Keep the Faith Now

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Restore Scripture "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me." Psalms 51:12 NIV David was a man who definitely journaled and talked to God this is why we have the psalms today. In his brokenness of admitting his sin he pens these words unto to the Lord. He starts out by crying out to God to have mercy upon, according to His unfailing love and great compassion, with that to please blot out his transgressions to wash away all of his iniquity and cleanse him from his sin. Sin leaves us ripped and broken. Ripped and torn in our wants, pleasure vs. God's will. Broken when we fail to choose the latter and needing His grace to bring us back into the previous state we were in our hearts and minds wth Him. Sin interrupts experiencing the joy we had in receiving salvation how special it was, how excited we were the joy was so great it was hard to contain, but in our walk we fall and during those ...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Reconcile Scripture "and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by mean's of Christ blood on the cross." Colossians 1:20 NLT We were God's enemies separated from Him by our evil thoughts and actions. Yet He reconciled us to Himself with the physical death of His Son Jesus Christ, as a result of this, He brought us into His presence to clear the record make us holy, blameless, cleared of all charges, without a single fault. God's justice requires full settlement of the debt, instead of being a debt collector, He forgave the debt in His Son's blood. It pleased God to reconcile us, for while in sin without any admittance of wrong doing towards God He was already making peace with everything. To reconcile us was a deal already established in heaven by the Father and Son, this arrangement was pre-planned to bring the world back into harmony and unity with ...

S. E.E.D. For Today___ Grace Scripture "Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard, and all need to be made right with God by His grace, which is a free gift." Romans 3:23-24a New Century Vision This is the gift from God that through Jesus Christ men are made free from sin. God sent Him to die in our place to take away our sins, to receive forgiveness through faith in the blood of Jesus death. "But the scripture declares that whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe." (Gal.3:22) Grace is the gift of God, we were all doomed but God grants us this unmerited favor and bestow us with His great love and justifies us with the life of His only begotten Son. When we think of this it is rather hard to fathom because of how we are and the world in which we live but it's true. While in sin God gave Jesus to take on our debt and gave us grac...

S E.E.D. For Today___ Grace Scripture "Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard, and all need to be made right with God by His grace, which is a free gift." Romans 3:23-24a New Century Vision This is the gift from God that through Jesus Christ men are made free from sin. God sent Him to die in our place to take away our sins, to receive forgiveness through faith in the blood of Jesus death. "But the scripture declares that whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe." (Gal.3:22) Grace is the gift of God, we were all doomed but God grants us this unmerited favor and bestow us with His great love and justifies us with the life of His only begotten Son. When we think of this it is rather hard to fathom because of how we are and the world in which we live but it's true. While in sin God gave Jesus to take on our deb...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Glory Scripture "Arise shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you." Isaiah 60:1 NIV Light is the metaphor for salvation and spiritual awakening, it appears that right now the world is a dark, evil and gloomy place, full of distress and confusion. We need God to shine His light which He will and send revival to our worn torn land. Sin will not hinder God's ability to shine on us, He has already through Christ overcome sin and we are depending on God's transforming glory to rise upon every nation. God is the initiator in relationship with His people and without that God's will would never be accomplished. Right now we are suffocating amongst the darkness and unbelief that covers our world but God will arise for His glory will be seen upon His people. It's time for us to wake up for our light has come. God let Your glory reign upon Your people and send us a sign of Your favor upon us, let u...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Daily Bread Scripture " Give us this day our daily bread" Matthew 6:11 ESV The Lord's Prayer is not a long prayer, but the petitions are so full of what it is that we should come to God for day and night. The beginning of the prayer admonishes and honors the Father, the request of the activity of heaven to operate in this realm, but then it goes to the physical or the human nature and necessities of man. The daily bread is not just about our daily provision and trusting God for it, but in it is so much more. In this command we metaphorically become bread as well because this prayer is a way that God uses us to build a mutuality between one another. He commands us to pray, give us, not give me. Every time we pray this prayer we are affirming our solidarity with our brothers and sisters, we commit ourselves to be part of God's answer for other's in need. I studied a commencement speech given by Arch Bishop William, his ke...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Devotion Scripture "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a loyal spirit within me. Psalms 51:10 NLT David's sins had affected his whole person, his eyes, his mind, his ear and bones, his heart and spirit, his hands and his lips. David knew this, so he asks for more than cleansing, he wanted his entire being to be restored so he could be totally devoted, acceptable to the Lord. David understood that the  inner person the heart was the source of his trouble and that he was incapable of changing his heart on his own. He wanted God to cleanse him and to give him a spirit of devotion that in his heart he would not waver in his ways towards God. David loved God and knew God was faithful to him no matter what and he did not want to lose the blessing and help of the Holy Spirit. David's devotion unto God was true and relentless to him. Often times the hopelessness of human nature can break our devotion and honor unto God. It miss...

S.E.E.D. For Today____ Value Scripture "Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it." Matthew 13:45-46 NLT As humans we are not easily wearied with renewed prospects of gain. Jesus knew that the love of earthly things is deeply rooted in our hearts so in a parable he impressed our minds with better things. He repeatedly impressed His Gospel under great stories of obtaining. In what respects the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a pearl. The Kingdom of Heaven is the kingdom of grace established in the world, and the Kingdom is of inestimable value to us. When a person finds this treasure they will give whatever it takes to keep it. The Kingdom of God is of such great value that it is worth relinquishing everything a person has to enter into it. Today as Christians we don't treat the Kingdom for what it's worth. It appears th...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ We Scripture "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil." Ecclesiastes 4:9a ESV Solomon's experience with the independent man caused him to consider the importance of friendship and the value of people doing things together. Team work definitely makes the dream work, because two workers can get more done even if they share the profits, they still get a better return for their efforts than if they had worked alone. In the 2016 playoffs Le Bron James and his team were able to break the 52 year old curse and achieve redemption for Cleveland. Using the "we" philosophy they were able to smote the demon and I quote. It is said that most in sports have a me mindset and that the team had a "we" mindset . We stretches further than his house, than his locker room. Its we that the kids are watching, it's we that kids that grow like me struggle for their next meal. It's we, being a you...

S.E.E.D. For Today__ Vision Scripture "The eye is a light for the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if you are evil, your whole body will be full of darkness." Matthew 6:22 New Century Version Jesus previously in scripture lets us know that where ever your treasure there is your heart. The images that we see can be healthy or unhealthy for our lives. Today's church is filled with materialism and narcissism. In a book by Os Guniness called the Gravedigger Files says this very well; " with spiritual narcissism so well advanced, firm believer is a matter of aerobics rather than apologetics, of human fitness rather than divine faithfulness. Shapeliness is now next to godliness, and judge by the new shape-up-centers in Christian stores training righteous character has given way to trimming the right curves." So has the church become a shape-up center, because of our eye? Jesus gives a metaphor of treasure ...

S.E.E.D.   For Today___ Rain or Shine Scripture "He causes His sun to shine on good and on evil people, and He sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong." Matthew 5:45 New Century Version In this Jesus is commanding a love without limits, that loves everyone regardless of their circumstance. Especially in the culture that we live in today everyone and everything is judged before they are loved. The bible tells us in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to die for them. When He could have judged us He loved us in our sinful state. If we practiced this type of love we could change our communities forever. Jesus ordered us to love like this, for two reasons, one because it is what makes us like God, when the sun rises it shines on both the righteous and the unrighteous and it rains on both as well, God is not partial in His love and provision towards any of us. The second reason is that this love distinguishes us from...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Ambassadors Scripture "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us." 2 Corinthians 5:20a NIV The nature of the Apostle Pauls ministry is that of being an ambassador for Christ, through him God makes his appeal to the people, and so are we who have been given the task of reconciling others to God have also become ambassadors of which God makes His appeal through us. We are sent to conclude the message of peace to the world. Our world is in a crisis, whenever their is crisis accredited diplomats are sent by a country as it's official representatives to a foreign country to bring about reconciliation between all parties involved. We are promoters of peace, love and hope, not judgment. This ministry of reconciliation is not telling people to make peace with God but that God has made peace with the world, so the gospel is not good advice but it is good news. As diplomats of the Kingdom of God we have b...

S.E.E.D. For Today__ Forged Scripture "No weapon forged against you will be effective. This is the heritage of the Lord's servants, and their righteousness from me, says the Lord." Who's report shall we believe. The enemy of our soul has infinitely been sending terroristic thought threats for years hindering our walk with God. Let the people of God, the afflicted and troubled, think they hear God speaking comfortably to them giving notice to all their griefs and fears. The day is coming when God will reckon with the enemy of your soul. Security and final victory are the heritage of the faithful servant of God. The Creator will be our Defender, and who can defeat Him? We must be on guard against every word or thought that comes against the report of the Lord. Many seek instruction during the time of emergency and trouble, they appeal to astrology, antiquities and stories, things of many kind, but they are not effective enough to counterattack ...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Peace Scripture "Live in peace with each other." Romans 12:9-18  New Century Version "Your love must be real. Hate what is evil and hold on to what is good. Love each other like brothers and sisters. Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves. Be patient when trouble comes, and pray at all times. Wish good for those who harm you, wish them well and do not curse them. Be happy with those who are happy and sad with those who are sad. Do your best to live in peace with everyone."  The Gospel calls us to pursue the virtues of peace and love, both for Christians and those who oppose the gospel. Our lives are to demonstrate what Christ looks like. Along the journey of life we have lost the ability to cherish one another. We are not to compete with one another but to promote one another. Give up our big talk about ourselves and put our focus on some one else.  We are accountable to obey the Words of God. Example Pea...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Safety Scripture "God is our safe place and our strength. He is always our help when we are in trouble." Psalms 46:1 New Life Version In light of all that is going on in our world God is the most dependable person we know. Murder, and violence plague our city's and nothing seems to be safe anymore. When everything seems to be falling apart God is our safety, our refuge from the storms of life. He doesn't protect us in order to pamper us, He shelter's us so He can strengthen us to go back to life with it's duties and dangers. Trouble describes people who are in tight places in a corner and unable to get out, but we are not to be afraid. The earth may change and things will be in utter chaos, but in the Lord we have safety. Though everything around us and in us seems to be restless, God is in control. God is our safe place, in His will, in His hands He got the whole world, He formed it, shaped it, created it, and man co...

S.E.E.D. For Today__ Grant Scripture "One day Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up." Luke 18:1 NLT The story was about an unjust judge who had no fear of God nor did he care about people. There was a widow who consistently came to him for justice in a dispute with her enemy. The judge ignored  repeatedly until he said to himself I don't care about God or people but this woman is driving me crazy because she never stops coming and asking me to do something, she is wearing me out, I will grant her request. Jesus wanted the disciples to understand that the woman's tenacity in coming to the judge moved even the judge that didn't care about God or people how do you think that God will surely give justice to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? He will grant your request quickly! How many will the Son Of Man find on the earth who have faith? Prayer is the...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Storm Rider Scripture "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress; He made the storm be still," Psalms 107:28-29a Revised Standard Version Being captive to something or someone is like being on a boat in a terrible storm. In this psalm the Jews were not sea familiar but the Phoenicians were. The people were in trouble because of their rebellion towards God, but the sailors didn't cause the storm. The crew had used every device they knew to save the ship, but to no avail so they prayed. Prayer gives you the ability to ride the storm because it summons God to show up. Yesterday we had a brief but powerful storm rip through the tri-state area. Trees were ripped out of the ground and many lost power. In my area we lost power and everyone wanted to know are you going to stay there? How appropriate an opportunity to pray. The effects of storms being tossed to and fro can cause one to ...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Praying and Fasting Scripture " But this Kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." Matthew 17:21 Amplified Version of the Bible The disciples had been given the authority to cast out demons and to heal but they had not yet learned effectively how to appropriate the power God had given them. Jesus frustration with the unbelieving and unequipped generation is merely a reflection of the state of the disciples life today. The disciples though walking with the Lord did not have the faith required to deal with this great difficulty that plagued this man's son. Faith must be present to deal with mountainous difficulties. Many times people pray for others with their own abilities because they lack the power of God. Some trouble is more perplexed than others and requires more dependence upon God. Prayer and fasting alone may not accomplish a miracle but faith, discipline, and humility give us hope of producing results. It is h...

S.E.E.D . For Today___ Consistent Scripture " Never Stop Praying" I Thessalonians 5:17 NLT Most of us our daily routines are habit forming, we automatically do what we do consistently because  it's vital. For many the routine is work, out of need we go to jobs we like and don't like because it is a means for provision. Often we never build habits of prayer until something awful forces us to our knees. A huge part of our Christian responsibility is that we pray, not always speaking of prayer but an attitude of prayer, an constant attitude of being in God's presence. As believer's we must be mindful to cultivate a spirit of constant devotion, in humble submission and dependence on God. Our neighborhoods and our neighbors, our families, and our friends need us who are in relationship with God to remain close to Him. The world is in trouble and in need of God's help, though we have shifted from that direction we that have been called ou...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Pray Scripture " Then if my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT God is faithful to His intent for an authentic relationship with His people. His intent is that we will seek Him and not another. Just as Israel we are always in the midst of needing God as our hope. God offers fallen Israel hope in the middle of their drought, crop devastation, or plague because of their constant rebellion against God. God's acts of mercy and grace are in such a way that it intends to turn the hearts of His people to Himself. If necessary He will shut down all means of support because He yearns for a relationship with us that is reciprocated. God is seeking out seekers those who truly want and need Him, the Chronicles describe the true seeker, 1) They must hu...

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Reconciliation Scripture " But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence--" Colossians 1:22 Berean Study Bible Holiness is not an option for a believer there is no other recourse for us it is the result from the remedy of reconciliation. Eugene Peterson interprets it in this manner in the Message Bible he writes; " You yourselves are a case study of what He does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God thinking rebellious thoughts of Him, giving Him trouble by every chance you got. But by now giving Himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in His presence. You don't walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in the bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted....

S.E.E.D. For Today___ Holy Nation Scripture "But You Are A Chosen People, Royal Priest, A Holy Nation, A People For God's Own Possession." I Peter 2:9 New Century Version Peter writes applying the identification to the people of the new covenant in Christ. The identity of Christian believers are associated with their role as royal priest and a holy nation. In the Old Testament the priesthood involved being sanctified and set apart from the people at large for their ministry in obedience and holiness unto God. In the New Covenant that God has with us today that we have received through His Son Jesus Christ, we now live with this inescapable identity. Royal modifies to us that God is King and that as subjects of this Kingdom we must think of ourselves as holy as it relates to the world, set apart to practice freedom from adulteration and contamination, and for the purpose of God. Royal and Holy describes the nature of our relationship to the Father, we are ...

S.E.E.D. For Today____ Holy Scripture "But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy." I Peter 1:15-16   NIV "Therefore prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance." God commands us to be holy in our behavior simply because He is holy. The standard of holiness must be God's standard and we must seek to live up to that. The formula for holy living is not that we are perfect but the total commitment of our self to God. It's our heartfelt response to the Lord's mercy and grace. Our holy lifestyle is according to biblical standards and not the lifestyle of the world. This does not come without hard work and a tight level of discipline, though challenging it must be developed in us. Example The Hebrew word for ...