Daily Devotional By Archbishop Foley Beach

The Holy Spirit, God’s Personal Relationship Presence, Is Our Life’s Ultimate Counselor and Helper – the Creator of the Universe

The Holy Spirit, God’s Personal Relationship Presence, Is Our Life’s Ultimate Counselor and Helper – the Creator of the Universe

MESSAGE SUMMARY:  Your relationship with God is a continuous and not a one-time event; therefore, followers of Jesus are to be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit, as we are told in Acts 2:3-4: “And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.". We should ask the Lord to fill us with the Holy Spirit every day. You need the continuous refreshing of the Holy Spirit because YOU are a broken vessel – you sin; you get tired; you work hard; you act stupid; and you rebel against God. Be filled with the Holy Spirit now – filled in this moment of the present. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, the presence of God in our lives in a personal relationship, provides us with the ultimate counselor and helper in our life – the Creator of the Universe. Do you ask the Holy Spirit to fill you every day to experience the continuous power of God’s gift?

 

 

TODAY’S PRAYER: Lord, I relate to Peter’s headstrong nature, and to his struggle to understand what you were telling him. It is difficult for me to understand how you are running the universe and my place in it. Transform my stubborn will, O Lord. Teach me to wait on you. Help me to trust you. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 95). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Insensitivity. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit’s fruit of Gentleness. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Ephesians 5:21; Acts 2:1-4; 1 Peter 4:1-6; Psalms 31b:13-24.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 4 – One God, Not Three” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Jesus Followers Have, Are, and Will Face Derision, Persecution, and Death; But God Addresses “Impossible” Situations and Transforms Lives

Jesus Followers Have, Are, and Will Face Derision, Persecution, and Death; But God Addresses “Impossible” Situations and Transforms Lives

MESSAGE SUMMARY: The Apostles did not get into their life roles, after Jesus Resurrection and Ascension, without much grief and anguish; but Jesus transformed their lives. God addresses impossible situations in our lives, too; and then He transforms our lives, through His grace, into something of beauty. Jesus' Cross was an impossible situation, but now we view the Cross as a sign of triumph -- our triumph as believers and followers of Jesus! In John 10:27-30, Jesus succinctly describes how He transforms the lives of those that follow Him: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”. Additionally, in today’s uncertainties and fears and with the new and uncharted paths that our life today demands that we follow, Paul, in Colossians 1:5-6, gives us hope through God’s Grace and the Gospel: “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth".

 

TODAY’S PRAYER: Father, when I think about my losses, it can feel like I have no skin to protect me. I feel raw, scraped to the bone. Looking at Job and Jesus helps, but I must admit that I struggle to see something new being birthed out of the old. Enlarge my soul through the trials and losses of my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.        Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 101). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Inadequacy. Rather, I will abide in the Lord’s Abundance. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Colossians 1:5-6; John 11:25-26; John 10:14-18; Psalms 31a:1-12.

WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 4 – One God, Not Three”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Discussions Today Are Void of Respect About Anything; Therefore, Jesus Followers Are Called to Lift Others Up with Praise and Encouragement

Discussions Today Are Void of Respect About Anything; Therefore, Jesus Followers Are Called to Lift Others Up with Praise and Encouragement

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Be humble, gentle, and patient bearing with one another in love. Your “calling” by Jesus is to love one another; to lift each other up; and to praise and to encourage one another. How often, in the church, do we get our feathers ruffled and start “acting like a bunch of turkeys”? Too many of us “are not responding to God’s call”; but we “are doing our duty”. After all, isn’t just “doing our duty” what we have been taught? Paul succinctly defines our obligations as a follower of Jesus in Ephesians 4:31-32: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.". Our service to God is more than service or obligation (i.e., “duty”). Your “calling” should be to respond to Jesus’ call by emulating Jesus in your life.

 

TODAY’S PRAYER: Lord, everything in me resists following you into the garden of Gethsemane to fall on my face to the ground before you. Grant me the courage to follow you all the way to the cross, whatever that might mean for my life. And then, by your grace, lead me to resurrection life and power. In Jesus’ name, amen.   Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 100). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that, because I am in Jesus Christ, I will live as Jesus would (Philippians 1:27). “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”. (Philippians 4:14).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 6:14-15; Psalms 130:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Psalms 30:1-12.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 4 – One God, Not Three”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Jesus Followers Must Meet Jesus’ Expectation of His “Great Commission” By Both “Going” and “Making Disciples”

Jesus Followers Must Meet Jesus’ Expectation of His “Great Commission” By Both “Going” and “Making Disciples”

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Jesus, in Luke 15:4-7, tells us, through His Parable of The Lost Sheep, the importance to God of our discipleship: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.".

Immediately before His Ascension into Heaven Jesus told the Apostles and us today, in His Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, that as we go into our communities and into all parts of the world, we are to make disciples: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”. We must begin, as followers of Jesus, to meet His fundamental expectation for us by both going and making disciples!

 

TODAY’S PRAYER: Abba Father, I open my clenched fists to surrender everything you have given to me. Reestablish my identity in you — not in my family, my work, my accomplishments, or what others think of me. Cleanse the things in me that are not conformed to your will. By faith I unite my will to yours so that the likeness of Jesus Christ may be formed in me. In his name, amen.         Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 85). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Compulsions. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit’s fruit of Patience. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 28:18-20; Matthew 10:16; Matthew 16:24-28; Psalms 29:1-11

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 4 – One God, Not Three”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Jesus Followers Are Sinners Who Have a Savior Because “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners . . .”; Is Jesus Your Savior Too?

Jesus Followers Are Sinners Who Have a Savior Because “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners . . .”; Is Jesus Your Savior Too?

MESSAGE SUMMARY: We are all sinners, but we now have a Savior – Jesus. As Paul tells us, in 1 Timothy 1:15-16, that the Gospel provides Salvation for all followers of Jesus, including the worst of sinners -- Paul: “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.". Also, Paul, in 1 Timothy 2:3b-6, further points out that God wants all of us to be saved by His Grace through Jesus if we only, as sinners like Paul, reach out to bring Jesus into our lives: “God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”. It is only because of Jesus the Christ that we receive the healing that we need. “I am a sinner who now has a Savior – do you”?

 

 

TODAY’S PRAYER: Abba Father, I open my clenched fists to surrender everything you have given to me. Reestablish my identity in you — not in my family, my work, my accomplishments, or what others think of me. Cleanse the things in me that are not conformed to your will. By faith I unite my will to yours so that the likeness of Jesus Christ may be formed in me. In his name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 85). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Loneliness. Rather, I will abide in the Lord’s Presence. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): 1 Timothy 1:15-17; 1 Timothy 2:3b-6; 2 Timothy 1:8-12; Psalms 89a:1-13.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 4 – One God, Not Three”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

God Sees Jesus Followers as “In Christ”: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”

God Sees Jesus Followers as “In Christ”: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”

MESSAGE SUMMARY: As Followers of Jesus, we are "In Christ" -- God looks at us and sees Jesus in us. Throughout the Epistles we find: "In Christ" or "In Him". In Galatians 3:14, Paul tells us that our faith in Jesus makes us “In Christ” and recipients of God’s Covenant with Abraham: “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.". Also, Paul goes even further, in Galatians 3:25-28, to tell us that, through our faith in Jesus, we no longer need any kind of intermediary because we are “In Christ” and we have a personal relationship with God, the Creator of the Universe: “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”. The benefit our position "In Christ", as Christians, is that when God looks at us, He sees Jesus, the Son; therefore, He then sees us as His sons and daughters.

 

 

TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen.    Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Romans 3:21-26; Romans 6:5-11; Romans 6:22-23; Psalms 77a:1-10.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 4 – One God, Not Three” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/   

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

The Faith of Christians, Churches, and Nations Can Be Tested and Doubts Arise in Today’s World; However, God Is Faithful and Will Not Forsake You

The Faith of Christians, Churches, and Nations Can Be Tested and Doubts Arise in Today’s World; However, God Is Faithful and Will Not Forsake You

MESSAGE SUMMARY: God will never leave you or forsake you. Even when difficulties arise and you are tempted to walk away from your faith, God will not leave you. When you are tempted to doubt God, remember that God is faithful. When the Apostles questioned Jesus about faith and prayer, Jesus told the Apostles, in Mathew 21:21-22, that your faith is powerful and that God will respond to your faith: “And Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.’”. Hold, unswervingly, to the hope and faith you profess because God, who promised us, is faithful. While you are endeavoring to hold onto your faith in God and Jesus’ Gospel, you need to always remember the faithfulness of God, even in those times in which you may be doubting or questioning your faith. Do not give up your faith!

 

TODAY’S PRAYER: Lord, fill me with the simple trust that even out of the most awful evil around me, you are able to bring great good — for me, for others, and for your great glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.     Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 91). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because I am in Jesus Christ, I will seek God’s perspective on my situation. For I know that in all things God works together for good to those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose. From Romans 8:28

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Psalms 91:1-10; Mathew 28:16-20; Mathew 6:25-34; Psalms 18b:11-20.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 3 – Incomplete Finished Work” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Pray for One Another in Our Race Issues and Go Make a Difference in Our Communities; Jesus Followers Are Here for Times Like This

Pray for One Another in Our Race Issues and Go Make a Difference in Our Communities; Jesus Followers Are Here for Times Like This

MESSAGE SUMMARY: With regards to our race issues, it will NOT be through political parties, rallies, elections, slogans, or marches that our attitudes and practices are changed or the souls of our nations are converted. Rather, the deep change, which we all need, will only be through a spiritual awakening. This spiritual awakening will come only from repentance – the turning away from our sin and toward God and his righteous ways in Jesus Christ. As Jesus commanded us in John 5:12: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”. Also, in John 13:34-35, Jesus commanded us: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”. Jesus’ “one another” is all inclusive and not just those that look like you and/or of your culture.

The Bible makes it unequivocally clear that we are all made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27): “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”.  You can start real “racial change” right where you are -- in your own heart first and then in your own relationship with God. At that point, you can then lead the change your own community -- one person at a time; one relationship at a time; and one act a time. You can reach out and build a relationship with someone different than you. However, doing nothing is no longer an option for us.

Let us pray for one another about these things and let us get out and make a difference in our local communities. God has placed us here for such a time as this.

 

TODAY’S PRAYER: Lord, fill me with the simple trust that even out of the most awful evil around me, you are able to bring great good — for me, for others, and for your great glory. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 91). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Inconsistencies. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit’s fruit of Faithfulness. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Genesis 1:27; Revelation 7:1-17; Ephesians 2:19; John.13:35; Galatians 6:2; Romans 12:15; Psalms 103:12; Isiah 1:18.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 3 – Incomplete Finished Work” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

God Is Focused a Jesus Follower’s Heart, and He Changes Their Thinking and Attitude Through a Change in Their Heart

God Is Focused a Jesus Follower’s Heart, and He Changes Their Thinking and Attitude Through a Change in Their Heart

MESSAGE SUMMARY: God makes you a new creation through your new heart created by an indwelling of the Holy Spirit in your life. God is interested in your heart, and He wants you to have a righteous heart– God changes your thinking and your attitude through a change in your heart. In Romans 8:26-27, Paul describes the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Followers resulting in a new person, with a new heart, in Jesus: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.". As a Jesus Follower, you are salt and light, comes from your righteousness – not just in deed and appearance but, also, in your inner person -- your heart.

 

TODAY’S PRAYER: Unclutter my heart, O God, until I am quiet enough to hear you speak out of the silence. Help me in these few moments to stop, to listen, to wait, to be still, and to allow your presence to envelop me. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 23). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Inadequacy. Rather, I will abide in the Lord’s Abundance. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Proverbs 3:1-7; Romans 2:29; Romans 8:26-28; Psalms 18a:1-10.

WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 3 – Incomplete Finished Work”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

When the Bottom Falls Out in Your Life, Ask God to Get Involved Through Prayer AND Thanks – You will Be Amazed!

When the Bottom Falls Out in Your Life, Ask God to Get Involved Through Prayer AND Thanks – You will Be Amazed!

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Sometimes the bottom falls out in your life, and you wonder where God is in all your stuff. Well, the challenge to you is to “Thank God” by turning your eyes away from all your life’s “stuff” and turning your eyes to God and thanking Him! We have no better teacher, of the need to address God with our thanks, than when, in Luke11:2, Jesus responded to His Disciples’ request to teach them to pray: “And he said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.’". By taking your situation to God in prayer AND thanks, you will be amazed at what will happen to your situation which, before you asked God through prayer AND thanks, seemed insurmountable. What do you usually do? You worry and fret – you focus on the negative and give the adverse situation so much power, in your life, rather than focusing on God and giving Him thanks. In Mathew 6:34, Jesus tells you not to be anxious about your life situations: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.". Ask God to get involved in your life through prayer and thanks – you will be amazed.

 

TODAY’S PRAYER: Lord, may your will, not my will, be done in my life. You know how easy it is to call myself a Christian but then become busy, forgetting about your will and desires. Forgive me for this sin. Help me listen to you, and grant me the courage to faithfully surrender to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.    Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 25). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that, because I am in Jesus Christ, My life is about Christ (Philippians 1:21). “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”. (Philippians 4:14).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): 1 Corinthians 11:25; Colossians 2:2-3; John 10:25-30; Psalms 17:1-15.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 3 – Incomplete Finished Work”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB