Monday, June 26, 2017

Cultivating a Lifestyle of Joy Begins With This Simple Realization - Robin Bertram CHARISMA MAGAZINE

Cultivating a Lifestyle of Joy Begins With This Simple Realization

6/25/2017 Robin Bertram CHARISMA MAGAZINE

Have you truly experienced joy? Do you know what joy is and what it isn't? Do you want to cultivate a lifestyle of joy that will allow you to avoid those "if only" regrets? If so, keep reading.

We begin to experience true joy when we rest in God. It is in the absence of worry, guilt and shame that we begin to build a foundation and basis for a joy-filled existence.

Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is most greatly experienced by those willing to surrender all self-sufficiency, self-promotion, self-reliance, self-protection and self-absorption. It is a gift.

I believe we are to live each day as if it were our last. How would your life be different? Would your days be filled with worry, anxiety or fear, or will they be filled with peace, love and laughter?

Joy is an emotion that inspires our most unselfish desires and motivates us to live well and give to others what we have been given. It subdues the anxious heart. Joy is an abiding sense of well-being that is more than happiness; It is deep and rich and results in the confident security of a good future. Joy is the outcome and fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Joy is contagious.

The Lord intended for us to live in the joy of His Spirit and the joy of our salvation. Enjoy this moment. Enjoy this day—it's one you will never get back. Here are seven keys to experience life's greatest joys.

Key 1: Start with salvation. Once you are born again, your eyes are opened to your own worth and how much you are unconditionally loved. Joy is deeply rooted and grounded in the confidence you have in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Unlike happiness, circumstances cannot steal it unless you let it.

Key 2: Walk in joy. Choose to walk in joy. How? By acknowledging in your heart that the Lord is near you. He has promised never to leave or forsake you. Doesn't that bring a sense of peace and well-being?

Key 3: Choose to be in His presence. Abiding joy comes from being in His presence; choose to do this daily. Develop a systematic time and place to enter into His presence. It does not have to be just at church. It can be wherever and whenever you want to lift Him up in praise and adoration.

Key 4: Do not worry. Refuse to give in to worry. Worry kills. It can literally make you sick. Give your burdens to the Lord. Be anxious for nothing (see Phil. 4:6).

Key 5: Take everything to God in prayer. To experience true joy, you must take everything to God in prayer (see Phil. 4:6; 1 Thess. 5:17). Prayer is a necessity. God is worthy to be acknowledged in everything, and to be thanked for who He is and what He has done for you.

Key 6: Identify joy stealers. Sometimes our joy is suppressed when we live in deception, oppression, or crisis with repeated failures and broken dreams. It can also be repressed when we live a life of regret without a God-given purpose. Remove unforgiveness, bitterness, blame, regret, blame and worldly remorse which may steal your joy. Decide today to repent and move on (see Phil. 3:13-14).

Key 7: Build joy. Devise a strategy for joy building. Ask yourself what brings you the most joy. What has God put you here on earth to do? If you want to grow in the joy you've already been given through Jesus Christ, then learn to share the gospel, spend time in His Word daily, use your spiritual gifts for His glory and find your purpose in life.

Use these seven keys to grow in the fullness of joy and learn to walk in a life filled with hope and promise. Lay down any regret you've been carrying. Put it behind you. Walk in the joy of your salvation, and determine that this is the day the Lord has made and you will be glad and rejoice in it. God intended for our days to be satisfying. He intended for us to live in the joy of His Spirit and the joy of our salvation. Enjoy this moment. Enjoy this day: it's one you can never get back.

Adapted from No Regrets by Robin M. Bertram, copyright 2017, published by Charisma House; Charisma Media/Charisma House Book Group. This book is a manual that will teach you to live your life to the fullest, with no regrets, and how to build, live and leave a legacy. To order your copy click on this link.

Prayer Power Week Beginning June 25, 2017

This week, approach the Lord with an attitude of gratitude and surrender yourself totally to His will and purpose for your life. Thank Him for who He is, what He's done for you and for revealing Himself more and more as you seek Him. Resolve to set aside time to work on the seven keys Robin Bertram shared in the article above. Continue to pray for worldwide revival. Remember our president and those working with him as they face overwhelming challenges here and abroad. Pray for the Lord's intervention for the healing of the nations (1 Thess. 5:17; Phil. 3:13-17; 4:6).

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President Trump Breaks with Tradition, Skips Annual Ramadan Dinner - CBN News Amber C. Strong

President Trump Breaks with Tradition, Skips Annual Ramadan Dinner

06-26-2017

CBN News Amber C. Strong

WASHINGTON -- For the first time in nearly two decades, the White House has decided to skip hosting the annual Eid al-Fitr dinner celebrating the end of Ramadan. The dinner began under the Clinton administration and continued through the Obama years.

Instead, President Donald Trump issued a statement wishing warm greetings to Muslims.

“Muslims in the United States joined those around the world during the holy month of Ramadan to focus on acts of faith and charity. Now, as they commemorate Eid with family and friends, they carry on the tradition of helping neighbors and breaking bread with people from all walks of life,” the statement read in part.

Ramadan is considered the Muslim holy month, marked by prayer and fasting. Eid al-Fitr is the “break” to that fast.

As CBN News first reported in May, the State Department also rejected an offer to host a Ramadan dinner.

A State Department spokesperson told CBN News, “U.S. ambassadors are encouraged to celebrate Ramadan through a variety of activities, which are held annually at missions around the world.”

When CBN asked if the White House would follow suit, we were directed to an earlier statement the president released about Ramadan.

In that statement, President Trump gave his “best wishes for a blessed month.”

He also pointed out the spirit of the holiday saying, “The spirit of Ramadan strengthens awareness of our shared obligation to reject violence, to pursue peace, and to give to those in need who are suffering from poverty or conflict.”

Defense Minister Liberman: Abbas Is Pushing Hamas Into War With Israel - DANIEL KRYGIER/WORLD ISRAEL NEWS

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas extends his hand to U.S. President Donald Trump during their remarks after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, May 23, 2017. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Defense Minister Liberman: Abbas Is Pushing Hamas Into War With Israel

6:00AM EDT 6/26/2017 DANIEL KRYGIER/WORLD ISRAEL NEWS

On Thursday, at the annual Herzliya Conference, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman warned that Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas intends, in the long run, to stop all payments of supplies to Gaza and thereby provoke an armed conflict between his rival faction Hamas and Israel.

The defense minister stressed that Israel has no interest in an escalation of war with her neighbors. "I have no intention of initiating any military activity; not in the summer and not in the fall, not in the South and not in the North. Our objective is to prevent war and the only way to do that is through credible deference," Liberman said.

Liberman said that Israel is caught in the middle of an internal Palestinian power struggle, which is causing a humanitarian crisis for Gaza's 2 million residents who have to subsist on less than four hours of electricity a day.

The defense minister was pessimistic regarding the prospects of solving the crisis anytime soon.

Israel began cutting the 120 MGW electricity supply to Gaza by 40 percent, a step which leaves Gaza residents with two hours of electricity a day. The decision to do so was made after Abbas stated that he would pay only 40 percent of the bill to the Israel Electricity Company, which is currently the main power provider to the Gaza Strip.

By denying electricity to Gaza's population, Abbas is seeking to undermine the rule of his Hamas arch rival and regain control of the Strip a decade after his Fatah party was ousted by Hamas in a bloody coup.

During recent months, Abbas also stopped providing medication to Gaza's civilians and reduced payments to governmental employees in the Strip.

Liberman predicted that within a few months, Abbas will completely stop paying for electricity, medicines and civic salaries to Gaza. The defense minister said that Abbas's decision was unilateral and was not coordinated with Israel, Egypt or Jordan.

Abbas is playing a double game, Liberman suggested. "He is saying that we are just trying to weaken Hamas," but in reality, his motive is to "drag Hamas into a conflict with Israel."

This article originally appeared at worldisraelnews.com.

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ISRAEL TODAY - Our July Issue Is Now Available!

Our July Issue Is Now Available!

Monday, June 26, 2017 | Israel Today Staff

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Sunday, June 25, 2017

Fruit. Gifts. We need them now. - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Fruit. Gifts.

We need them now.

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:18-20, NKJV)

Raiders of the Lost Ark main man Dr. Indiana Jones came face to face with evil. The opponent had pulled out a sword to attack him. What did he do? He pulled out his gun. Game over.

Source: Screen shot from movie "Raider of the Lost Ark"

Our weapons of war are going to be needing much more power than the enemy has that we will confront. We are going to need to pull out the living God of Israel’s big guns.

In these last days I am not recommending that we all go out and get weapons that we can hold in our hands to defeat the enemy, seen and unseen. But I do know that when it comes to power against power, we better have the upper hand over the evil, wicked, “doesn’t play fair” enemy that we will, and even now do, confront in our lives and those around us.

We had better have in our possession the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) and the character to be able to handle and use them properly, by also having the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”

For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-13, NASU)

Shuk - open market in Jerusalem, Israel (Photo by Steve Martin 2013)

Confrontations are happening all around us in the heavenlies. The hateful enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, is waging war against the saints of God. He is going all out to steal, kill and destroy. We need to be equipped to fight back, and to fight back hard. We need to be on the offense, and know how to use the weapons of war we have been given.

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-10, NASU)

“Yeshua said to them again, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that I am the gate for the sheep. All those who have come before me have been thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the gate; if someone enters through me, he will be safe and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure.”

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

(John 10: 7-12, Complete Jewish Bible)

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are promised by Jesus to be bestowed upon those baptized by the Holy Spirit. They weren’t just for the early church, the Apostles, nor the ones living at the time of Pentecost, Shavuot. The gifts are needed as much now, as then.

Has evil in the world ceased? Surely not. That is obvious to anyone alive today.

Then why would the Lord Jesus Christ cease giving His gifts to us, needed to stand against the evil that is all around us? He hasn’t.

There is a very definite reason why the gifts of the Holy Spirit are to be received and manifested now. We need them to spread the Gospel and confront the enemy in the process.

“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” (Hebrews 2:1-4, NASU)

Along with the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Two sides of the same coin, for He is the same Spirit. The gifts give us the power; the fruit gives us the ability to use that power.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-25, NASU)

If my character has been formed by the working of the Holy Spirit within my spirit, which takes years (not an overnight phenomena), then I will be able to use the gifts as they were intended to be used.

The love and joy He has given us will give us the means to prophesy to another out of love and joy. The patience we possess will let us know when it is the right time to share the word of knowledge, and the word of wisdom. We just won’t run out and blab our mouth. His gentle guidance, honed by patience, will tell us the right time to share the right word. Self-control will also come into play.

The fruit of faithfulness, learned by seeing His faithful ways in our life, will keep us moving forward in demonstrating the gift of miracles, even when discouragement and weariness, weapons of the enemy, would tempt us to fall back and let another do it.

Fruit of the Holy Spirit, grown over time, gives us the ability to properly use the gifts of the Holy Spirit, given at a specific time. Both are much needed in our time.

More full grown fruit - Jerusalem, Israel open market, the Shuk (Photo by Steve Martin 2016)

If you don’t believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I suggest you read the Bible without crossing out “outdated verses” or tearing out selected pages, to fit someone else’s inerrant theology.

Do you drive a car without an engine? Then why deny allowing the living God to teach us through the entire instruction book that He gave us, from Genesis to Revelation?

After all, Jesus Christ IS the same yesterday, today and forever.

“Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.” (Hebrew 13:7-9, NKJV)

Prepare yourself for these last days with all that the Lord makes available to us, with His gifts of the Holy Spirit operating through the fruit of the Holy Spirit. You will be glad you did.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin

Founder

Love For His People, Inc.

P.S. There are many good books and videos available on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the gifts and fruit of the Ruach HaKodesh. I would suggest contacting my good friends at Derek Prince Ministries (with over 12 offices worldwide) for these subjects and a wide range of other great teaching, taught tremendously well by Derek. There are many free materials available on line, in many, many languages. Go here: Derek Prince Ministries

P.S. I would be most grateful if you'd share this encouraging word with your family and friends. They might need it. You can easily use the social media icons below. Thanks! Steve

We are blessed when the ministry receives gifts to support the families that we do, primarily for those living in Israel, Pakistan, Northern Ireland and India, and the hurting ones here in the USA. You also can share out of the abundance you have been given.

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations.

If these messages minister to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families we know in Israel, whom we consistently help through our humanitarian ministry. Your tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

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Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.) Please share Now Think On This with your friends.

Now Think On This - In the Year of our Lord 06.25.17 - #296 – “Fruit. Gifts. Need Them Now.” – Sunday, 8:24 am

Prophetic Dream: The Key to Overcoming Sin is His Presence - Ron Cantor Messiah's Mandate

Prophetic Dream: The Key to Overcoming Sin is His Presence

Ron Cantor — June 24, 2017

Iwas lying down, just resting and suddenly I had vision or a dream or maybe drevision. I was walking along Israel’s main highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv with someone whom I did not know. He told me that the newest lane, the outside lane—actually the shoulder—would soon fall into the ground because of sinkholes or erosion of the land. I was walking as far outside as one could get while still being on the shoulder. I felt a pull, like a magnetic force, pulling me off the road and into the brown grass.

Then I realized it was a vision.

Interpretation

The road is our life. The area off the road—dead grass—is sin, temptation, addiction, etc. If the road was going to fall into the ground on the side, why was I walking there? I should, at least, have moved to the other side of my companion, if not hugged the center of the highway.

The warning and encouragement is to not walk too close to the flame, lest you get burned. Or as Solomon rhetorically asked, “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without burning his clothes?” (Prov. 6:27) The words the Lord spoke to Cain come to mind:

“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Gen. 4:7)

The key to ruling over sin is not merely resisting. Notice I said merely. Yes, resisting sin is part of it. James does tell us to resist the devil and he will flee. (James 4:7) (Ironically the same chapter and verse as the Genesis passage.) However, resisting is not enough.

In His Presence

If sin is represented by the area off the road, then the opposite of sin must be in the center of the road. Yeshua lives in the center. His presence is in the center. The key to overcoming sin or “ruling over” sin is spending time with Yeshua. There is no sin in His presence. There is life, love, forgiveness, joy unspeakable and a peace that passes all understanding. It is hard to give into temptation, much less sin, when we are in His presence.

I once remarked to a repentance preacher, “Holiness is not the absence of sin, but the presence of God.” The key to overcoming lust is not found in human effort, but in our desire for God. When we are hungry for God, we will not be hungry for sin.

How ‘Bout Them Apples

I remember when I started eating healthy. For snacks, instead of cake or a candy bar, I was told to eat an apple. I rarely ate fruit. I didn’t want an apple. But amazingly, after a few days of eating apples, I began to crave apples. In the same way, if you give yourself to seeking God, hungering after Him, you will find your appetite for sin decreases and your need for His presence increases.

Angels

And when we overcome sin, we can expect His presence. Many have taught about how Yeshua overcame temptation in Matthew 4—three times Yeshua fights off the enemy—but I have rarely heard anyone comment on what happened next. After He resists the enemy, something special takes place: “Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” (Matt. 4:11)

When we overcome sin, we can expect angels to come and minister to us. You can be sure of this: God loves you and wants to help you in your struggle. It starts with strengthening that relationship with Him. Build up a hunger for healthy God and don’t give in to destructive sin. And though you can’t see them, angels are ministering to you.

We have to stop walking so close to the edge and get closer to Yeshua. When someone asks, “What is the least I can do and still get into heaven,” they are missing the point. That is like having 50-yardline seats at the Super Bowl, but hiding in the bathroom. Yes, you are there, but you are missing the best part. God is fun. God is joy. God is victory and life and love.

In the World, not Of the World

“But if I separate myself from the world to be with Yeshua, what good will I be?” Good question. Walking far from the edge doesn’t mean that we don’t have contact with sinners. Hello. Look at Yeshua. He walked so close to the Father—to the point that He said that He could only do what He sees His Father doing (Jn. 5:19)—and yet, He spent His time with prostitutes and tax collectors.

You can walk far from the edge and yet be right in the midst of those who need Yeshua. In fact, that is where we are to live. Just as Yeshua intimated—we are to be in the world, but not of the world.

“I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” (John 17:14-16)

God is doing an amazing work at Tiferet Yeshua in Tel Aviv—a Hebrew-speaking congregation dedicated to reaching Israelis with Yeshua’s message. We are hungrier than ever before for a move of God. Stand with us in prayer and support as we share the bread of life to our people here in Israel.

Click here: Donate to Tiferet Yeshua in Tel Aviv, Israel

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Monday, June 26, 2017