. John 6:63, ÒIt is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.Ó How have you been receiving the word of God? Have you been receiving it lightly, or seriously as a letter or Spirit? If you have been receiving the word of God as a letter, it will weigh you down, and you will be better off not to have received it than to receive and be weighed down into stagnation with no motion in life. However, if you have been receiving the word of God as Spirit, you will have life and the word will make you a rider rather than a pusher. The word will be carrying you around and above in this wicked generation. The letter kills. 2 Corinthians 3:6, ÒWho also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.Ó Ask God for the grace to be spending valuable time on the word of God. It is when you receive and believe in the word that you will become a believer because you will be living what you have received. The word of God would mean less to you until you no longer receive the word only as daily bread, but also as oxygen. You can do without bread 2 to 3 days, but without oxygen, you are dead. Today, carefully consider desiring and asking God for the grace to increase you with the zeal for His word that is life, not letter.

Reception with Celebration< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

When you hear a preacher preach, how often have you claimed by saying you receive it, and after claiming to have received the word, nothing happens? No changes, no results, but yet you continue to claim ÒI receive it.Ó The word of God is true, it has not failed and it will not fail except if you fail to live by what is required. 1 Thessalonians 2:13, ÒFor this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.Ó  The word that you claimed to have received is not working because: one, you have failed to welcome the word. Can you think of what and how it will be when you receive a message that one million dollars has just been deposited into your account? When you truly receive the word as you frequently claim, you will celebrate it. Two, if what you claim to have received is scripturally based, then do not let anything deny your reception and celebration of what you have received. When the measure of how you welcome what you receive matches up with the celebration at the time of reception, then what you receive will work effectively for you.

The Good Hand of God< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Exodus 3:19-22, 1 Kings < ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>18:41-46

By the good hand of God, the children of Israel were delivered from the bondage of over four hundred years. It was also the good hand of God that saw Ezra through in his journey from Babylon back to Jerusalem. Ezra 7:9, ÒOn the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.Ó Have you ever thought about the hand of God? What you know to be available for you is what will work for you. What you do not acknowledge cannot be activated. The hand of God is always available; it never falls short or becomes too tired to deliver. 1 Kings 18:46, ÒThen the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.Ó At every given time, in any given situation, the hand of God will not fail especially for those that know to call for His hand. The hand of God will not just deliver, it will also make you an overcomer over all that gather or stand against you. Ask for GodÕs hand with the expectation of getting a result. He is a faithful God, and if you will begin to ask for His hand in your going out and in your coming in, you will begin to come from behind and be ahead in all of your endeavors.

Fear Not< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

1 Kings 17:8-16

Fear opens the door for failure; faith makes way for man to prevail. In time of famine, God sent Elijah to a widow of Zarephath to provide for him. 1 Kings 17:9, ÒArise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to < ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.Ó The widow that was to provide for Elijah by the LORDÕs command did not even have enough for herself and her son to survive. When Elijah approached her, she made it known to Elijah, 1 Kings 17:12, ÒSo she said, ÔAs the LORD your God lives I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.ÕÓ God commanded Elijah ÒSee, I have commanded a widow to provideÓ but the widow responded to Elijah, ÒSee, I only have a handful for me and my son.Ó Fear is the thickest cloud that will blind your vision from seeing where God has already made provision for your survival. She was reacting by what she saw and what she had, while Elijah responded by what the LORD had said. What is the word of God saying concerning your dilemma? For the widow of Zarephath, God spoke through Elijah, but fear was the only force that could have caused the widow to suffer the famine like everyone in that city, while faith was all she needed to prevail. 1 Kings 17:13, ÒAnd Elijah said to her, ÔDo not fear; go and do as you have said but make me a small cake first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.ÕÓ Faith, not fear, will make a way where you do not see a way.