Permission is hereby freely granted in advance to anyone who may wish to use, preach, teach, print, copy, duplicate or distribute any of my maxims, teachings, books, study guides, posters, or devotionals as long as neither the content nor the authorship is changed... Dr. Dan Cheatham
FORWARD FREELY. This devotional is updated each week, each year. The freshest content is near the top of each week's devotional. Content from previous years for any given week is included below the fresh content. NOTE: If you have the option to do so, please add us to your 'buddy', 'accepted', 'approved' or 'trusted sender' list to ensure you continue to receive our messages. Thanks. This Week's Memory Verse is Romans 14:12 KJV: "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."
Week 4
Eagles train their young.
David first killed Goliath in his mind. Next he killed him with his spoken words. And finally he killed Goliath with his hands.
Face your giant, knowing that you’re not facing it alone.
1 Samuel 17:37 KJV - David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go , and the LORD be with thee.
Face your roaring lion, knowing that you’re not facing it alone.
1 Chronicles 11:22 KJV - Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day.
Face off with your most dreaded enemy with nothing but the Word of God on your lips, and the name of Jesus on your tongue!
Face it today or brace for it again tomorrow.
Face it today and erase it for good.
Enemies usually raise their ugly heads at the most inconvenient time.
There is NEVER a convenient time to confront an enemy. So just go ahead and get it over with!
You cannot ignore an enemy.
You cannot pretend an enemy is not present when it is.
You cannot avoid an enemy.
You cannot turn your back on an enemy.
An enemy must be faced.
Enemies reveal their small size only after being confronted.
Confrontation exposes the weakness of an enemy.
There is someone that stands behind every Word of His that comes out of your mouth.
There is someone backing you to the hilt!
There is someone who loves you more than you can imagine.
There is someone who cares about every detail of your life.
There is someone who yearns for your success and victory even more than you do.
Do not compromise your core values.
Do not compromise with a fool.
Do not compromise with the wicked.
Do not back off an inch from God’s Word.
Stand your ground in the midst of misunderstanding and criticism. When the dust is settled, all will be well.
Our nation keeps pumping billions of dollars into government education when government education is not even authorized by God’s Word, nor encouraged by our constitution. You cannot change the quality of something by simply throwing money at it. As long as prayer is removed from school, condoms are handed out, abortion is encouraged, evolution is taught, the name of Jesus is forbidden, the gay agenda is embraced, rewritten American history is taught, libraries are full of books condoning sin, and the Bible is banished… GOD CANNOT PLACE HIS FULL BLESSING ON OUR NATION”S EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS NOR THE CHILDREN ATTENDING THEM. Of course God will bless people as much as He can, BUT wrong thinking and wrong believing always lead to wrong choices. Garbage in – garbage out. It’s hard to act differently than we have been taught six to eight hours a day during our most formative years. Environment is everything! So get your kids out of government indoctrinated education quick, and into private Christian education. The cost of failing to do so can be greater than the cost of private education. Stop thinking ENTITLEMENT and start thinking EMPOWERMENT!
I, not another, am responsible to provide my children the proper environment to grow up in at home, at school, at church, in college, and everywhere else. I alone will stand before an Almighty God and give an account for the environments I allowed my children to grow up in. Did I throw them to the dogs? Did I let someone else determine what their values should be? Did I ensure they were taught only truth? Did I live an example before them?
Entitlement is not really free. With entitlement comes many strings attached.
Empowerment, however, is free; the only string attached being “responsibility.”
Are you looking for a job? Or are you looking to create a job?
Are you looking for employment when God may want you to be looking to start a business.
Are you looking to be employed or to become an employer?
Do you have knowledge or skill about something that might be marketable?
Do you have an idea that might meet people’s needs?
Do you have a valuable skill that could generate income for you?
What do you love?
What do you hate?
What "irks" you?
What satisfies you?
What fulfills you?
What activity generates excitement and energy within you?
What do you think about the most?
What are you passionate about?
Maybe God wants you to be a wage creator instead of just a wage earner.
I can find no scripture where God places an income cap on anyone. About the only cap God places on anyone’s earnings is an honesty cap.
Men place income caps on other men. God places no income caps on anyone as long as they earn it honestly, ethically, pay their tithes, pay their taxes, and are rich towards God ad others in the process.
It’s not over until it’s over. Walt Disney went bankrupt many times on the way towards his dream. Abraham Lincoln experienced multiple political failures on the way towards his. Colonel Sanders’ financing was turned down hundreds of times by investors before he struck it rich. Isaac Watts failed over a thousand times trying to invent the light bulb. “It ain’t over till it’s over!”
God has NOT declared that you will never accomplish but so much.
God has NOT told people to curse you. God is telling people to help you!
God is FOR creativity, ingenuity, thinking out of the box, industriousness, and bold thinking.
Many a giant corporation started out in someone’s garage.
Maybe God wants you to create a job rather than just finding a job.
It’s easy in America to incorporate yourself.
It’s easy in America to incorporate your dream.
Begin to see yourself as the embodiment of a corporation, as the head of the same. Picture your office. Picture how you’ll dress. Picture the awards on your wall. Picture yourself at the head of a conference table. Picture your signature on paychecks. Picture the scores of happy employees and their families under your care. Picture your products with your name on them. Now picture the dollar signs, $$$, $$$, $$$.$$! (It's alright to picture dollar signs as long as God is in the same picture!)
If you can picture it long enough, you can have it soon enough!
It doesn’t cost a dime to dream! (Robert Schuller)
What ends with the hands and feet, begins in the head and the heart.
Everything begins with a small seed.
The power is in the seed, not the tree.
Don’t underestimate the power of a simple seed.
All the genetic code of the tree was first contained in its seed.
The only sane purpose of empowerment is to empower others. (Ronald Reagan)
Until Jesus comes back, there will be wars. Any other utopia-thinking is contrary to reality and the facts as Jesus stated them.
I find it interesting that the Lord Jesus chose to use the word "BUILD" when He said, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!" Jesus was a carpenter by trade and he knew the word, "BUILD" was the best choice. Perhaps he chose this word because "BUILDING" something, especially a home, encompasses so many aspects. Let us think a moment in terms of a building contractor:
Matthew 16:17-10 KJV - And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou , Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
"I will build my church!" I will design my church. I will blueprint my church. I will fund my church. I will found my church. I will establish my church. I will grow my church. I will expand my church. I will floor my church. I will strengthen my church. I will connect my church. I will layer my church. I will integrate my church. I will paint my church. I will fortify my church. I will cover my church. I will raise my church. I will detail my church. I will decorate my church. I will protect my church. I will secure my church. I will schedule the building of my church.
I have made a few bad choices in life, but by far, the best choice I have ever made was to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour. That's one choice where I hit a home run!
In this evil day we live in, if I come to the end of my life and have loved and been faithful to my wife, I will have been a SMASHING SUCCESS STORY!
Someone has said, REAL MEN LOVE THEIR WIVES!
Manhood is first and foremost the ability to lead one's self. How a man leads himself is the best indicator of how he will lead others.
Studhood is the opposite of manhood and is the epitome of flagrant irresponsibility.
A man who cannot love one woman the rest of his life still has "issues."
Hollywood's picture of the male gender is ALL WRONG! God's picture in His Word is the only true picture of manhood.
Kings and kingdoms, presidents and prime ministers, political and entertainment personalities come and go. BUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD OUTLASTS AND OVERCOMES THEM ALL! Thank God, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever! This is the only person you can really count on! Everyone else, I mean everyone, is just a flash in the pan! Hallelujah!
Someone has rightly said: "If you don't take a stand for something, you will fall for anything!"
I highly recommend you take a look at the website of THE CENTER FOR MORAL CLARITY at http://cmc.rodparsley.com/.
Responsible Christian Voters will try to vote L.I.F.E. - Pro-L.ife, Pro-I.srael, Pro-F.amily, Pro-E.vangelical. Said in another way: Anti-Abortion. Anti-Islamic Agenda. Anti-Gay Agenda. Anti-Secularization Of Society Agenda. Unless of course, they are forced to have to vote between the lesser of two evils from the only candidates remaining, those who refuse to take a stand on these four pivital issues.
Wake up Body of Christ! Wake up American Christians! WE ARE IN AN ALL-OUT CULTURE WAR! America is under intense attack from many enemies on many fronts. WE MUST PRAY AGAINST THESE FORCES. WE MUST ACT AGAINST THESE FORCES. If we don't, we or are children, or grandchildren will wake up one day like the German Christians under Hitler and WWII, to discover the very fabric of our society has been undermined.
I am a CULTURE WARRIOR and proud of it!
I am POLITICALLY "INCORRECT" and proud of it!
If people want to call me ISLAMOPHOBIC just because I aggressively oppose everything in this nation and abroad that smacks of Islamic Error or Islamic Terror, then so be it! I don't hate Muslim people; I hate the ideology that is damning them to eternal hell and trying to destroy America and Israel. Mosques in America should be outlawed as Islam is a dangerous cult directly opposed to our foundaing fathers' faith. Our politicians should NOT court the favor of ANY Muslims... this will come back to haunt us. Only people who are not readers and ignore history refuse to understand that Islam is a violent cult and has always been so. ANY POLITICAL CANDIDATE THAT DOES NOT FIGHT AND FIGHT HARD AGAINST "EVERYTHING ISLAMIC" IS A FOOL, OR AT BEST DUPED!
If people want to call me HOMOPHOBIC because I hate this immoral perversion and their agenda to destroy the sanctity of marriage as being between one man and one woman, then so be it! ANY POLITICAL CANDIDATE THAT IS NOT WILLING TO FIGHT FOR AN AMENDMENT TO DEFINE MARRIAGE AS THE UNION OF ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN IS AN UTTER FOOL! ANY POLITICAL CANDIDATE THAT COURTS THE LESBIANS, FAGS, AND TRANSGENDERITES IS AN OUTRIGHT FOOL! Think about it for a moment: The underlying assumption of the gay agenda is that everyone is already sexually active, even little children. Katrina hit New Orleans just a week before a huge scheduled Gay Pride event. AIDS is NOT, I repeat NOT an important political issue. AIDS is simply a symptom of sexual sin run rampant. Any political candidate that actually has GAY advisors on his or her staff is NOT a Christian, and is controlled by the spirit of antichrist, the spirit of error!
Any political candidate that is not staunchly anti-abortion is not our nation's friend. That political candidate is a compromiser, endorses murder, and prolongs God's judgments on our nation for such wholesale slaughter of our unborn. Poverty is NOT, I repeat NOT a political issue. Poverty in money comes from poverty of wisdom and poverty of secular education opposed to God.
Any political candidate that is blind to or winks at the forces of secularization that are trying to rob this nation of any references to the one true God has either been lulled into spiritual slumber or does not know his or her American history. The atheists, the ACLU, Hollywood, and so many other antichrist organizations who so adamantly preach "free-speech" are trying to shut the mouths of Christians and make God illegal in the schools, in public places, in the courts, in congress, in the oval office, in the military, and in every institution of our society.
I highly recommend you check out the voters guides at David Barton's WALLBUILDERS.COM website, http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=5386. Wallbuilders.Com is perhaps the finest source of American History documents one could ever find. David Barton has testified before Congress on many occasions and trains pastors annually in Washington D.C..
God intends to meet you at your point of faith!
Isaiah 64:5a,b KJV - Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways.
GOD MEETS ME AT MY POINT OF FAITH!
God loves it when a person will not let go of one of His promises, no matter what!
God celebrates your confidence in Him.
Proverbs 3:26 KJV - For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
Once you know what God wants from you, move towards it decisively.
Billy Graham: "Never answer your critics. Your critics won't listen to your answer. And your friends don't care what the critics say anyhow."
Welcome, Holy Spirit, into my every thought today!
Welcome, Holy Spirit, into my every word today!
Welcome, Holy Spirit, into my every choice today!
Welcome, Holy Spirit, into my every attitude today!
Welcome, Holy Spirit, into my every feeling today!
Welcome, Holy Spirit, into my every step today!
Holy Spirit, take over! Flood me, fill me, saturate me, permeate me, lead me, guide me, control me, have me, enjoy me... just take me over, Lord!
With You on board, Holy Spirit, the possibilities of today are endless!
With You indwelling me, Holy Spirit, something exciting can happen at any moment!
The same Holy Spirit flowing in and from the Father flows in and through me today.
John 15:26 NIV - When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
As a rule Backsliders don't Tithe and Tithers don't Backslide.
Tithing: Backsliding Insurance!
Tithing breaks the back of lack off both the tither... and the local church!
Taking a City for God hinges on one thing: The Presence or Absence of The Tithe!
Stealing the Tithe from God is the same as Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit. And the consequences can be almost as dire.
Non-Tithers do not qualify for many blessings from God. God says so in Malachi Chapter 3.
One cannot Rob the Lord and Romance Him at the same time.
Each believer will have to stand before God Almighty and give an account of his or her obedience to tithe while on earth.
Each dollar stolen from God equates to another soul stolen from God.
A dollar held back from God prevents a soul from coming back to God.
What I give to God or hold back from God means the difference between Heaven and Hell for someone else.
I will NOT be held guilty of damning people to Hell by my stinginess and stubbornness to tithe; not me, my friend, not me!
The Tithe is the Minimum Daily Requirement of every believer's responsibility for winning the world to Christ.
Failure to Tithe means you are not very grateful for your salvation!
The OIL OF JOY makes me "too slickery" for the devil to hold on to!
Isaiah 61:3 KJV - To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the OIL OF JOY for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
When you stand on the Word, the Word will stand by you.
KNOW that God has heard your prayer. KNOW that it is a done deal. KNOW that your order has been received, processed, and Fedex'd from the Oval Office of the Universe!
First you must have something on the inside. Only then do you get it on the outside. Everything, I mean everything, God does for you, happens from the inside out. You must first see yourself as prosperous on the inside before you begin to prosper on the outside. First you get to the point where you KNOW on the inside that you are healed, then the healing naturally manifests in your body. The Holy Spirit's job is to so reveal truth to our inner man that the truth becomes more real than our predicament. If we will memorize and meditate His Word, the Spirit will paint an inner picture on the inside of us that automatically brings the answer.
1 John 5:15 AMP And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.
The book of First John is the "KNOW-SO" book of the Bible.
Unbelief always puts God off to another time, another place, and another person. Faith on the other hand, receives RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE & ME! It is one thing to believe God did something to someone else in the past or will do it to you maybe in the future. IT IS ALTOGETHER ANOTHER THING to believe He will do it NOW, FOR YOU, AND RIGHT HERE IN THIS PLACE!
Unbelievers fight with their FISTS. Believers fight with their HANDS. Mt 26:67 KJV - Then they spit in Jesus’ face and hit him with their fists. And some slapped him." Ac 7:54 KJV - "The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists in rage." Mark 16:18 MSG - "...they will lay hands on the sick..."
CLOSED and tight-fisted, the hands are a curse. OPENED in faith and love, the hands are a blessing. Hebrews 6:1-2 KJV - "...the foundation of... the laying on of hands..."
The World fights with their FISTS. The Church fights with their HANDS. Job 15:25 KJV - "For they have clenched their fists against God, defying the Almighty." Acts 19:6 KJV - "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them..."
Your HANDS are capable of transferring tangible blessings and lasting impartations. Mark 10:16 KJV - "And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them."
UPLIFTED HANDS signify one's receptivity to God. Uplifted hands declare that "My help comes from above!" Uplifted hands signify that one knows The Answer... Jesus Christ! Uplifted hands are saying that "I am OPEN and RECEIVING from the Lord." Uplifted hands are an act of SIMPLE OBEDIENCE to God's instructions. If one cannot obey God's simple request for uplifted hands, how is one to obey Him in more crucial matters. When it comes to obedience, practice makes perfect. What we do with our hands is a microcosm of our larger obedience in life. 1 Timothy 2:8 KJV - "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."
There are too many CHRISTIAN EMBEZZLERS who steal their tithes from God, their local church, and their pastor. Instead they spend it on themselves, or someone or something NOT AUTHORIZED by scripture!
The enemy is clever. He can make things APPEAR so bad, that you will be tempted to panic and just "throw in the towel." But the Bible says, "Be not afraid of sudden fear!" We must AGREE with what God says about our situation regardless of how things appear. God's Word will change the APPEARANCE of our situation if we will keep standing on it. God's Word is eternal and flawless. Our present situation is just temporary. We must fight the temptation to PANIC by quoting the Word of God!
Fertilize your friendships. Send an email to someone you love today. Consider making a phone call to a friend for no other reason than to tell them how much they mean to you. Purchase a little gift or a gift certificate for someone you respect.
Someone has said, "Success is a collection of relationships!"
Today there are some so-called "Christian" sects that say that Christians should not pay their taxes. THIS IS FOOLISHNESS GONE TO SEA, for my Bible reads differently! Romans 13:6,7 NLT - "Pay your taxes too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid so they can keep doing the work God intended them to do. Pay your taxes and import duties, and give respect and honor to all whom it is due."
Concerning Financial Prosperity and Giving: Sowing Good Seed into Good Soil produces a Good Harvest. Sowing Good Seed into Bad Soil produces No Harvest. Sowing Bad Seed into Bad Soil produces a Bad Harvest.
For the most part, God's people are untaught concerning their finances. Some believers give their tithe to the poor, or struggling relatives. But the Bible teaches in Malachi chapter 3 that our tithes (literal: "tenths") belong to "the storehouse" (note that it is singular "storehouse") where we are fed spiritually. That would be our local church. An "offering" over and above our tithe must also be sown into the soil of ministry wherever and whenever the Spirit prompts our hearts. "Almsgiving" is when we give to the poor or someone in need, but it is also over and above our tithe. To redirect one's tithe to anywhere but one's pastor and local church is MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS! And misappropriation of funds is akin to the felony of "robbing God." Contrary to popular opinion, GOD IS SERIOUS ABOUT OBEDIENCE! SOULS ARE AT STAKE! More eternal things rest on the tithing issue than mere money!
The first 10% of all your incomes belongs to your pastor and your church... Period!
If you are not a TITHER and you come to me asking me to pray for your finances, I can't! (Or if I do, my prayers will go unheard!) The book of Malachi chapter 3 says that there is a curse on those who know about tithing and don't do it. The only thing I can pray is that you will wise up and start tithing. First you will have to annul your covenant of theft with the devil, if you wish to qualify for God's financial blessing. You see, according to God's Word, the first tenth of your income doesn't even belong to you! God doesn't bless armed robbers that commit the felony of stealing His tithe.
If you know better, and you haven't been tithing, YOU BETTER CATCH UP! You better go back to your pay slips and recalculate. If you cannot pay your present tithes and your BACK-TITHES because of your budget, then you better use the Leviticus formula by adding 20% to what you owe, then spread it out over a period of time by adding it on top of your present tithes. Or catch up with your tithes by paying your BACK-TITHES PLUS 20% with your TAX REFUND or with a withdrawal from your savings, mutual fund, or retirement account. Leviticus 27:30-32 KJV - "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. [My note - 20%] And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.
Cherish Simplicity.
We miss life altogether unless we learn to celebrate and re-celebrate every significant person God has placed in our lives. Treasure every family member, every face, every friendship, every event, every milestone, every conversation, every affectionate touch, and every moment with the significant people in your life as if you had discovered a rich oil field on your property.
The opposite of a Workaholic is a Workallergic. The two extremes are Workaholic and Workallergic. The Bible balance is to be a Worker!
The Holy Spirit desires to Caress us in the morning and Carry us throughout our day.
Sheep gravitate to the greenest pasture.
Sheep are always attracted to an anointed, God-called Shepherd.
It takes a Supernatural Pastor to lead God's Supernatural Sheep into Supernatural Pasture. How on earth a Spirit-filled believer can sit under the leadership of a pastor who is not Spirit-filled is beyond me!
An Eagle flies in a relatively straight line towards his target.
Do you love what you do from 9 to 5? Why not? This is the land of opportunity. If a career decision of yesteryear no longer motivates you, why not prayerfully consider a more significant career that you feel is a match to your skills, giftings, and true inclinations. Ecclesiastes 5:20 NCV says, "God keeps them busy with what they love to do."
In the book of Numbers, Ten spies were PASSIVE about God's promise to them. Two spies, however, were PASSIONATE about POSSESSING what God had promised. (Much more on the Twelve Spies!)
When you take care to do the Will of God, the Will of God will take care of you.
Even though God may have promised you something, it still may require your participation to possess it.
Whatever God has Previously Promised must be Presently Possessed!
You must become PASSIONATE about Possessing whatever God has Promised you. Faith finds a way! Don't take "no" for an answer, because the Bible says that "all the promises of God are YES in Christ!" It is the world system, your flesh, the devil, and past experiences that are screaming at you that you can't have what God has promised you. But decide to conquer all these contradicting voices in Jesus name, then go on in and enjoy your promised land that is flowing with milk and honey!
Possessing God's Promised Land for your life is a PROCESS, rarely a one-time event. God told the Israelites, "Behold I have set the land before you...BEGIN to possess it."
While you are taking new territory for the Lord, He is simultaneously taking new territory IN YOU. And THAT is the beauty of it all.
Is your mind a Feast for the Beast, Or a Smorgasbord for the Lord? Philippians 4:8 - "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Romans 1:28 - "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient."
Did you really tithe a whole 10% in 2007? You better go back and calculate and catch up if you didn't. You need God's help in your finances in 2008.
Churches that do not preach the whole counsel of God do not qualify for your tithes. (Acts 20:20) Do not sow your precious seed into a work that doesn't teach God's people about everything He has for them: salvation by faith, water baptism, the Holy Spirit baptism, divine health and healing, divine prosperity, miracles, the gifts of the Spirit, spiritual growth, marriage and family promises, answers to prayer, holy living, serving, etc.
