TESTIMONIES< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Psalm 119:1-8, Daniel 3, Mark 16:1-8

It is testimonial to the fact that DanielÕs three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were cast into a burning furnace when they refused to bow but stood up before the image of Nebuchadnezzar. It was not a regular burning furnace; it was a fiery one because of the fury that was generated by Nebuchadnezzar. The furnace was intended for their destruction because they refused to bow for any image. But while King Nebuchadnezzar was expecting a different result from the furnace, God showed up on behalf of DanielÕs three friends. ÒThen King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, ÒDid we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?Ó They answered and said to the king, ÒTrue, O king.Ó 25 ÒLook!Ó he answered, ÒI see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.Ó (Daniel 3:24-25) It is testimonial to the fact that God will never forsake anyone that stands for Him rather than bows for any other God or image. Indeed, God showed up in the midst of a burning furnace. It is not where you have been, or are, trapped when you stood for His name that matters, but how He will extend His glorious hand of deliverance is the one that counts. In all your standing, continue to take your stand for His name. Also it is testimonial to the fact that Jesus our Lord and Savior was crucified because of His truth that was threatening, but the tomb of death could not hold Him down when He rose on the third day. When His followers sought Him at the tomb to anoint His body they were redirected by a young man clothed in a long white robe, ÒBut he said to them, ÒDo not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.Ó (Mark 16:6) Jesus has risen and He is alive and He is King forever. Through the pages of the Bible, there is enough testimony to keep you going, to keep you encouraged, and to keep you focused if you will chose to be meditating on His testimonies day and night. The Psalmist knew exactly what was working for Him in the journey of life when He shared it in Psalm 119:2, ÒBlessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!Ó Are you constantly keeping His testimonies in the center of your heart? It cannot be clearly said more than the way the Psalmist has said it. When you keep His testimonies, you will be blessed because in all your seeking you will be seeking Him with your whole heart. To seek Him is to see Him and to see Him is to be endued with power.

WANT TO SEE JESUS?Luke 19:1-10< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

When Jesus was passing through Jericho for the last time before crucifixion it was then that a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector sought to see who Jesus was. Jesus must had been passing through Jericho before this last time passing through, but it was never a time for Zacchaeus to seek Jesus. Luke 19:3, ÒAnd he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.Ó Has it ever occurred to you as a believer the need to see Jesus? How can you have a relationship with someone and never desire to see Him? The greatest hindrance that works against seeing Jesus is the one that Zacchaeus experienced. As a short man in the midst of crowd he would not have been able to ever see Jesus on the face of earth and when he missed seeing Him on earth, he would probably miss seeing Him in heaven. Crowds will cloud the destiny of any believer, crowds will relegate a believer to a stand still, and crowds will block every possible view to see ahead. Crowds will terminate a believer from seeing Jesus, especially when the believer is short. Zacchaeus was a short man in the midst of a crowd in an attempt to see Jesus. Are you a short believer? If you have been following the move of the Spirit of God and not have been able to see Jesus, you are a short man. Zacchaeus knew what he wanted despite is height, and because of the understanding of His predicaments he made an extra move and went beyond his stature. He did not let his stature stagnate him because he knew with an elevated stature nothing could deny him from seeing Jesus. Zacchaeus decided to run ahead of the crowd rather than walk with them. In ZacchaeusÕ running there was a need to climb above and beyond the crowd. He was desperate to see Jesus. Are you desperate to see Jesus? Will you borrow from Zacchaeus? Luke 19:4, ÒSo he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.Ó Will you be willing to learn from Zacchaeus? It is time to leave the crowd that is surrounding you, behind by running ahead and looking for where you can climb for the Word of God. When you begin to run and climb for the Word of God, Jesus will see you. In the case of Zacchaeus, ÒAnd when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, ÒZacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.ÓÓ (Luke 19:5) When you begin to see Him, your story will be changed for His glory.

BE SPECIFIC    < ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Luke 18:35-43

There is a need to be specific in our asking. All that Jesus wants to do for us is all that it takes to have all that He brought for us when He came to this world. John 10:10, ÒThe thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. Jesus meant what He said, and He will do what He said. He has come to give it to us and we are here to have all He brought for us if we will make the right move in having it. Jesus demonstrated all that we need to know in every step that He took when He was ministering here on earth. Remember the story of Bartimaeus? Bartimaeus blind man begging on the roadside. On the day of his healing he was at the right location at the right time with a desperate need because Jesus was passing through. As Jesus was about to pass through the multitude was also in place to deny him his miracle. Just like Bartimaeus, many times when we are in place for our breakthrough the multitude is also in place to deny us by keeping us quiet. We often have too much surrounding us that frequently takes away our persistency in asking. Instead of the multitude denying the blind man, the blind man denied the multitude as he remain focused and persistent in noise making for Jesus to attend to his need. Luke 18:39, ÒThen those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, ÒSon of David, have mercy on me!Ó It is good to ask, it is another thing to ask with understanding that will deliver our healing. The blind man was making a good noise but his noise was not with specific request. It is true that his blindness was not hidden, it must have been obvious, but then it did not stop him from being specific in what he was asking for. Are you asking a miss? Jesus saw there was stone at the grave of Lazarus, but He did not excuse them from moving it before He moved for Lazarus. In his noise making Jesus had to interrupt by saying, ÒWhat do you want Me to do for you?Ó He said, ÒLord, that I may receive my sight.Ó (Luke 18:41) What exactly do you want Him to do for you? The blind man received his healing immediately once he told Jesus that he needed his sight. Luke 18:42-43, Then Jesus said to him, ÒReceive your sight; your faith has made you well.Ó 43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.Ó That is all He wants, be specific and let Him be glorified. He is a good God.

RICH YOUNG MAN< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Luke 12: 18-30

In service there is sacrifice and in sacrifice there is service. Jesus pointed out that there is a reward in sacrifice when Peter was calling JesusÕ attention to the fact that him and His disciples have left all to follow Him. In response to PeterÕs statement, ÒSo He said to them, ÒAssuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.Ó(Luke 12:29-30) Will you question and answer yourself to find out if your service is reasonable? Romans 12:1, ÒI beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.Ó Apostle Paul made it clear that service has two folds. One is to present yourself for serving and the second is to make the service a reasonable one. Many have presented themselves, many are presenting themselves, but the services that are presented are not reasonable for them to be rewarded. Jesus in His conversation with the rich young ruler requested for a reasonable sacrifice/service. The rich young ruler claimed to have kept all the commandments from his youth. He had an understanding that he was good but then Jesus responded, ÒSo when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, ÒYou still lack one thing Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.Ó (Luke 18:22)  Jesus was letting him know that he needed to be sold out in his service by selling all that he had. Jesus wants us to be sold out in our service, he wants us to give all that it takes in following Him because it is then that it becomes sold-out to Him. There is so much in your life that is taking you away from Him, so much is taking His time away and He wants us to be sold out to the purpose of the kingdom of GodÕs business. The rich young ruler thought he was doing all that it took in following His commandments and now found out from Jesus that there is more to presenting yourself in following Him. Following Him goes deeper when all riches of this world become an outside baggage not a carry along in following Jesus. The rich young ruler that thought he had been doing all the commandments came to the realization of having to give it all up all for Jesus. It is written in Luke 12:23, ÒBut when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.Ó The rich young man presented himself as living sacrifice, but his reasoning with his riches would not make him available for his service to be reasonably focused on the riches of heaven.

THANKSGIVING< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Luke 17: 11-19

All of His commands are directionally direct for nothing, but to carefully obey. Have you in anyway been questioning any of the direction in His command? Have you at any point in time refused to move in His direction because it does not seem right to you? Questioning the command of God is taking a position that is set for self-destruction. Answering to His command whether it seems right or not is positioning you for miracle. Miracles are not accidents; miracles are a direct move of the hand of God over every imaginable and unimaginable situation for His name to be glorified. To be alive and able to set eyes on this writing is a miracle and there is no miracle that is small enough not to acknowledge God with thanksgiving. Glory goes to God for His goodness and mercy. The Ten Lepers met Jesus on His way to Jerusalem. Luke 17:13, ÒAnd they lifted up their voice and said, ÒJesus, Master, have mercy on us! 14 So when He saw them, He said to them, ÒGo and show yourselves to the priests.Ó And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.ÓÓ When the lepers saw Jesus they were expecting an instant healing, as usual, in the miracles of Jesus. He heard them and responded with a directional command and asked them to go and show themselves to the priests. The lepers did not question JesusÕ direction neither did they hold back in doubt as they were  directed by Jesus. The Bible said that as they went, they were cleansed. The lepers did not receive healing before obedience; it was after obedience that their miracle answered for them. Healing comes in different places, at different times and under different condition. The Ten LepersÕ healing took place in a certain village after carefully following directions in the command of Jesus. Have you be looking up to Him for your healing? Have you been lifting your voice to Him and no answer? Have you been saying Master have mercy? There could be a need for you to consider self-search in the area of being obedience to His command. As a result of the cleansing, just one went back for thanksgiving. A proverb says ÒA child that knows how to give thanks for the miracle of yesterday is set for another miracleÓ Your own situation might only need a consistent and continuous thanks giving for all that He has done so that the one He is doing will be affected and you will be set for the one that He will do. Thank Him before; during and after every blessing it is a blessing to be alive today! Have you thanked Him enough today? Give a heart full of thanksgiving, not a mouthful of thanksgiving.