But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; -Matthew 5:44 Good morning and God bless you. Happy Monday! I use the scripture above to make the bold statement below: “You are not responsible for other people’s actions, you are responsible for your reactions.” I noted in Samuel 1 how Saul knowing his men had taken things that God said destroy, but instead of taking the reins and requiring that they return those things to be destroyed, he allowed and even excused their sin. He would not be responsible for the things his men took that he knew nothing about, but he was responsible for knowing and his reaction. We are responsible for known personal offenses, that is our own indiscretions, but not for those of others. Let’s face it, today is Monday and by midweek, most of us are saying “Jesus take the wheel.” By Friday if they said one...
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Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. -Matthew 11:29-30 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. -1 Peter 5:7 Happy AFTER Thanksgiving Day. The turkey has met its first demise, now the second countdown begins and the turkey appears in other forms, sandwiches, soups, and salads. Hopefully after a week the carcass is laid to rest and we release it for burial. But in the meanwhile you probably woke up to the smell of turkey and eggs lol. We must learn to totally release things, turkey included because what we are not willing to release for God is being placed in a position of being our god. Total release means physically, mentally and spiritually. The hardest part is mentally. Your grip must be loosened mentally to release it physically, but physically released doesn’t indicate full mental or spiritual release. Lot’s wife had ...
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. -1 Samuel 15:22 Good morning and God gets the glory!!! The scripture above is found in the book of 1st Samuel and the storyline fully explains how God would rather we live righteously than anything else. He desires the sacrifice of righteousness more than burnt offerings and supplications for forgiveness. I have always thought of the word sacrifice as not only an item given unto the Lord but also as the chance you take while in the act of sinning. Who is to say that God’s grace will cover your indiscretion? Your grace allotment might be depleted. This was the case with King Saul. God’s grace covered him on multiple occasions, but when he sought to please his men and not obey God, God’s grace was pulled. The sacrifice for Hi...
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah. -Psalms 24:6 Good morning and God bless you!!! In the intercession prayer this morning I began hearing encouragement about the so called “Generation X and the millenniums”. I am sure you’ve heard them described without hope as careless, carefree and generally referred to as the lost generations. I am encouraged that there are among them Elijahs. Ones who will not bow their knee to lies nor will they compromise truth. Those who will not bow to Jezebel, Ahab or Baal are among us in the young people but included not called Xer’s, born before them and will stand for righteousness. Collectively we are the Elijah generation. Being Elijahs you speak from your heart truth, whether you are rejected or accepted. As Elijahs you will experience despair, loneliness and also great boldness to speak when others are afraid. Embrace wh...
13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. -Hebrews 5 Good morning God bless you and happy Monday. The scripture above speak of the detriment of delayed development. We see many who refuse to put in the time needed to rightly divide the word, so they become pawns and are used by people with evil intent. A babe eventually knows their name while limited by toothless ness but as they grow, they will be saying their name. The next thing is they are spelling their name, then writing and ultimately when they know what their name means. So knowing the word (your name) by itself doesn’t mean you are beyond the bottle, you must begin speaking and writing it. But applying it is what elevates you past the teething stage to the chewing stage, applying it means you can us...
Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. -Psalms 143:1 God bless you and good morning!!! I love the psalm above as it ascribes what should be the song of our hearts. Our prayers are to be continuous as our trials are in this world. The psalmist acknowledges the inexhaustible grace of the Lord saying He is faithful to answer prayers. This is where we must guard our heart...This is the area the enemy attacks us, trying to get us to doubt the goodness of the Lord. The Lord’s promises are still intact despite the trials we have gone through this year and in the years to come. He still hears prayers, still comforts, still heals and still protects. What more can be given except glory to God as a way maker, promise keeper, and God of all graciousness. Enjoy your weekend and keep on giving God glory. Your comments and questions are welcome. Contact me at drschaefferinterceding@yahoo....
The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. -Psalms 34:7 God bless you and good morning. Imagine the comfort and the rest afforded by having a great burglar alarm, one that sets it self, locks your doors, and operates your cameras, as good as that would be the system would always have shortcomings. There will always be the flaw of its inability; which is the cognitive abilities inherent only in humans. As humans we can think, reason and react to or be proactive towards threats. So given this truth our alarm systems are only as good as we program them to be. Yet they will always need us. This would be the same reason you can have either a watchman or watchdog vs a guard or an observer. An alarm projects and predicts, a guard diligently watches, warns and as needed will protect. The Lord places this type of protection on us. He values us to the point he assigns angels of differing abilities to our protection detail. A...
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. -Colossians 3 God bless you and great day (South Carolina-vernacular). I pray your day is going well and you are blessed in this season of thanks giving. I think everyone would agree that Christians are to be examples of the kindnes...
I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. -Psalms 34:4 God bless you and good morning. The scripture above is categorized with what I call, “the panting scriptures” as similar to the deer panting for the brook (Psalms 42:1). This scripture could also be called a “chasing” scripture as it places your focus on the desperation of David to serve the one true God. Our seeking of Him has to be more than in times of fear, more than just in times of abundance, but at all times. But certainly when you feel afraid it is comforting to know we don’t have to fear the terror by night or even evil that wait in plain sight. 23rd Psalms says His rod, just merely His authority is such He doesn’t have to move from the throne, just looking in our direction is enough to scatter the enemy. I encourage you to embrace the thought “The Lord is my rock and my salvation,whom shall I fear.” Your comments and questions are welcome. Contact me at drs...
Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? -Psalms 56:8 Good morning and God bless you. It’s Monday again 🤗 . I am sure many can relate to the human bodily function called tears. The purpose of tears are diverse. They clean both eyes and cleanses the heart. Ever consider that the word tear means water from our eye ducts that pain elicits as well as denotes a description of something being broken. So the tear of ones heart results in tears from the eyes. For certain I am no stranger to tears and I am sure you are familiar with them as well. Whereas we are told that cried tears clean us allowing us to forget or remove far from us the pain, disappointment and distress that caused them. There is never a tear that falls that God forgets. We never cry alone, for our hurt doesn’t escape God as He cares enough to wipe every tear away. Then what happens to those tears are amazing. The God of all comfort doesn’t ...
He must increase, but I must decrease. -John 3:30 Good morning, God bless you and happy Friday. I was privileged to attend my wife’s workout recently. Please note I said attend, as I am only there to drive her home ( 😝 ). The workout is held in the gym of a local church and above the entrance door is a banner with this scripture. Initially my first thought was how appropriate a scripture to have in a place of workout, as decrease is the aim of most participants. But that scripture has always captured my imagination as many pray similar words before sermons. Decreased self is or seems to be a lofty goal, but in my walk I have discovered the more I defend His glory, the more my joy spring fills. When self is removed, you can begin to identify with the selflessness it took for our savior to go to the cross. It is rather easy to deny self when the object of our act is in need, but consider when you deny...
And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, -Matthew 21:12 God bless and Good morning. Be a rebel! The bold statement I’ll make today is that the Lord needs us to go against the grain of what this world has become. The world is in a rapid state of decline as what is carnal is ushered in and unrighteousness over talks righteousness. In an effort to fit in what is blatantly wrong, many today go along just to get along. Jesus instructed us to pray without ceasing and for good reason. As man administers this world we are certain to get maligned so the flesh must die daily. Jesus knowing this went to a place where the flesh had been allowed to thrive and even the sacred place of the temple had become corrupt with usury. The money changers had went from outside the gates of the temple to the courtyard and as they shifte...
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. -John 14:6 Bless the Lord oh my soul. Happy Veterans Day. Let me tell you we often miss what Jesus is saying in the scripture above. In it are literally the instructions on a road map to heaven. On a map of any substance there are included footnotes and a legend. Those things tell you how to read the map. The Bible’s version of footnotes and a legend could easily be the scripture. First if you follow the way, you will find truth and from that truth you will encounter life and be accepted into its eternal folds. As the Lord Jesus unfolded this truth take note of His summation. His summation reaches back to the first word in the verse which is “I” and joins it to His purpose, “No one” comes to the Father except by Him. What grace does it entail to know that He draws you to the way by the truth of His spirit and the same truth which walks with you will...
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? -Matthew 16:26 Good morning and God gets the glory! Happy Tuesday to you. What do you value? Let’s not get too deep here as in your mouth and on your heart, it should be the Lord. Plenty will say peace, some will say wealth, some will say husband, wife, children or grandbabies. While some think, if only I had enough money or perhaps if I had influence. Houses come and go, jobs, cars wear, clothing is outgrown, all these things have only intrinsic value, temporal. The words found in the scripture above is of Christ letting us know how little value things of this world have. The most important thing anyone could have is their soul and by Christ’s grace have we been given the opportunity to reject anything that would take our focus, our love and God’s place in our lives. Your comments and questions are welcome. ...
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. -John 1:9 God bless and happy Monday. Let’s talk first about grace. John 3:16 is an overture of the loving grace expressed by our Lord. Often the question the enemy wants to snag us with is a doubt of God’s goodness. The scripture above states how God reveals Himself to us and the Apostle Peter echoed this in 2 Peter 3:9 (please read entire scripture). How often are we discouraged especially if we think God doesn’t do enough to woo our love ones to Him. God is full of mercy and His grace exceeds our ability to fail. Perhaps you thought your sin excessive and beyond His ability to forgive and restore. Trust me that is a lie from the pits of hell. If you have enough faith, He has enough grace. Your comments and questions are welcome. Contact me at drschaefferinterceding@yahoo.com You can give to Interceding Christian Center (ICC) using our cash app $intercedingcc God bless an...
10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. -Psalms 33:10-11 God bless you and happy Friday. On last evening I was listening to a prophet exclaiming the places we meet God. He described the courts of heaven but also the council of God. It is then the Lord spoke to me the definition as well as the difference. I am not able to expound in this setting but just know that the wisdom and council of God is immaculate, impeccable and accurate. Often times we lean on the council of man moreso than of God. You know the type of friend (sic) who has an opinion about everything (me 😂 ). In the Army those types were called Barracks Lawyers, educated by their experience through their perception. Perception is faulty relying on your ability to process what you may or may not understand, and whether you were there...
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. -Luke 21:28 Good morning and God gets the glory. As of late and blatantly more, I have found myself looking away from the turmoil of this world and to the hope of glory. We are truly in the last days as what is wrong is celebrated and what is right is mocked. The mockery has crossed new bounds and has becomes persecution. We are not to be shocked or shaken in our faith by what is going on around us, but we are to draw closer to the Lord and keep our mind on Kingdom truths. As Christians we should know that this world will reject us, though the glory is deep in us to the blind all they see is the packaging of preaching, which to the carnal seems accusatory. We are warned that though this world portrays itself as eternal,...
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. -Psalms 33:12 Bless you!!! Good morning and to God be all the glory! How profound is the scripture above! In this period of history how appropriately necessary to realize it is in the Lord we should place our hope. When we place our hope in Him; it is well placed. Growing up I rarely owned more than one pair of shoes at a time. And to misplace one escalated to a major event at rapid speed. It was at that moment or so it seemed I realized how one shoe needed the other for stability, for comfort, durability and yes fashion. Imagine the travesty of one brown shoe and one black shoe. What is taken for granted is easily misplaced. It is when we misplace it suddenly it’s value becomes known. We often take for granted our shoes. I now trip over them as they dot the floor of my bedroom each screaming they are a blessing. As we neglect those small ...
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. -John 3:3 God bless and good morning. Once again Happy Monday. Wow how time flies we are in yet another month. As I consider how rapidly the clock is running my mind goes to the great obedience needed. Though I say great that may be a misnomer because as time and events unfold, it is becoming obvious and though the importance of the effort to get others is not lessened, it certainly shouldn’t be as difficult. Yet scripture expresses the hardness of heart of mankind. If those in hell could speak they would implore us to get saved as well as those in heaven would do the same. Jesus spoke of being born again for this very purpose. Many have situational salvation and try to pass it off as that change that is evident in the born again. “Being born again is not I got excited for the moment, but then returned to my old ways when it wore off.”...