Growing in the Spirit

5 Days of MORNING ENCORAGEMENT

 Pastor Sparkman Helps Get Our Day Started Off Right!

BE Blessed!

Monday

Hello and Good Monday morning, family. As we begin our new Monday remember that what lies behind us and what lies in front of us, is nothing in comparison to the spirit that is inside of us.” I wake and rise this morning thankful, encouraged and reassured knowing and believing that the power within us is stronger than anything that confronts us. “Hebrews 2:4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will.” There’s no power like God’s power!

Tuesday

Good morning, God has blessed and favored us with another new Tuesday, family. Allow this Tuesday to be a reminder of God’s faithfulness throughout the week. May His blessings be a source of encouragement and inspiration for us. I wake and rise today thankful, excited and reassured knowing and believing that great is his faithfulness! “2. Lamentations 3:22–23 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases. His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.” Without faith we cannot please Him!

Wednesday

It’s a beautiful morning, Family. God has blessed and favored us with a new Wednesday! Wednesday is a day for us to be motivated and use our energy of the week to move us towards what God has planned for us. I wake and rise today thankful, encouraged and motivated knowing and believing that our strength comes from the Lord. “Psalms 121:2 My strength comes from GOD, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.” When we are weak, He is our strength!

Thursday

Good morning, Family. God has blessed and favored us with a new Thursday. This is a day for us, to leave our worries behind and look forward to the possibilities of God’s blessings ahead! I wake and rise today thankful, and encouraged knowing and believing that to move forward we have to move from where we’ve been. “Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Try Him and Trust Him!

Friday

Good and blessed Friday morning, Family. As we rise and shine this Friday morning, may our to-do list be accomplished, and our path to the weekend be smooth. I wake and rise this new Friday thankful, encouraged and excited knowing and believing that God blesses our finish before he blesses our beginning. “Isaiah 46:10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.” God guides us and declares the end before the beginning!

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In A Search to Better Understand the Biblical Context for the Conflict in the Middle East I Found this:

Do you wonder why the Arabs and Jews are always in conflict?

Here is your answer.

In Genesis 12, God tells Abraham to leave his country and go to the land God would show him (the land of Canaan - our present day Israel).

In Genesis 12:2-3, God tells Abraham he will become a great nation (Israel). That whoever blesses him will be blessed and who ever curses him will be cursed.

In Genesis 12:6-7, God promises Abraham his offspring will be given the land of Canaan. (present day Israel)

Genesis 13:14-17 God shows Abraham the land and promises his descendants will have it forever. Also, Abraham's descendants will be too numerous to count.

Wife, Sarah, is barren. Genesis 11:30

God promises a son from Abraham's body.

(In those days, if you didn't have an heir, your servant became the heir. Or, a maidservant would produce an heir with the master if the wife was barren.

Genesis 16, Sarah gives Abraham her maidservant, Hagar, to bear him a son.

She becomes pregnant with Ishmael.

Conflict arises between Sarah and Hagar. Sarah kicks pregnant Hagar out and into the desert.

God finds Hagar and tells her to return to Sarah's household and submit to her.

Hagar is promised her descendants will be too numerous to count. Hagar is to name her son Ishmael; he will be a "wild donkey of a man" and his hand will be against everyone. (Genesis 16:9-12)

Genesis 17:19, God promises Abraham a son will come from Sarah's body and Abraham is to call him, Isaac.

This is the "promised" son God told Abraham would come from his body. 

The land of Canaan, present day Israel, was promised to Abraham's descendants through the promised son, Isaac.

The Arabs are descended from Ishmael.  The Jews are descended from Isaac.

The Arabs believe it is their land but it truly belongs to the descendants of Isaac.

Because Sarah and Abraham relied on their own logic rather than God's miraculous power to produce a son from a barren wife, we have this conflict today. - author unknow-

PRAY FOR PEACE

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Dr. Grace!!

Dr. Grace Miranda, Ed.D, CSC

Principal, Generation and Culture Expert

Maximizing Leadership Solutions LLC

Stays in the Valley

“For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring” (Isaiah 44:3, CSB).

As Oprah says, “One thing I know for sure is,” that during our lifetime we will experience times in the valley. However, as believers in Christ we must remember He will continue to provide for and bless us and our children and their children.

 I just witnessed my mom’s only son and the baby of the family make his exit out of the valley. He transitioned two months ago after a fight with cancer. Four years before the cancer diagnosis my brother suffered a massive stroke that damaged a substantial portion of each side of his brain that left him unable to return to work. My brother’s stay in the valley provided us with time to reflect on life and how we should spend our time. We learned the value of being more grateful, kind, and loving human beings. Time spent on anything other than that is a total waste. In addition, we learned that instead of focusing on the dryness of valley, we should focus on the water that God provides when needed. God has promised help for the challenging times that we would face. We would all be wise to explore them while we wait to make our exit from the valley trips.

Choosing a Kingdom

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33).

When I think of kingdoms I think of God’s kingdom and the World’s kingdom. It is my belief that if we are not building one, we are by default building the other. The world is bombarding us with stuff. Who does not have a house full of stuff? Everything is at our fingertips, luring us into buying things we do not need and doing things that does nothing to help us partner with God to build His kingdom here on earth. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, …and love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31, CSB). I believe this is the most crucial way to build God’s kingdom and unmask the lies of the World’s kingdom.

 I advocate we ponder the mandate in Titus 2:3-7 for older women and men to model for the younger women and men. Titus says older women are to be reverent in behavior to disciple and teach younger women to love their husband and children and to be self-controlled. Men are to be self-control and worthy of respect and encourage young men to be the same. Each are to be examples of good works with integrity and dignity in their teaching. In verse twelve he says. “…live in a sensible, righteous and godly way in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” I believe if we apply Jesus’s command and Titus teachings, God’s kingdom would be evident here on earth.

-Grace-

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-author unkown-

Such is LIFE

Life is an incredible expedition of discovery and growth. The road is different for everyone and each of us has to experience it in our own way. For some the path is colored with more than an average share of uphill climbs and challenges. Others seem to always get the easy breaks and routinely are in the right place at the right time. But what we often fail to see is the path is never perfect for anyone. Every journey is marked with periods of highs, lows and in betweens. At the start there’s no way to predict which route will be yours, but with God’s help, prayerfully, it’s one that carries you through the deep trenches of the valleys to again reach higher ground. Whatever your path, life is much more joyous with God by your side. His presence is constant and reliable. He is readily available to help, you just have to call on Him. Through every turn of the seasons, we learn, grow and change. It’s a process which, over time, molds and shapes us into the people we become. The good as well as the bad have a place in our development. When we learn from, rather than become defeated by the difficult seasons, our growth can be fruitful and flourish.

Pay attention, there are lessons to be learned every day. Take your lessons from the mundane as well as the significant. There’s a reason and a place for all of it!

  - K-

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Meditation Moment      

A Life of Prayer

Take a moment to think about the habit of prayer in your life. Is prayer a regular part of your life, or is it something you don’t really pay attention to?

As Paul is closing out his letter to the church in Colossae, one of the things he reminds them of is the importance of prayer. For Paul, prayer is more than just asking God for what he needs. Prayer is the way Paul’s energy and ministry is sustained. Prayer is a source of God’s power for Paul.

He asks the Colossians not only to engage in prayer, but to be devoted to it. Paul understood that if the mission of God was to be effective through them, they needed to be devoted to talking to God about every aspect of life.

This means they not only needed to spend time in prayer for a few minutes in the morning, but they needed to make prayer a part of their entire day.

Paul tells the church to be devoted to prayer, being watchful and thankful. These are two aspects of prayer that we can engage in as well.

The first is being watchful or discerning of what’s happening in your life. We can ask the Holy Spirit to help us discern what God is doing in and around us, to make us aware of His work. Second, we can use our time in prayer to worship God through thanksgiving and gratitude.

Prayer is a vital aspect of the Christian life. Spend some time not only praying to God, but thinking through how you can make prayer a central part of your spiritual life.

-author unknown-

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