Don't Be Discouraged! 6/28-30/20

28-30 June 2020 - Manna revised from 2008 by Dorothy & Tony Callies

Theme: Don’t be Discouraged

Deut. 1:21 “Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.” [NCV: don’t be afraid and don’t worry].

This was a time that Moses and the people finally came to the “future Promise Land” and the people were scared of lots of difficulties and lots of oppositions and lots of battles coming up. The word ‘fear’ seems to be very common among people. They were always afraid of many things that they had wanted to go back to Egypt. Why? Because it was their ‘security’ and it was very easy to ‘stay home.’ But that was not what God want. He had a bigger plan and a better place for His people. The land of the ‘unknown’ was very fearful thing for them. They were discouraged.

Fear means being afraid; feeling that danger or evil is near; dread; an uneasy feeling; anxious thought and concern. Dread means look forward to fear; dislike to experience; fear greatly; fear of something will happen or may happen. Discourage means take away the courage or brave; reduce the hope or have no confidence that thing will work. Fears hinder us from doing something great.

Another scripture in Deut. 1:29 “… Dread not, neither be afraid of them. [NCV: Don’t be frightened; don’t be afraid…] The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”

God’s words of encouragement were in Deut. 3:22 ‘Ye shall not fear them for the Lord your God shall fight for you.’ The Israelites faced powerful enemies whom they could not defeat in their own strength. Israel’s natural tendency was to fear the awful consequences [result] of defeat. ONLY BY LOOKING TO GOD, THEY COULD GAIN VICTORY. God’s word encouraged them to look to God who was bigger than the enemies. He showed His power in Egypt and He can do it again.

We as believers in Christ do face lots of difficulties and lots of battles. God promises to be with us and to give us strength and power to accomplish or do His will. Our prayers to God will help us realize that He alone has the strength to heal, and strength to give us the courage to face whatever we need to face. God in us can do the job He asks us to do.

Praise the Lord! Greater is He that is in you than he [devil] that is in the world. When you believe, you feel strength. When you trust God, you sense blessing. When you love God, you feel peace and joy knowing He does care for you.

Song collection:
Faith in God can move a mighty mountain.
Faith in God can calm the troubled sea,
Faith will make the desert like the fountain,
Faith will bring the victory.

May the Lord bless you.

Dorothy

Great things 6/25-27/20

25-27 June 2020 - Great Things – Manna from 2008 by Dorothy & Tony Callies

Theme:  The Lord Will Do Great Things

Joel 2:21 “Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.”

The book of Joel has only three chapters, but it is like a crash course of several prophecies. Crash course means several things at one time. I choose to share about one fulfillment: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 800 years later.

Joel prophesied the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit [Joel 2:28-32] probably during 835-830 B.C. Then about 35 A.D. which was about 800 years later, in the book of Acts 2, there was a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon 120 disciples. They were making ‘noise’ until many people outside of the Upper Room heard them ‘speaking in strange languages.’ 120 disciples went outside and probably still speaking the languages that was new to them.

Many people came from 14 different nations to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and Pentecostal Festival, heard them speak the languages where they came from. The people knew Greek language which was universal second language of many nations which Alexander the Great from Greece had great empire before Romans took over. The Romans kept the Greek language. This was why people of 14 nations were able to come to Jerusalem where everyone knew Greek as their second language.

To me that was a great thing the Lord had done. He used Alexander the Great from Greece in his time to conquer many nations to add the Greek language to their ‘school’. This was to prepare for this time that people of many nations could come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and Pentecostal Festival because everyone knew Greek language. For the Jews, their original language was Hebrew and so was the Old Testament. New Testament was written in Greek language and when the writing was written in Greek, many nations could understand them already. The Lord had done great thing, didn’t He?

So Peter was able to stand up and answer the questions of many people of other nations who had asked how come their disciples were able to speak their original languages of their own countries. Holy Spirit spontaneously spoke their languages through the disciples who didn’t know their original languages. This was called the baptism of the Holy Spirit and He spoke wonderful things of God. Acts 2:14-40 was “Peter’s Pentecost Sermon” and through the power of the Holy Spirit, 3,000 souls were saved in one day. Joel prophesied was fulfilled [Joel 2:28-32].

The Lord has already done great things since 2,000 years. There are 77 millions of people that received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. God will continue to pour out His Spirit to all whose hearts are hungry for more experience with Christ’s love for them and to empower them to live for Christ and be able to help other know about Christ’s love and saving grace. Truly the Lord has done great thing!

Have you receive the Holy Spirit since you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? Paul ask this question to certain disciples at Ephesus is found Acts 19:1-7.

May the Lord bless you and touch your hearts.

Dorothy

God Listened 6/20-24/20

20-24 June 2020 God Listened – Manna by Dorothy & Tony Callies
Theme: God has listened to you and I have come because of your prayers.

Daniel 10:11-14 NCV: “Gabriel, the Angel was speaking to Daniel in a vision.”
V11 The man in the vision said to me, “Daniel, God loves you very much. Think carefully about the words I will speak to you, and stand up, because I have been sent to you.” When he said this, I stood up, but I was still shaking.

V12 Then the man said to me, “Daniel, DO NOT BE AFRAID. Sometimes ago you decided to get understanding and to humble yourself before your God. Since that time GOD HAS LISTENED TO YOU, and I have come because of your prayers.

V13 But the prince of Persia has been fighting against me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the most important angels, came to help me, because I had been left there with the king of Persia.

V14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people, because the vision is about a time in the future.”

Daniel was encouraged as this angel called him, “a man greatly beloved” and told him, “Fear not”. God loves Daniel for his love and faithfulness to Him. Daniel had a house in Babylonia and he went to pray in an upstairs room which had windows that opened toward Jerusalem. Three times each day Daniel would kneel down to pray and thank God, just as he faithfully had done. This was probably why Daniel was a man that God really loved him.

Do you ever felt like that your prayers were not always heard? Be of good cheer, God has heard your prayers. He is saying, “Fear not, I have heard all of your prayers.” Like Jesus said, “men ought always to pray and not to faint” [Luke 18:1]. Keep praying and thanking Him will keep us in touch with God and He will called you, “a child of greatly beloved.”

Keep thanking Him like Daniel did to God three times a day. Remember, Daniel was taken captive from his homeland, Jerusalem about 500 miles or more to Babylonia where he stayed. Yet, Daniel had an excellent spirit in him because he thanked God three times a day. Let this Word of God encourage our hearts to thank Him daily.

[Reference: Daniel 9:20-27; 10:1-21; 11:1]

God bless you!

Dorothy