God is a shield for the upright

Wednesday 15 March 2017

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

Proverbs 2:7

 

This verse tells us that God actually stores up sound wisdom for those who walk uprightly, He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. What is a shield?

A shield is a gate or door (or “door-shaped”); used of the large, oblong ancient Roman shield (which looked like a full door), large enough to provide full protection from attack. Why do we need the Lord as our shield?

1. He provides protection

The Lord provides protection for the person who has a right relationship with Him. This protection always extinguishes (takes the fire out of) the missiles of the enemy so that he cannot harm us:

God protects me like a shield; He saves those whose hearts are right

Psalm 7:10 (NCV)

2. The Lord gives us faith

Every believer has been given a measure of faith and faith is described as a shield that provides protection against the fiery darts of the wicked:

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked

Ephesians 6:16 (NKJV)

3. The Lord provides favour

The righteous are surrounded with favour as with a shield. Favour is kindness from God that is undeserved. In other words, as believers, we wear favour like a shield and receive grace and blessing because of the favour of God:

For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;

With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Psalm 5:12 (NJKV) 

Prayer

Dear Lord, I thank You that You are a shield for those who trust in You. Today let Yourfavour surround me as with a shield in Jesus name.

Fundraising for Ghana Water Closet Toilet Project

Please help me to raise £8000 towards a Water Closet Toilet Project in a rural village in Ghana to help reduce cholera and diarrhoea.

 

Resources  

Interview about Coaching, Purpose and Faith

How to Set Goals for 2017

How to Discover Your Purpose in 2017

 

Blessing Tours

Business and Cultural Immersion Tour to Ghana

 

Blessing’s Upcoming Workshops

Please sign up for the following workshops:

Breakthrough to Your Purpose Retreat 2017

 

New Books for 2017

How Jesus Healed

How to Discover Your Life in 30 Days Workbook

 

God bless,

Blessing Theophilus-Israel

Spiritual Life Coach

 

God desires to give good gifts, we must only ask

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Matthew 7:11 

1, God is alive and active

God is alive and active and desires to give fine things to those who ask. We serve a mighty God that desires only good for our life, including meeting all our financial needs.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 

The key thing we must remember is that we must ask. Provided we ask in line with God’s will, God will grant us His promise to give good things to us. 

2, God desires to give us good gifts beyond what any man could give us

God reminded us in (Matthew 7:11), that if man being evil at times can give good gifts then provided we ask, He can grant us much more. We are reminded that God operates from heaven. God is loaded with sovereign power and abundance. It is God’s will that we ask and expect to receive financial provision by faith, for when we do, God supplies all our financial needs (James 1:6).

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8 

3, Faith is required in order to receive from God

We are told in the word of God the bible that God is the provider of every good gift (James 1:17). The key issue is that we must ask God to meet our need with faith. Provided we ask in line with God’s will, and with faith, God will meet our financial need. God warns us that it is faith that allows Him to meet our needs.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

Summary

God desires only good for us and supplies us with faith as a gift, as seen in (Ephesians 2:8-9) to receive all that God has promised us. We are all by God’s grace, given the faith required to get what we know we need financially, provided we are righteous before God and ask with faith, in line with His will. The measure of faith we need is small, as small as a mustard seed. All we need is a mustard seed of faith in order to receive what God has promised (Matthew 17:20).

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Blessing’s up and coming workshops and events:

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God Bless
Annette Galloway
Blessing Spiritual Life Coaching

 

Why is complacency so dangerous?

Wednesday 22 February

For the turning away of the simple will slay them,

And the complacency of fools will destroy them;

Proverbs 1:32 (NKJV)

 

Complacency is a self-satisfied state of negligence or carelessness, especially in relation to one’s personal situation. For example, your life may not be going in the direction you know it is supposed to according to the Word of God, but you are too complacent, or lazy to do anything about it. Our key scripture tells us that complacency will destroy people. The question today then is, why is complacency so dangerous?

1. It makes us lukewarm

Jesus rebuked the Church in Laodicea, which represents the end-time Church, for being neither cold nor hot. It is easy to become complacent, especially when life is comfortable, however Jesus warns us that anyone who is lukewarm, He will spit out of His mouth:

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

Revelation 3:15 (NKJV)

2. It leads to spiritual immaturity

Being complacent prevents us from growing in the spirit and makes us remain spiritual babies so that when we should be teaching others we still need others to teach us:

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

Hebrews 5:12 (NKJV)

3. It leads to poverty

Complacency can make people so relaxed and lazy that they neglect to work hard and do the things that will move them ahead and they suffer from poverty as a result:

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

Proverbs 13:4 (ESV)

Next week, we will look at how to overcome complacency.

 

Prayer

Dear Lord, please help me to avoid complacency but to be diligent in everything I do in Jesus name.

 

Resources

Interview about Coaching, Purpose and Faith

How to Set Goals for 2017

How to Discover Your Purpose in 2017

 

Blessing Tours

Business and Cultural Immersion Tour to Ghana

 

Blessing’s Upcoming Workshops

Please sign up for the following workshops:

How to Find Your Purpose Workshop, 16 February 2017

Breakthrough to Your Purpose Retreat 2017

 

New Books for 2017

How Jesus Healed

How to Discover Your Life in 30 Days Workbook

God bless,

Blessing Theophilus-Israel

Spiritual Life Coach

 

 

Why we must honour our parents

Wednesday 8 February

Why must we honour our parents?

My child, listen when your father corrects you.

Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

Proverbs 1:8 (NLT)

Wisdom is telling us in today’s text to listen to our Father when he corrects us, and to our mother when she instructs us. We must remember that parents here is not only referring to our natural parents, it also refers to our spiritual parents in the Lord.

Why does God tell us to honour our parents both in the Old and New Testament?

1, Honouring our parents pleases the Lord

Firstly when we honour our parents, it brings honour to God and it pleases Him.

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

Colossians 3:20 (NKJV)

2. Honouring our parents prolongs our lives

The second reason why we must honour parents is so that we will have a long life here on earth:

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Exodus 20:12 (NKJV)

3. Honouring our parents brings blessings

The third reason is that when we honour our parents it will go well with us:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

Ephesians 6:1-3 (KJV)

Prayer

Dear Lord, please help me to honour my parents in the Lord so that it will go well with me and I will live long on the earth to fulfil my purpose in life in Jesus name.

Resources

Interview about Breakthrough to Your Purpose Retreat 2017

 Interview about Coaching, Purpose and Faith

 How to Set Goals for 2017

How to Discover Your Purpose in 2017

 

Blessing Tours

Business and Cultural Immersion Tour to Ghana

 

Blessing’s Upcoming Workshops

Please sign up for the following workshops:

How to Find Your Purpose Workshop, 16 February 2017

 Breakthrough to Your Purpose Retreat 2017

 

New Books for 2017

 How Jesus Healed

How to Discover Your Life in 30 Days Workbook

 

God bless,

Blessing Theophilus-Israel

Spiritual Life Coach

 

 

 

 

Hallmarks of Great Leaders: Part 3

So Joshua did to them as the Lord had told him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

Joshua 11:9,15 (NKJV)

We can learn several lessons about the hallmarks of great leaders from the life of Joshua:

1. To have success and victory as a leader we must believe God

Joshua had much success as a leader because he believed every word of God. To believe God is to have confidence in what He says. When you believe God He will establish you:

Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

2 Chronicles 20:20 (KJV)

2. To have success as a leader we must obey God

Joshua obeyed and did all that God told him to do. Likewise if we want to have success we too must learn to overcome our fears of ‘what if’, and do what God has told us to do.

3. To have success and victory we must obey those God has put in charge of us

Joshua did all that Moses, the man of God, had commanded him to do as if it was God that told him to do it. Likewise if we want success we too must learn to obey those that God has put in charge of us. We are exhorted to:

Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

Hebrews 13:17 (NLT)

Prayer

Dear Lord, please give me an obedient heart to obey You in everything I do in Jesus name, amen.

How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams

Do you know God’s purpose for your life? If not, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and listen to the audio version of: How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams

God bless,

Blessing

What does it mean to be successful in God’s eye?

This week’s scripture, encourages us to obey all the commands of God so that we can be successful:

If you obey all the commands in this agreement, you will continue to succeed in everything you do.

Deuteronomy 29:9 (ERV)

What is success?

There are many definitions of success. The world tends to define success by your education, position in life and the things you possess, i.e. money, houses, cars etc. These things perform an important function in our lives however we cannot measure our success by the things that we possess only.

Jesus warns us that we should “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15)

God does promise that if we obey His commands He will make us successful in everything we do, this means we will flourish spiritually, financially, physiologically, relationally, academically, and in all other areas.

What does it mean then to be successful in God’s eyes?

Biblical success can be defined as the following:

1. Having a relationship with God

We can only have a relationship with God The Father through Jesus Christ His Son:

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6)

2. Love The Lord and love your neighbour as yourself

Once we have this relationship with God we should learn to love the Lord and to love our fellow human beings as we love ourselves:

“Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39)

3. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness

The Kingdom of God is the reign of God in the hearts of people and it is also an everlasting Kingdom (Psalm 145:13) that will replace all the kingdoms of this world (Daniel 2:44, Revelation 11:15).

When we seek for the expansion of God’s Kingdom on earth, the way we spend our time and the things we do will be different. We will be so Kingdom minded that we will want to share the good news about Jesus Christ everywhere we go at any given opportunity, and when we do this all the natural blessings that we want will be given unto us:

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33)

4. Walk in God’s purpose for your life

There is a purpose or reason for everything. Purpose is God’s original intention for you, it is the reason why God created you.

I want to assure you that there is a reason why you are alive, and your responsibility is to find out what that is. Each one of us has been called and given a specific purpose, even before time began:

“Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Timothy 1:9)

Surrender to Jesus

You can only discover your purpose in God your Creator, therefore if you have not yet surrendered your life to Jesus, please do so by repenting of your sins and asking Jesus to come into your heart and then ask God to show you the purpose for your life.

God has inspired me to write a 30-day workbook which is designed to help you to discover your purpose in 30-days. It will provide scriptures for you to meditate on that pertains to purpose and allow you to record any dreams, thoughts or ideas, prophecies, and impressions that come to you. If you would like a copy once it is published please let me know.

5. Fear God and keep His commandments

The Bible tells us that when all is said and done, we ought to fear God and keep His commandments:

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Please respond

These are my definitions of biblical success. What do you think it means to be successful in God’s eye? Please share your views, I would love to hear from you. Please contact me at info@blessingcoaching.com

God bless,

Blessing

You are God’s special people

In today’s Scripture God want you to know that you are His special people.

“Today the Lord your God commands you to obey all these laws and rules. Be careful to follow them with all your heart and soul. Today you have said that the Lord is your God. You have promised to live the way he wants. You promised to follow his teachings and to obey his laws and commands. You said you would do everything he tells you to do.

And today the Lord has accepted you to be his own people. He has promised you this. The Lord also said that you must obey all his commands. The Lord will make you greater than all the nations he made. He will give you praise, fame, and honor. And you will be his own special people, as he promised.”

Deuteronomy 26:16-19 (ERV)

 In this Scripture, Moses the man of God, tells the people of Israel that if they do everything The Lord requires of them then the Lord will make them His special people. As believers in Jesus Christ, the Lord is saying the same thing to us today. If we will believe in God by accepting Jesus Christ His Son as our Lord and Saviour, The Lord will also accept us as His own people and we will be God’s special people. Let’s take a closer look at this scripture.

What does The Lord require from us for us to be His own special people?

1. Obey all His laws and rules – do everything The Lord has told us to do in His Word – The Holy Bible. Just like Jesus, we should surrender our will to the Father and do all that He has commanded us to do “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38)
2. Be careful to follow them with all your heart and soul – we should put our all in serving God and follow His Word with all our heart and soul “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” (Matthew 22:37)
3. Make The Lord your God – there are many god’s out there. Some are made of stones, metal and wood, some even worship the sun and the moon. Some worship their money, car, family etc. But The Lord who made heaven and earth, the God of Israel, wants you to make Him your Lord and God: “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands” (Psalm 115:3-4)
4. Live in the way God wants – there are many philosophies out there of different ways to live the good life, however God wants us to walk in love (Ephesians 5:2), walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8), and walk in in wisdom (Ephesians 5:15)
5. Follow the teachings of God – we should do what The Word says “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22)
6. Obey His laws and commands – even in the face of difficulty and persecution The Lord wants us to do what He says “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29);
7. Do everything God tells you to do – The Lord wants us to do everything He tells us to do so that He will make us prosperous and give us good success “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8)

Once we do what The Lord require, what will The Lord do for us?

1. The Lord will accept us as His own people – to be accepted is to have the assurance that we belong to God and that no one can take us from His hand; “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)
2. The Lord will make you greater than all the nations He made – it has always been the will of The Father to make those who obey Him great and to give them a great name. God told Abraham, Israel’s ancestor, that if he will leave his father’s house and go to a land that He will show him; “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2)
3. The Lord will give you praise – God is a faithful God, and when you listen to Him, He will give you fame and praise “At that time I will bring you back, Even at the time I gather you; For I will give you fame and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I return your captives before your eyes,” Says the Lord” (Zephaniah 3:20)
4. The Lord will give you fame – God makes those who obey Him famous. Listen to what He told David, the man who was after God’s own heart: “And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth” (2 Samuel 7:9)
5. The Lord will give you honour – because Solomon asked wisdom from God, God gave him both riches and honour “And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days” (1 Kings 3:13)
6. You will be God’s special people – when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we become God’s special people “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9)

Prayer of Surrender

If you would like to become God’s special people but have not yet surrendered your life to Jesus, please pray this prayer of surrender from your heart:

Lord Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God. I believe that You are the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father but by You. I believe You died on the cross and You were raised from the dead.

I accept that I am a sinner and have come short of the glory of God. I now confess my sins and ask You to please forgive me for the sins of (……..please take your time and name them one by one and make a decision not to do them again).

Please wash me clean with Your precious blood that was shed for me on the Cross. Please remove me from the kingdom of darkness and bring me into Your Kingdom of Light. I want to know you Jesus, and have a loving relationship with God my Father.

Please become the Lord of my life and fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can live a victorious life.

From today, please gain control over my spirit, my soul, my mind, my will and my emotions. Please help me to live for You. Thank You Jesus.

Father, I now come to You in the name of Jesus. Thank You for giving Jesus Christ Your Son to die for me so that I can have a loving relationship with You. Please guide and direct my steps from this day forward in Jesus name.

Father, I know You created me for a purpose. Please show me why You have created me and what You want me to do with the rest of my life in Jesus’ name.

Next Steps

Dear Friend, if you have prayed this prayer from your heart, you have become a child of God, His own special people. Please get a Bible and start reading the Word of God, because the Word of God is Spirit and it is life. You literally become transformed as you read the Word of God. If you do not have a Bible please read it at: https://www.biblegateway.com/

Please find a Church where the pure Word of God is preached and join fellowship with other believers. This will help you to be strong and to grow in the Lord.

Dear Brother or Sister, if you have prayed this prayer, we would love to hear from you. Please send an email and we will send you a Bible and some excellent reading material to help you on this Christian journey: info@blessingcoaching.com

God bless,

Blessing

Do you want everything to go well for you?

Our Scripture this week tells us what to do if we want everything to go well for us and our children:

Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 12:28

In this scripture Moses was telling the children of Israel before they entered the promise land, the things that they must do if they wanted things to go well for them and their children.

These words also apply to us as followers of Jesus Christ, because God doesn’t change, He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

As we are on our spiritual journey to our promise land, there are things that we must do if we want things to go well for us and our children. They are:

1. Observe the Words of God – to observe means to keep, to watch and to preserve the Word of God. This is basically telling us to take a keen interest in the Bible which is described as the Word of Life (Philippians 2:16) because when you read and confess it, it literally transforms you and brings to life areas that were previously dead. For example your faith may be weak however you can increase your faith by reading the Word of God: So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17);
2. Obey the Word of God – to obey the Word means to do what the Word of God says. We are encouraged to be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22);
3. Do what is good in the sight of God– goodness is one of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). If you see your brother or sister in need, you should be eager to help them out of the goodness of your heart. The story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 shows that we ought to be good to people who are in need whether or not we know them;
4. Do what is right in the sight of God – to do what is right in the sight of God is to do what God’s Word says. The Bible says that there is a way that seems right unto a man but in the end it leads to death (Proverbs 14:12). We may do things to try to please other people however the Bible tells us not to be men pleasers (Ephesians 6:6) because it is God who will judge us and not man (Isaiah 33:22).

When you are reading and confessing the Word, and doing what is good and right in the sight of God, it may seem temporarily painful because you are not doing what your natural inclination may tell you, however if you will hold on, the Word tells us that it will go well for you and your children after you.

Just think, when you are living for God, you are heaping up blessings for you and your children. Remember, God is the faithful God, and He keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9).

My first podcast on ‘What is Joy’ is now available on my website. Please listen and stay tuned for more episodes at: www.blessingcoaching.com