Daily Devotional By Archbishop Foley Beach

Do You Stop, in Your Busy Life, to Give God Thanks for His Grace and Blessings Given You?

TODAYS MESSAGE SUMMARY: Give thanks to the Lord and call upon His Name. Our government has set aside an annual national holiday of Thanksgiving for all Americans to offer prayers for our country; our many blessings; and our special blessings for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, thanksgiving to God, for Christians, should be a lifestyle; and followers of Jesus should not need a special day to give thanks to the Lord. As Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4: “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.”. Do you, as a Christian, need a special day to give thanks God because you get so immersed in your life outside of your relationship with God? Do you stop to give God thanks for His grace for you and His blessings to you in your prayer life’s personal relationship with God? Give thanks to the Lord and call upon His Name.

 

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

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): 1 Chronicles 16:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22; 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4; Psalms 107b:15-28.

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/

 

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “The Resurrection -- Part 3: Jesus Gives Us His Great Commission Just Before His Ascension", at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.

 

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Where Is Your Interior Life Leading You? {Nurturing The Interior Life – Exercising the Mind – Part 2] (Camp House; Chattanooga, TN)”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

 

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Have You Lost Your Excitement and Joy as a Mature Follower of Jesus?

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Those of us who have been brought up in the church or have been in the church for a while can get caught up in our personal righteousness. We get used to the presence of God and His peace in our lives. However, we then encounter a new follower of Jesus. This new Christian, before their conversion, were living in the ways of the world without God’s peace. Now, these new believers are so excited with their new life; and their outward manifestation of their conversion may not “fit” with our personal Christian behavioral norms. Sadly, too many modern Christians judge and condemn these new, excited believers for their enthusiasm rather than loving, encouraging, and embracing these new followers of Jesus. We can learn from Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees, who exhibited similar non-supportive behavior of Christians in Matthew 5:20: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”. We need to welcome these new excited followers of Jesus as members of our Non-Exclusive global fellowship as a Christian.

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Anger. Rather, I will abide in the Lord’s Forgiveness. “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): Luke 7:45-47; Matthew 5:20; Luke 11:38-39; Psalms 107a:1-14.

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/

 

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “The Resurrection -- Part 3: Jesus Gives Us His Great Commission Just Before His Ascension", at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.

 

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Where Is Your Interior Life Leading You? {Nurturing The Interior Life – Exercising the Mind – Part 2] (Camp House; Chattanooga, TN)”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

 

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

Are You “Acting as an Enemy of Jesus” By Being Focused On Earthly Things?

MESSAGE SUMMARY: God has told us that we are His children and citizens of Heaven. God has given you the Holy Spirit as a pledge of your inheritance as His child. Also, God gave you the Holy Spirit provide you with the power to live a Spiritual life. However, far too many of us continue to live and to act as “enemies of the Cross of Christ” by having our mind focused on earthly things and our belly as the lords of our life. If this picture of life actions and focus describes you, then you very well may be on the road to destruction. If so, then return to Jesus and His way of doing things -- His pattern of discipleship, servanthood, and submission. Paul, in Philippians 3:18-20, defines an “enemy of the Cross of Christ: “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.". Have your life focus driven by the realization that you are His child and a citizen of Heaven; therefore, you and your life are all precious to God since He sacrificed so much to adopt you as His child.

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM RIGHTEOUS IN GOD’S EYES. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21).

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 7:19-23; Romans 8:13-17; Revelation 8:9-24; Psalms 106d:37-48.

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/

 

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “The Resurrection -- Part 3: Jesus Gives Us His Great Commission Just Before His Ascension", at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.

 

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Where Is Your Interior Life Leading You? {Nurturing The Interior Life – Exercising the Mind – Part 2] (Camp House; Chattanooga, TN)”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

 

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

Do Not Be Fearful or Anxious in Today’s Political Discord Because God Is Sovereign and Faithful

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Political discord and uncertainty surround us in all directions today. Without Jesus in our lives, we have reasons to be anxious and fearful. However, Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:31: “Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.”. The next years may hurt our pride, wallets, and/or our freedom. On the other hand, we should not let the current political environment hinder our resolve to continue in our fearless faith in the truth; our constant hope in the future; and our radical love for our neighbors. God has a plan; and, regardless of how things look from our eyes, we must remain faithful to His purpose. Now is the time to draw near to Jesus and to advance His Kingdom. Our gaze must remain on Jesus if we want to walk on the water during the storm. God is the king of kings and the Sovereign God of the Universe. As Daniel interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 4:17 when God told Nebuchadnezzar: “to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.”. God is always involved in our lives, and He gives the government offices “to whom he will”, even if the political processes produce “the lowliest of men {or women}”. Sometimes, we receive the elected officials we need, and sometimes we receive the elected officials that we deserve; but God is always Sovereign.

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because I am in Jesus Christ, I will entrust to Him my future. I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.  (From 2 Timothy 1:12).

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 6:31; Philippians 4:5-7; Daniel 4:17; Psalms 106c:25-36.

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/

 

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)", at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.

 

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

 

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

Someone Who Has Walked Away From God Will Return If They Can See Jesus in Your Life

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Is there anything we can do for someone with a calloused heart or who has walked away from God because they weren’t discipled? Yes, we must start by praying for them – asking God to move in their lives; asking God to intervene in their life situations; asking God to break up the hardness of their heart. Also, for this person, we must build a better relationship of trust and caring love. In Mathew 18:12-13, Jesus presents God’s perspective regarding the pursuit of even one person that has walked away: “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." No matter the hardness of a person’s heart, who has walked away from God, they will respond to our initiatives based on love and trust. However, so many of us Christians are so focused on doing our religious or spiritual things and keeping our “busy” schedules that we don’t have time to love and care for others. Why?

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, because of 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):  1 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Acts 1:8; Romans 2:15-16; Psalms 106b:13-24.

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.awordfromthelord.org/bible-search/

 

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)", at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.

 

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

 

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

Do You Have a Time, In Your Day, to Listen for God and then Speak with Him?

MESSAGE SUMMARY: God will speak to you, but you must learn to listen for Him. Learning to listen for and to God requires focused and "in-tune" listening in combination with a filter for all the in-life clutter that your lifestyles and culture create. As Paul tells us in Romans 10:17, followers of Jesus must listen and hear the Word from the Lord: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.". You are going all the time with stimuli from many different sources – how can God speak or be heard, in a still small voice, through all your noise? To hear and listen for God, "lengthy times in silence and solitude" with the Lord are needed. Times of quiet prayer with God permits the noise and clutter get taken away. Again, in Psalm 141:1, the Psalmist admonishes us to call upon the Lord and to listen for God’s Word: “LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you!".

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Past Failures. Rather, I will abide in the Lord’s Grace. “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): Exodus 19:5; Daniel 9:9-14; John 10:2-16; Psalms 106a:1-12.

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/

 

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)", at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.

 

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

 

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

Trusting God to Be Lord Over His Finances, Entrusted to You, Will Liberate Your Life

MESSAGE SUMMARY: We are so focused on earning money and related financially driven life activities that it is easy for money and finances to become our god, thereby, violating the Second Commandment. If Jesus is Lord over all Creation, as we are told in Psalms 24:1, then: “The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.”; therefore, everything that has been entrusted to you is God’s. In James 5:1-3, the author of the Book of James provides insight into someone who does NOT make God the Lord of their finances: “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.”. Therefore, let God Be Lord over your finances, which really are His finances.

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that, because I am in Jesus Christ, I can do what He asks of me. (Philippians 4:13). “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”. (Philippians 4:14).

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Psalms 24:1-10; James 5:1-6; Psalms 25:1-22; Psalms 105d:34-45.

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/

 

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)", at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.

 

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

 

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

God Lets Others See Jesus In You Through Your Life In Christ!

TODAYS MESSAGE SUMMARY: In 2 Corinthians 3:12-18, Paul writes a complex statement that tells you about the most important tool that God gives you, as a follower of Jesus, for communicating the Gospel -- God lets others see Jesus in you through your life in Christ! Therefore, by living in Christ, your life becomes the most compelling argument for the Gospel – an argument that far surpasses written or spoken words. Paul’s 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 text reads: “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”. Do others, from your life, see Jesus in you?

 

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

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Isiah 35:1-9; John 1:14; Isaiah 11:1-2; Psalms 105c:23-33.

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/

 

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)", at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.

 

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

 

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

Parents that Discipline Their Children, in Love, Are Following God’s Model of Love

MESSAGE SUMMARY: The Lord disciplines his children; therefore, so should we, and our discipline can take many forms, for example: 1) teach children a lesson, even hard lessons; 2) it's OK to take away children's privileges. The Lord's discipline is out of love; and our disciple, for our children, should be out of our love. Nobody likes discipline -- we don't like it; our kids don't like it; however, discipline works to bring righteousness and peace, and discipline brings fruit to us and our children down the road. In Hebrews 12:7-10, the author of Hebrews succinctly describes the Biblical perspective regarding discipline: It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.".

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Hatred. Rather, I will abide in the Lord’s Love. “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): 2 Samuel. 7.13-15; 1 Corinthians. 11:32; Ephesians. 6.1-4; Psalms 105b:12-22.

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/

 

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)", at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.

 

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

 

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

Here I Am, Lord; Just as I Am; Have Mercy On Me a Sinner

MESSAGE SUMMARY: We don’t deserve it, but we come to God because of His Mercy. We are all sinners. As Paul tells us in Romans 9:18: “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.". We can never enter God’s presence for prayer when we are in our pride with our focus on ourselves. Also, Paul reminds us, in 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, that, in our Salvation through God’s Grace, Jesus make us “boast” only in the Grace provided us by God: “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”. We can only enter God’s presence when we humble ourselves in Jesus. Humility and penitence before God invite His presence – here I am, Lord; just as I am; have mercy on me a sinner.

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: 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): Matthew 18:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:29-31; Isaiah 19:22; Psalms 105a:1-11.

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/

 

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)", at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.

 

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

 

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