The Wagons Are Coming

And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. — Genesis 45:27

Jacob's love for Joseph aroused his ten older sons to jealousy, prompting them to sell Joseph into slavery and then to cover their deed with a lie. In the years that followed, Joseph rose from slavery to power in Egypt, while famine fell upon his family (Genesis 41:56-57).

As his sons journeyed to buy food in Egypt, Jacob looked around and saw his expectations for his sons and his land reduced to dry dust. But Jacob had God's Word. Day after day he reminded himself, "In blessing, I will bless thee and in multiplying, I will multiply thee" (Genesis 22:17).

Strrrretch

Written by Becky Toews

Take today’s next step: Stretch your faith – take the 35 Day Challenge.

“Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:17)

I should have known better than to call our few days away at my brother-in-law’s cabin a “mini-vacation.” Our family vacations seem to be a magnet for catastrophe….

We were unloading the car outside of State College, PA, when we realized my suitcase was still at home. All I had with me was a book bag with my Bible, journal, and reading material. Other than that I didn’t even have a hairbrush. Or my laptop.

Blessings by the Bushel

"And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you." (Mark 4:24)

How many blessings are you going to receive from the Word of God? It depends on how many you expect to receive. When God measures them out to you, He'll be using your measuring stick, not His own. He always works that way.

Two people can hear God's Word about healing, for example. One will measure it with faith. "Praise God, by His stripes I was healed!" he'll say. "I believe that with all my heart, and I'm going to keep on believing it until I receive my healing."

The other will measure it with skepticism. "I don't care what Bible verses he comes up with," he'll say. "I just don't trust that preacher. I'll give this healing stuff a try, but I doubt very much if anything's going to come of it."

Don’t Settle For Less—Receive God’s Best

By Andrew Wommack

A few months ago, I dreamed all night long of preaching a message entitled How to Receive God’s Best. I’ve spent weeks meditating on this and feel like the Lord gave this to me to share with you.

Before I can share the heart of what the Lord spoke to me, I need to point out two very important things in that title: You have to learn how to RECEIVE God’s BEST.

The Lord really impressed on me that the main reason we aren’t receiving His best is because we are willing to settle for less. Very few are committed to God’s best. We have been influenced more by the world than by God’s Word and “dumbed down” to accept far less than what God has provided. As long as you can live with less than God’s best, you will. That is a powerful truth.

You have to get sick and tired of being sick and tired before you will aggressively pursue God’s best. You have to have a holy dissatisfaction with mediocrity before you can experience all that God has for you. It doesn’t happen accidentally or automatically. If you don’t pursue it, you won’t get it.

A Woman of Faith

Written by Brigitte Straub

Searching for meaning to existence? Let us pray for you. 

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

We don’t know her name.

What we do know is that she was deathly sick. For 12 years, she had a blood problem. She suffered. She spent all she had on physicians “and could not be healed by any. (Luke 8:43)

She was considered unclean. She couldn’t pick her friends. They were picked for her.

When she heard that Jesus was in town, she came from behind Him, and touched the border of His garment, hoping, in waiting and expectation of a miracle!

Who did Jesus think he was? And why should I care?
Still have questions?Ask a mentor

Something…anything. She was broken. She was in pain.

Looking Beyond Disappointment

By Charles Stanley , Christian Post Contributor

John 11:3-6

When disappointments come your way in life, it is easy to blame yourself or others-or even both. Frequently it is difficult to know what to say or do because you cannot quite identify the real cause or purpose of the letdown.

Disappointment is often an emotional response to our own failure-or someone else's-to achieve a desire, hope, dream, or goal. This can lead to losing faith in someone on whom we were depending-perhaps even a person we love.

The gospel of John tells us that Jesus loved Martha, her sister Mary, and their brother Lazarus. Because of this, they didn't sense the need to tell the Lord anything more than "He whom You love is sick" (John 11:3). Their expectation was that as soon as Jesus heard this, He would come and heal their brother. But He didn't set out for two more days.

Why Do Porn Stars Have Big Penises?

They don’t have big penises because they are in porn, they are in porn because they have big penises.

Here we find the few men with penises that are off the chart. They are like the NBA stars of the world. Wishing for their sized penis is like wishing you would grow another foot to be better at basketball. Thankfully, you don’t need a 8 inch penis to be better in the love department! Sex accepts all comers!

It is accepted that pornographic and advertising images play a role in male and female self esteem – usually harming them. The fact that young men and women watch porn and then assume what they see is what they should expect to find, or expected to be, is generally harmful.

God in the Winter

Written by Charles Spurgeon

“It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.” Psalm 74:17

My friend, as we begin on this wintry month, begin it with God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind us that God keeps His covenant in day and night, and assures us that He will also keep the glorious covenant which He has made with us in the person of Christ Jesus. God, who remains true to His Word during the turning of the seasons in this poor sin-polluted world, will not prove unfaithful in His dealings with His own well-beloved sons and daughters.

Winter in the soul is often an uncomfortable season. If now you are facing uncomfortable circumstances or discouraging experiences, it will feel very painful to you. But there is comfort in the fact that the Lord makes both summer and winter. He knows your pain. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the buds of expectation. He scatters the frost like ashes over the once lush meadows of our joy.

How To Avoid Spiritual Distractions

A tale is told of a gifted bloodhound in England that started a hunt by chasing a full-grown male deer. During the chase, a fox crossed his path, so he began to chase the fox. Then, a rabbit crossed his hunting path, so he began to chase the rabbit. After chasing the rabbit for a while, a tiny field mouse crossed his path, and he chased the mouse to the corner of a farmer’s barn.

	The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching….” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!” — Acts 5:27-29

The bloodhound had begun the hunt chasing a prized male deer for his master, but wound up barking at a tiny mouse, all because he tried to focus on more than one thing. As humans, we’re equally guilty. We set so many expectations for ourselves that we often never meet even one of them.


The disciple and apostle Peter knew this struggle well. On the one hand, he had expectations of obeying the authorities’ commands to stop preaching Christ. On the other, he knew his obligation to God was much more important. So he made the decision to obey God rather than the authorities.

How the ICU Gave A New Perspective On Christmas

MARCUS YOARS

 

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A Christmas spent in an ICU gave my wife and me new insight into preparing a place for God’s presence

There are worse places to be on Christmas Eve than snowy Colorado. Yet after almost a month of being stuck in the neonatal intensive care unit of a Denver hospital, my wife, Amber, and I were more than ready to go home. Our problem: Home was 2,000 miles away in Orlando, Fla., and our doctors weren’t about to let Amber, who was barely 24 weeks into an already complicated, high-risk pregnancy, get in an airplane. We desperately wanted to spend Christmas Day with our 4-year-old son, who we hadn’t seen in weeks but who at least was safe with family across the country. It became apparent that flight wouldn’t happen anytime soon.

Sex and the American Man: A Preview

Gentlemen, a show of hands: Who's having enough sex these days? We commissioned a nationwide survey to find out when (and where and why) American men are having sex right now, and the results reveal the expectations, frustrations, proclivities, perversions, and fantasies that define how we're doing it. Let's get started, shall we?

Diana Scheunemann

The Pervocracy - Using my vagina.

(Yes, I have a modular hacked vibrator in my bedroom.
I don't know why you'd imagine for an instant that I wouldn't.)

I can be very good at standing back and using my body instrumentally. When I have to do something disgusting at work, I can dissociate from my hands. I can still feel them (obviously), but I don't invest any emotion in it and I don't expect to enjoy it. Washing out a wound or emptying a bedpan isn't about how my hands feel, and that's okay.

A Prescription For Peace

Tracie Miles

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

Despite attempts for more than a year to figure out what was wrong with me, doctors could not identify a serious medical condition. It's not that I wanted something to be wrong. I certainly didn't need anything else to stress about.

I was desperately seeking a prescription for peace.

Looking back I can see the main culprit for my stress was my job. Overwhelming expectations and the impossible perfectionism my supervisor demanded took their toll on me physically, emotionally and spiritually.

His harsh criticisms and comments made me feel inadequate, and my self-esteem plunged to an all-time low. Chaos swirled around me, stress raged within me, and my health continued to decline. But I didn't recognize the cause.

When a medical diagnosis continued to elude doctors, I believed the lie that excessive stress was normal and I needed to learn how to live with it.

How Father God Feels About You

by Jack Hayford

The story of the prodigal son, recorded in Luke 15, is often called the parable of the Father's heart. Jesus tells it, along with two other stories, not only in response to the seemingly "heart-less" religionists of His day, but also for you and me to know what is the Father's heart toward us.

Jesus tells of a man with two sons, one of whom asked for his inheritance in advance. The father gave it to him, and the son went out and squandered it, ending up in a pig sty. Finally, Scripture says, the young man "came to himself." He recognized the insensibility of the pathway he'd walked and how foolish he'd been to leave home. He returned, humbled, thinking he would ask to be just a servant at his father's place.

C.S. Lewis: The Story Of A Converted Mind

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Order This Booklet

Situations of pain and loss can challenge your religious beliefs. 

In this study, author Dennis Fisher takes you down the long and winding road of C. S. Lewis’s conversion to faith in Christ. 

Discover how your whole perspective on life can change when you allow God to transform your imagination, mind, conscience, and expectations.

http://discoveryseries.org/discovery-series/c-s-lewis-the-story-of-a-converted-mind/

Expect a Harvest

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." (Luke 6:38)

Give and it shall be given unto you. That statement came straight from the mouth of Jesus. Yet there are a great many believers who flatly refuse to believe it. In fact, they actually have the mistaken idea that it's wrong to expect to receive when they give.

The truth is--it's wrong not to!

What would you think about a farmer who planted seeds, then let his crop rot in the field? You'd think he was a fool, wouldn't you? And if he did it when others were starving, you'd think he was criminally irresponsible.

Well, it's just as irresponsible to give financial seeds and ignore the harvest God promised. Especially when that harvest could help send the gospel to people who are starving to hear it. It's just as wrong to ignore the key to prosperity that Jesus Himself gave us as it is to let a wheat crop rot in the field.

What If You Had Nothing To Lose?

"At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised’." —Job 1:20—21

The book of Job provides us with a stunning example of courage in the face of adversity. Who is not touched by Job’s faith in the face of unfathomable tragedy? Just as he finished learning that he had lost all of his worldly possessions, he discovered that he had also lost every single one of his children. All on the same day!

Job went from being the wealthiest and most blessed man on the planet to being an example of destitution and loss. His response is startling. He did not curse God and he did not question Him. Instead he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Stop, Look And Listen

Growing in the Lord.

A corn plant when it is fully grown and at harvest may have 2 -3 cobs per plant.

However when the plant is only a few weeks old and has sprouted it doesn't have the strength or ability to hold the corn cobs. 

If we focus upon growing the harvest will eventually come.

Too often we focus upon the wrong areas of life.

So how do we grow in the Lord.

One way is by knowing what God says about you and accepting this. 

I consider this to be one of the hardest areas of our lives.

Expectation God's economy is sowing seeds and expecting abundance

It is not our great faith but faith in a Powerful God.

Look to the greatness of our God.


Matt 17:20 (King James Version) And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.


Matt 13:31-32 (King James Version) Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.


In our trials of faith we often try to muster up more faith instead of focusing upon the expectation.

How to Enjoy Life Despite Your Circumstances

by Joyce Meyer

Which of these phrases do you utter to yourself most mornings? Do you greet each day with an expectant, positive attitude about what the day holds, or do you feel like pulling the blankets over your head, dreading what awaits you outside your front door? 

We must combat the dread that tempts us to stay in bed by keeping a positive attitude and mindset. Our attitude is so important to how we feel each day. The kind of day we have is, to a great degree, determined by our thoughts and actions. If we dwell on negative thoughts, expecting the worst, our actions will reflect those thoughts. 

It’s impossible to reach your God-given destiny if you allow negative thoughts to fill your mind. Dread is a close relative of fear, and allowing it to remain in your mind, sets you up for misery and robs you of joy.