“Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house. Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.’”
2 Samuel 12:9-11 (NKJV)

AUGUST 26 - Originating with Adam and continuing until today, men and women reject God’s Word. Too often we want to do what we want to do, whether or not it accurately aligns with God’s Word. This factor causes multitudes of believers to suffer needlessly, and it gives the devil an open door to consume them as brutally as a lion on the plains of Africa viciously devouring his prey. Remember, Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came that we may have an abundant life.

Having been taught with authority from Heaven, not as the pious, stony-hearted scribes, those who heard the “Sermon on the Mount” realized there would be consequences for sin. Jesus clearly exhorts us by telling us that the path of His will is narrow and often difficult. Along that path, however, we find a life that is overflowing with the goodness of God, but not without great struggle.

No one desires to struggle, but God’s best doesn’t come without cost, just as Jesus’ sacrifice did not come without great cost. In order to experience the blessings of God, we must first be willing to conform our will to the will of our Father.

Father, I thank You that I am willing and obedient, and I eat the best of the land. I keep Your commandment and pursue Your will for my life.

Family Scripture Reading

Proverbs 13

Featured Resource

Your Spiritual Checkup - CD Series

Have you accepted your new identity in Christ or do you continually deal with shame, guilt, and low self-esteem. The thoughts we identify with, whether good or bad, sculpt our destiny. Envision the marvelous transformation that would take place if we learned how to walk in our true identity. Imagine what life would be like if you were able to confidently identify with Christ instead of your old sin nature – nothing but victory, joy, and fulfillment. If you desire to learn the keys to walk in your new identity, this series is for you!

Posted under Consequences

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John 3:30 (NKJV)

AUGUST 25 - As the crowd felt the Son’s words pierce their hearts, words about heaven, giving, fasting, and forgiveness, astonished at His teachings, many began to voluntarily surrender their lives to Him. Christ, our prime example, completely surrendered control of His life to God. He willingly offered His spirit into the Father’s hands, fulfilling the Father’s will. To realize the immensity of His sacrifice, a great work must be done among the churches throughout the nations of this world. The last instruction of our Lord was, “Go therefore…” But have we truly surrendered our lives to Heaven’s desire? God wants all of mankind to know Him. We must realize that this work is the objective of every Christian. We are called to take them the good news and make true disciples. This commission must be the passion of our lives.

Throughout America, churches have reduced Christianity to a statement rather than a lifestyle. With no corresponding actions, our words are meaningless. We must demand of ourselves and of those with whom we associate an absolute and immediate surrender to the Word of God. We cannot approach the throne room of Heaven requesting our personal assignment without first embracing the call to preach the Gospel to the entire world. God promises to lovingly mold us, skillfully teach us, tenderly guide us, and powerfully use us, but we must surrender completely before He can have His way.

Without wavering, I cling to hope in Christ, and I am never moved.

Family Scripture Reading

Revelation 14

Featured Resource

Your Spiritual Checkup - CD Series

Have you accepted your new identity in Christ or do you continually deal with shame, guilt, and low self-esteem. The thoughts we identify with, whether good or bad, sculpt our destiny. Envision the marvelous transformation that would take place if we learned how to walk in our true identity. Imagine what life would be like if you were able to confidently identify with Christ instead of your old sin nature – nothing but victory, joy, and fulfillment. If you desire to learn the keys to walk in your new identity, this series is for you!

Posted under surrender

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)

AUGUST 24 - Like precious metals being reduced to a fluid, usable state, the very nature of God’s presence is refinement. God purifies our motives, decisions, relationships, actions, and shortcomings when we meet with Him. Consequently, God must have a soft heart with which to work. Soft means tender, pliable, and responsive to impression. James says God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Pride, however, is not simply a smug look and an arrogant attitude. Pride in a more subtle (but possibly more dangerous)  form is thinking we can meet with God because of our good performance.

Do you remember a time when you sinned and afterward felt like you couldn’t pray or worship God? Do you remember a time when you went for days obeying God’s voice and resisting temptation? That is when you probably felt much more qualified to meet with God. But if either of those situations is true, you’ve  experienced pride, simply because you depended on your own performance to be acceptable to God.

Here’s a giant revelation: We aren’t good enough. With that said once and for all, let us cling to Jesus and never stop trusting Him. It’s as if we were in a hurricane on an old wooden ship. All we could do to keep from being thrown into the deep would be to cling to the mast with all our might. With tears swimming in our eyes, we would endure the violently deafening storm at the strength of the mast. There would be no other option for safety because letting go of the mast to find another stronghold would mean doom. That’s the fervor with which we must cling to Jesus. A man with a soft heart realizes his hopelessness without Christ. He enters God’s presence on that merit alone, where God always meets with him.

Without wavering, I cling to hope in Christ, and I am never moved.

Family Scripture Reading

Revelation 13

Featured Resource

Your Spiritual Checkup - CD Series

Have you accepted your new identity in Christ or do you continually deal with shame, guilt, and low self-esteem. The thoughts we identify with, whether good or bad, sculpt our destiny. Envision the marvelous transformation that would take place if we learned how to walk in our true identity. Imagine what life would be like if you were able to confidently identify with Christ instead of your old sin nature – nothing but victory, joy, and fulfillment. If you desire to learn the keys to walk in your new identity, this series is for you!

Posted under Heart

“And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.”
Genesis 13:10 (NKJV)

AUGUST 7 - The way you treat a relationship when it no longer saves your life, pays your bills, or soothes your broken heart candidly reveals the motive you had for it, right from the very start. It is impossible to
escape your motives once you establish them as the direction for your life. With pure motive of heart, John the Baptist “made way for the Christ” since Jesus’ baptism by John was a starting point for apostolic preaching and the new, exhilarating era of salvation.

John’s meekness in his attitude toward Christ, making way and standing aside as the Son of God commenced His ministry, revealed the true motive of his character—humility, selflessness, and sacrificial purity.

Carefully examine your motives before entering any relationship, but especially a relationship with an authority figure. If there is even a shred of selfishness in your heart, any thought of “What’s in it for me?” you would be wise to stop pursing that relationship until you purify your motives. Otherwise, you’ll run into a dead end and be at a regretful loss to appropriately recover.

Father, I thank You that I understand that whatever I sow is what I reap. I choose to sow the right seeds today that will produce the future You desire for my life. I won’t grow weary in well doing, for I know that in due time I will reap a harvest if I do not faint.

Family Scripture Reading

Galatians 4

Featured Resource

Your Passport To Promotion - Cirriculum

In our small Group study of Passport to promotion, using the exercises in the DVDs you will understand practical steps leading you to promotion after promotion. Stimulating discussions during the curriculum will help sharpen your ability to identify what you need to correct. Interesting ideas are presented and practical steps will help you work out your plan for your next promotion doing it the right way! Also, lesson principles will take you on your path to promotion immediately and you will start seeing results in just a few short days.

Spiral bound workbook

For small group studies add:
Your Passport to Promotion Small Group DVD
Your Passport to Promotion Hardcover Book

Posted under Motives

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”
Psalms 19:14 (NKJV)

APRIL 27 - Our hearts unconsciously affect everything we do. There is no greater understanding a believer must grasp than the unmatched power of a pure heart. Jesus tells us that “the pure in heart shall see God.” He didn’t say the rich; He didn’t say the wise; He didn’t even say those with great faith. Jesus said, “The pure in heart shall see God.” The apostle John tells us, “If you say you abide in Him then you ought to walk as He did.” Jesus is our example of true Godly character. Character is not something we can build independent of God; it is a result of God’s Spirit coming alive in us. His Spirit demands that we do what is right.

Cultivation of true character is dependent upon our willingness to surrender our hearts to God. Because of the clarity of their hearts and right motivation, Moshe Dayan and his 42 co-prisoners had their prison sentences cut short as they were fatefully called upon to help the Allies fight the Vichy French, who were in control of Syria during World War II. Leading a group of commando-scouts, Dayan and his men set up a successful Australian invasion in the Syrian terrain. Their pliable hearts towards doing right affected everything they did.

The main issue lies not in the ability to be disciplined, but rather in the pliability of our hearts. David said, “Lord, I hide Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” As we fill our hearts with the Word of God, we soon see the character of Christ manifest in our lives.

Daily Confession

Father, I thank You that I guard my heart above everything else. I see the importance of a pure heart, knowing it affects everything I do.

Family Scripture Reading

Hebrews 11

Featured Resource

Your Pathway To A Miracle -CD

With comprehensive Biblical accuracy, Dr. Thompson refutes those who say the dispensation of miracles is over, and he gives irrefutable evidence that God is still in the miracle-working business!

God’s Word says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Faith will leap within you as you hear moving interpretations of Jesus’ performing miracle after miracle – from the restoration of sight to blind Bartimaeus, to the dramatic healing of the woman with the issue of blood.

God has a miracle for you! Build up your faith with this powerful word, and then reach out and receive it!

Posted under Meditation

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)

MARCH 16 - The final item on the Passover table is something called charoses. Charoses is made from ground apples, red wine, cinnamon, and sugar. This paste looks very much like mortar and represents the mortar the Israelites heaped upon the bricks when they were slaves. Charoses is the very heart of the Passover table, the seed that created Israel’s future.

The voices and thoughts that enter your mind are also seeds. You have a choice over which seeds get planted and which get rejected.Your heart becomes the fertile soil where those seeds are planted,
become mature, and produce fruit. There is no way to avoid this process of “heart germination,” for the Bible tells us in Proverbs 4:23 that this is how God designed the human heart to function. “Keep [manage, tend, protect, safeguard, watch over, preserve, chaperon, care for, be a good steward over] your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” The only way to assure good outcomes in your life is to plant good seeds inside your heart.

When I went through a difficult period in my life, it primarily occurred because early in my childhood, bad seeds were planted inside my heart, and those seeds matured, producing bad fruit. Destructive thought-seeds take root and begin to grow because you choose to believe what they say is the truth. Additionally, you even begin to believe evil concerning yourself. It is important to realize that any thought left unchallenged is established as fact. Therefore, take the abundance of seeds of God’s Word and sprinkle them onto the soil of your heart (the charoses, the mortar), give it some time, and watch it grow a bountiful and life-changing harvest.

Daily Confession

Father, I thank You that I keep my heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life.

Day 16: Audio Confession

Family Scripture Reading

Luke 4

Featured Resource

Give Up Worry Forever - CD Series

It is estimated that more than thirteen million American adults are chronic worriers. The National Institute of Mental Health says anxiety disorders are America’s most commonly reported health problems. The medical community also confirms that a significant portion of physical sickness and disease is caused or exacerbated by mental/emotional triggers such as stress, worry, anxiety, fear, and depression.

In this valuable series, Dr. Robb Thompson not only discusses the causes and effects of worry in your life, but also shows you how to overcome worry and anxiety through the Word of God.

God equipped you for every good work! Choose today to put the Word of God into practice and see peace begin to rule and reign in your heart!

Posted under Heart

“And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.’”

Genesis 13:9, 14-15 (NKJV)

FEBRUARY 27 - The world’s oldest lock is said to be an Egyptian pin tumbler lock found in the ancient ruins of Nineveh. It is fascinating to note that modern cylindrical door locks still operate on this same tumbler principle, discovered thousands of years earlier. The call to follow Jesus requires us to give up, to lock up, and lock away, many things of our past. Whether it is a destructive relationship, a harmful thought pattern, an injurious addiction, or some other negative endeavor, God summons us to sacrifice what we already have in order to possess what we truly value. We, as believers, are required to focus on who we are, and what has been given to us in Christ Jesus. As we focus on what we possess, we will begin to overlook what we have lost. Many of us reading this have lost a job, a home, money, or even a loved one. If we begin to focus on what we’ve lost in the past, we will become bitter towards others, as well as towards Heaven. So, we must continually focus on what we have right in front of us.

God has given to us and done so many things for us—we are blessed. There is no one who can say they have nothing. All possess something for which they can be truly thankful. Society influences many to dwell on what they have lost, and then to devise a plan to retrieve it. We must choose to direct our focus upon what we have in an attempt to forget the things we don’t. We must maintain our focus and give thanks for everything we have in our possession, locking up and locking away those things that are behind, throwing away the proverbial key, reaching forward to the upward call of God.

Daily Confession

Father, I thank You that I do not count myself as having apprehended, but I forget those things which are behind and I reach forward to those things which are ahead.

Day 27: Audio Confession

Family Scripture Reading

2 Corinthians 5

Featured Resource

Character: Building A Godly Foundation for A Successful Life - CD Series

A house built on a faulty foundation soon becomes unfit to live in. Shifting soil causes cracks in the foundation, and those cracks lead to costly damage. Think of the trouble that could be avoided if only the foundation were repaired!

Character is the foundation of your life; you can save yourself a lifetime of grief if you will honestly inspect your character, making sure it is built firmly upon the strong, immovable foundation of God’s principles. Dr. Robb Thompson shares many of these valuable principles in this dynamic series – principles such as:

• It’s not what you say that matters, but what you do that makes all the difference.
• Character prefers the rejection of men to the disappointment of Heaven.
• It is impossible for your life to produce anything beyond the strength of your moral fiber.

Let Dr. Thompson help you explore what God has to say about pursuing excellent character. Then start building a rock-solid, Godly character that will lead you to God’s highest for your life!

Posted under Focus, Greatness