Following God into Victory.

CURRENT RADIO SERIES Best of 2018   CURRENT TV SERIES Lifeworks

“So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. And as soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.” —Psalm 6:20 Before Joshua and the children of Israel could enter the Promise Land there was a huge massive obstacle to overcome. It was a place known as Jericho. Now if you were going to enter into the promises of God, you need to be aware that you will face obstacles. There will be Jerichos in your own life! A Jericho can be anything in your life that says, “Keep out from the blessings of God,” that massive wall that stands between you and what God has given you. Your Jericho could be an aging body. It could be a cancer diagnosis. Your Jericho could be a broken relationship, a broken marriage. Your Jericho could be a fear or worry. God is bringing every one of us to a place of surrender because this is how we win. Before we can defeat our Jericho we must give ourselves unconditionally to Him, unreservedly to Him. A lot of times we want God to be on our side. But the question is not: Is God on my side? The question is: Am I on the Lord’s side? God wants to do something great in your life, but you must surrender to Him and trust Him. What we need to do is get God’s Word, believe it and act on it! Even though the world doesn’t get it, even though some of your friends may not get it, you trust God and watch God work! Our God will lead us to victory if we follow Him! Monday, December 3, 2018 Missed Opportunities by Dr. Paul Chappell “Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” Luke 19:42–44 The fact that there was no room for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem was the result of two factors. First, the town was overcrowded due to the census that required everyone to return to their family’s hometown to register. The more important factor, however, was not that the town was full, but that the people of the town did not recognize what was happening. Any observant Jewish family would have welcomed the Messiah with open arms. However, since He did not come in the fashion they expected, they missed the opportunity to give a birthplace to Jesus. The same pattern followed during His ministry on earth. Though there were some who heard the Good News and believed Jesus was the Messiah, many were looking for a conquering leader who would expel the Romans and restore independence to Israel instead. The message Jesus preached did not satisfy their desires, so they rejected Him, despite the clear evidence of God’s power in the many miracles that He worked and the truth He taught. There are many times God does not do what we expect or want Him to do, but that does not mean He is absent or uncaring. Often He works in ways different than we imagine. If we are bound by our expectations, we may miss a wonderful opportunity God has set before us through a failure to recognize what it is. Today’s Growth Principle:  Do not miss what God is doing because it comes into your life in an unexpected way.