The Spiritual Test
We can all remember our school days when we were faced with exams. We spent all day in school-and still we panicked when it came to test time.
Why? Perhaps it's because our time in the classroom was only one part of the learning process. The other part was time at home engaging with the material through homework, worksheets, and flashcards-all designed to prepare us for exams and to make sure we had a grasp of the material and were headed in the…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on November 2, 2009 at 9:55pm —
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Today's Prayer
Dear God, We all make mistakes, all humans that is. We all pay consequences, often not easy to deal with. Some mistakes affect our health, our jobs, our rights, our futures, our comfort, our ministries. They usually touch other people's lives, not just our own. All mistakes give opportunity for life-changing lessons. I pray for anyone and everyone who is spending time with your through this devotional, and for their family members, who have made mistakes and are facing the…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on November 2, 2009 at 9:25pm —
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Dear God, Bless my pastor today, and all the Christian leaders who serve you in the face of challenges each and every day. Make me a blessing to them, to others, and to you. Help me to stand for you, and to support brothers and sisters in Christ everywhere, whether at church, in my neighborhood, workplace, school, or around the world. Provide the means and the knowledge so that I do what is needed and what you desire in ministry to them. In Jesus' name I pray,…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on October 16, 2009 at 12:06am —
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"When Is My Season?"
Is. 30:18 'But GOD'S not finished. He¹s waiting around to be gracious to you.
He¹s gathering strength to show mercy to you. GOD takes the time to do
everything right. Those who wait around for him are the blessed ones.' The
Message
God is not in our time. God does not operate in the the realm that we operate
in. There is really not a set time that God will show up in our situations.
I know our church choirs like to sing songs…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on October 5, 2009 at 1:58am —
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Today's Prayer
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:3-5). Dear Lord, please work through me and guide me so that I will have the mind of Christ in all I do. Help me, that I will not do anything in the flesh and out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on October 5, 2009 at 1:37am —
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"Tempters"
Luke 17:1 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come:
but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone
were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one
of these little ones.
Temptations are sometimes hard to resist. And many times they lead us into
sin or other kinds of calamities. But here, Jesus is addressing the people
that are…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on September 29, 2009 at 10:01pm —
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"According To Your Faith"
Matt. 17:20 'You didn¹t have enough faith,' Jesus told them. 'I assure you,
even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this
mountain, Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be
impossible.' NLT
Sometimes we look at God like he is a man. We put limitations on him and
our expectations sometimes are very shallow when it comes to him. After
all, as far as we see it, it looks impossible…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on September 25, 2009 at 1:56am —
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"Pulling It Down"
2Cor. 10:4 '(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)'
A stronghold is a cave like the one David hid in from his son to protect his life.
It's a cave in the mountain where you could hide and then place a rock in
front of it to disguise it as the mountain. Once you were in there, no one
would know because the rock looked like the mountain. Well, in the spirit
realm,…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on September 25, 2009 at 1:26am —
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"The World May Love You, But God Doesn't Know You!"
Luke 16:15 'Then Jesus said to them, ³You like to look good in public, but
God knows your evil hearts. What this world honors is an abomination in the
sight of God.' NLT
The church, the bible, and our Christianity is nothing to play with. Some
things are just not funny. And the reason being, is that we must keep the
church, the word, and the leaders of the church in a position to change the
world.…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on September 18, 2009 at 12:23am —
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King Solomon and The Wealth Resource
With the instability of today's economy, the pursuit of wealth has seem to become the priority of many. Wealth provides stability and security, that safety net of protection against an unforeseen decline in one's living standard.
Everybody wants to feel safe and secure.
The concept of wealth has varied across time. It can be categorized into three principal categories: personal property (homes or automobiles); income (the…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on September 14, 2009 at 11:57am —
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"Joy Thief"
Neh. 8:10 'And Nehemiah continued, ³Go and celebrate with a feast of choice
foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing
prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don¹t be dejected and sad,
for the joy of the LORD is your strength!'
When God does something good in your life, or uses you to help others, it
makes you feel good. You get a good feeling about yourself and you begin to
feel that you…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on September 11, 2009 at 10:26pm —
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Is There A Mouse In The House?
Most all Christians go through some sort of spiritual warfare in life. The intensity of an attack can temp us to run and hide in fear. Jesus faced several incidents of spiritual warfare during His earthly ministry, such as His encounter with the devil in the wilderness.
Before His ascension into heaven, He descended into hell, took the keys out from Satan's hand, and set captivity free. So why are some of us running in fear from a devil…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on September 1, 2009 at 1:12am —
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Moods
Col. 1:10 That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and adesiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, bacquaintance, and recognition]. AMP
Going to heaven when you die or after we are raptured is a wonderful thing. To be in another dimension with Christ forever has got to be…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on August 27, 2009 at 2:37am —
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A Blossom That Eternally Blooms
A good way to determine how steadfast your faith in Christ is, and how completely you have given your life over to the leading of God's Holy Spirit, is to consider the joyous message we are given in Galatians 5:22 - 25:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on August 19, 2009 at 8:32pm —
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Dare To Pray Boldly
Dare to prophesy every blessing and promise He has for you. Studying what God's word says is crucial to your vision. The Bible says in Psalm 1, "But His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prosper."
You must meditate and constantly think on who God says you are. Make it a mantra…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on July 28, 2009 at 11:34pm —
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Your Testimony Has Power
Elder Marquis Boone
"And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word." John 4:39-41 (NKJV)
Recently I was sitting and having a conversation with one of my spiritual sons, Curtis Smith, and we began to talk…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on July 23, 2009 at 12:51am —
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Today's Prayer
Dear God, Thank you for your beautiful words of life, your Holy Bible full of wisdom, examples, guidance, instruction, promises, enlightenment, and life-giving knowledge. Thank you that your Word is such an encouragement at times, and a chastisement at other times. It helps me find answers to life questions that arise and gives me peace when I am confused. It teaches me about your power and love and reinforces the importance of following Jesus, my Savior, and of being a…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on July 13, 2009 at 12:12am —
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Today's Prayer
For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. ~ Psalm 91:11-12. God, this is one of my favorite comforts from Your Word. I pray and trust that You will command Your angels concerning me, my family, my friends, my pastors and their families, that through Your power and Your command guardian angels will be round about to protect us and lift us up so that…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on June 22, 2009 at 10:15am —
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Reading the Word
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
A lot of times, we are weak or get into trouble because we believe the wrong things. Many believers
today are in bondage to sin because they were taught wrong. The bible is the best teacher. Sure, God
gives us a Pastor to watch over us, but not to Lord over us. The pastor prays for us and covers us…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on June 17, 2009 at 3:47pm —
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13 Ways to Pursue More of Jesus
Every day presents a fresh opportunity to pursue a closer relationship with Jesus – and the more you have of Jesus in your life, the better your life will be. So don’t settle for just occasional encounters with Jesus in some parts of your life. Keep pursuing more of Jesus until your whole life is saturated with His power.
Here's how you can pursue more of Jesus:
Go for the maximum, not the minimum. Choose to go…
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Added by Minister Carolyn Melvin on June 12, 2009 at 9:50am —
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