Jul 1, 2024 | Articles
How much does God direct your daily activities? Prayer is the way we communicate with Him, and it can come in many forms depending on purpose, personality, and more. And while I heard about prayer from an early age, I did not receive focused teaching on the relationship aspect of it until my late twenties. I have found that the older I get – and the more I pray – the more my relationship with Jesus continues to grow and evolve. I am continually grateful for the pastor that God led us to in 1997. William Sciscoe walked in the Spirit and taught us to do the same, which prepared us for a greater understanding of spiritual authority. Knowing these concepts have brought clarity to our Kingdom work that we would not have had otherwise.
But today, a few questions are pressing in on my mind. Do we allow Him to direct every step of our days? When I enter my dedicated time of devotion in the mornings, am I asking Him what He wants me to do that day? Or am I asking Him to help me with all the things I have planned. Obviously, unexpected things occur that can waylay our intended tasks. But does Jesus have carte blanche (unconditional authority, or full discretionary power) to order our calendar? If the answer is yes, do we also grant Him the right to speak and redirect our daily plans?
I would like to say that of course, I have always allowed the Lord complete liberty with all things. But some dates on our calendar are set months in advance out of necessity. Is He allowed to simply “walk in and turn everything upside down?” I will confess that several people whom I highly respect, and who are known to walk in the Spirit, have made giving Him this power clearer to me over the last month. I want my relationship with Jesus to be so close that He can reorder whatever He wants, however and whenever He needs, without any pushback whatsoever from me. How else can I be sure I am truly doing what He intends for me each day?
It all comes back to prayer. Jesus, I want your voice to have more clarity than ever before. I know this will come as I dive deeper into my personal time with You. I choose to give you permission to take over everything – even my calendar.
Sister Alphin
Jun 17, 2024 | Articles
There comes a time when God gets tired of His people that want the things and the ways of the world. When that happens, He gives them what they want, but it is not what He wants.
The people of Israel no longer wanted the prophet Samuel to rule over them. They considered him too old and since Samuel’s sons were not walking with God like their father, they decided they wanted a change. However, not all changes are necessarily good changes.
The prophet Samuel was not happy with the people’s request of “Give us a king to be our judge” (I Samuel 8:6), so Samuel did the only thing He knew to do when He had a problem, he prayed unto the Lord:
“And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to the voice of the people and what they say to you: they have not been turned away from you, but they have been turned away from me, not desiring me to be king over them. As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you.” (I Samuel 8:7-8)
God let Samuel know that the people, in reality, were not against him but they were rebelling against God. And so the Lord said to Samuel, “Give ear now to their voice: but make a serious protest to them, and give them a picture of the sort of king who will be their ruler” (verse 9).
God put Samuel down in order to give the people what they wanted, but in so doing, the Lord, through Samuel, let the people know that it was not going to go well for them. Despite the sufferings that would eventually come upon them, the people chose a king who would end up following the ways of the world, rather than a prophet who would get his direction for the people from God Himself.
We must be careful what we desire. If we constantly desire the things that please the flesh and we want to do “what everyone else is doing” and not what God wants us to do, we will find ourselves in a situation where God is not on our side and it will not go well with us.
If we want to protect our minds and hearts and therefore our spiritual life, we need to go to God daily in prayer and let Him search our hearts and remove anything that is not pleasing to Him. Through prayer and the meditation and preaching of the Word of God, we get saved and remain saved.
Always remember, true prayer is to be in harmony with God and with His will. “Lord, not my will or my desires but only Yours.”
Kathleen Pio Arcidiacono
May 7, 2024 | Articles
“I will trust, and not be afraid.” Isaiah 12:2
No matter how dear your friends are, they can fail. No matter how much money you have, you can go broke. No matter how diligently you exercise, you can get sick. Your biggest dream can die. Life is as uncertain as the clouds in the sky. It’s as capricious as the waves of the ocean.
How sad and fearful it is then to be in this ever-changing world without a changeless God! I am so thankful that we have a God with whom there is no variation nor shadow of turning. He doesn’t have shifting moods or bad days.
Our God is the Rock of Ages, and as unchanging as eternity! He is as He has always been and will always be! Forever, He is enthroned in the highest, and forever His Word is established in the heavens. Hallelujah!!!
I remember so well one of the most difficult times in our ministry. The cream of the crop, our potential, very capable and talented leaders in whom we had invested so much in time, in prayer, in teaching, preparing them for a great harvest of souls, walked out on us one Sunday morning. Twenty-nine people gone! Years of our life gone with them! Fear gripped us, paralysed us, the enemy of our soul roared like a lion lying to us that it was over for us and for the church. We might as well pack our bags and go home!
David found himself in a similar situation when he cried out in,
Psalm 56:2-3 “Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me,” but then he quickly realized where his help and encouragement came from: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.”
We sought the Lord, we prayed, we cried, we worked, we encouraged ourselves in the Lord and in the power of His might. He heard our cry and answered our prayer! I believe that prayer is the most powerful force God has given His children.
Today, we have a great revival church with many loyal and anointed leaders. Nothing and no one can stop the church of the living God! Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His promises cannot fail, His presence cannot dim, His power cannot diminish. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory to put our complete trust in our changeless God.
Mar 28, 2024 | Articles
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews
11:1)
Many times man wants to see before believing.That is not the way it should be for us
Christians. Faith is believing in what God has promised before even seeing it come to
pass. Faith is to do what God has asked us to do without the certainty of knowing how it is
going to be. Faith is asking for healing and believing before seeing the results that God
has done. Faith is also accepting God’s “no”. Faith is to ask for a job and then thank God
for the job before ever getting it. Yes, faith is the substance of the things that we hope for,
before we ever see them. It is the unseen evidence.
Faith in God is to trust Him even when God answers differently than what we asked or
hoped for. In Hebrews chapter eleven, what we like to call the chapter of faith, we read that
many Christians suffered for their faith. Many were killed for their faith. Many were tortured
for their faith. And yet, they did not deny God and His power. Why? Because their eyes
were not on things on this earth but on heavenly things, on that destination with Jesus that
is called eternal life.
The Word of God in Philippians 4:6 says:
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known to God.”
I remember a time in my life when me and my husband had a great financial need. One
day while praying, I had a vision where God showed me a huge hand that seemed to
come down out of the sky and in this gigantic hand was a check with the amount of money
we needed written on it. I believed that God had heard my prayer and that one day we
would receive a check with that amount of money. It did not happen the next day. Not even
the next month, or the next year. But years later, when we were wondering when God
would answer this prayer, the answer came in a most unexpected way. God had shown
me and I had believed. In His time it came to pass.
We must have faith in God for our needs and after we have presented our requests to
God, we must thank God for His answer, whatever the answer that He gives us. This is to
have faith in God. This is believing in the unseen evidence of God’s answer. This is faith.
Kathleen Pio Arcidiacono
