Living godly in Azerbaijan

“Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory…” (I Chronicles 4:10).

God wants to bless you and enlarge your territory. Your territory can be your sphere of influence or your realm of responsibility or authority. Are you ready for increase in your life today? You may desire God’s increase, but the Bible says we have not because we ask not. Are you asking for God’s blessing? Are you asking Him to enlarge your territory? When you ask God to bless you, your faith is activated which opens the door for Him to work in your life. Open your heart today and ask for God’s blessing, ask for His discernment and wisdom. Ask Him to make you more effective on your job; ask Him to increase the quality of your relationships; ask for more people to love and encourage. Ask Him to enlarge your territory so that you can be a greater blessing to those around you. As you take a step of faith in prayer today, God will hear you. He’ll open doors that no man can close and pour out His abundance in every area of your life!

A Prayer for Today

Father in heaven, today I open my heart to You and ask You to bless me. I ask You to increase me in every area and teach me to be faithful to You always. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

As I was sleeping this night I kept pondering what this life is all about; I’m asking God this question, why do I keep suffering for long?

The whole saga started earlier in the day when I had seen my mothers picture on Facebook. I have wondered if a woman like that could still be suffering "unhappiness" while the wicked enjoy, then where is Gods justice?

I took solitude in my wife and son, but despite I couldn’t get inner peace. God please you are hearing and I know You are still the same God of David; answer me my questions: didn’t you say You will bless the seed of the righteous; or is it not right that the righteous shall be taken care of in their old age; didn’t You also say that your words remain sure for all generation;...?

Yes God, You are still that One, the only One.

“Keep me as the apple of your eye…” (Psalm 17:8).

God cherishes and values you so much today. You are the apple of His eye; the center of His world! In this day and age, people are considered to be important for so many different reasons—titles, position, possessions, where you go, what you drive. But God’s value system is very different from the value system of the world. If you’ve ever thought that God has too many other important things on His plate to be concerned with you and your life, know this today—you are God’s number one priority. And there’s nothing you can do to be more important or less important. God values you today simply because He made you, and your value will never change. You are significant. Your life is significant. The things that concern you, concern God. He carefully watches over every detail of your life, and there is nothing too big or too small for His attention. Take your concerns and cares to the Father today. He loves to hear you call upon Him, and He is waiting to show Himself strong on your behalf. Because you are important to Him, He is ready to bless and empower you to live in victory all the days of your life.

A Prayer for Today

Father in heaven, thank You for loving me today. Thank You for making me the apple of Your eye. I open my heart to You today and cast every care on You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

“According to Your faith, be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29).

A lot of time people think that when they have a need, that if God wanted to, He could just automatically meet it. But Jesus didn’t say, according to your need be it unto you; He said, according to your faith. That’s why it’s so important to have an attitude of expectancy every single day. If we want God to move in our lives, we have to approach every day filled with faith and hope. The scripture tells us in Romans that “faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” The more you have the Word of God in your life, the more your faith will grow and the more you will see Him working in your life. God longs to bless you, and He’s given you everything you need to be successful in life. Remember, all things are possible to those who believe! Believe in His goodness today and take a step of faith toward the life of blessing God has prepared for you!

A Prayer for Today

Father, thank You for Your hand of blessing in my life today. I open my heart to You and trust that You have a good plan for me. Give me a heart filled with faith and hope today. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

”Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

Is there an area of your life that you need God’s help in? A lot of times, it’s easy to think that we’re not supposed to ask for too much, but the scripture encourages us to go to God with all of our needs. He longs to give you the desires of your heart and pour out His favor and blessing on you. In fact, Jesus said, “You have not, because you ask not.” When you step out and ask for God’s favor, His blessings and His increase, you are activating your faith. And when you pray, make sure there isn’t anything in your heart that would block your faith. Begin your prayers by surrendering every thought and attitude to the Lord. Ask Him to purify your motives and show you if there is any unforgiveness in your life. When you release those things to the Lord, it opens the door for Him to move mightily on your behalf, and you will move forward into the life of blessing He has in store for you!

A Prayer for Today

Father in heaven, I humbly come to You and surrender all that I am. I ask that You pour out Your favor and blessing on me so that I can be a greater blessing to others. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

God has placed dreams and desires in each of our hearts. Are you believing for something that seems to be taking a long time? Are you tempted to quit? Maybe you’ve already given up on that dream. Today is a new day—it’s time for you to get your fire back! It may be taking a long time, but God is faithful! He promises to complete the work He began in your life. Don’t fall into the temptation to get complacent and think it’s never going to happen. Right now, whether you see it or not, God is working behind the scenes and arranging things in your favor. When you develop an attitude of expectancy, you open the door to His miracle-working power in your life. Decide today to declare His Word and speak words of victory. Start declaring today, “My time is coming...God is working behind the scenes on my behalf…I will fulfill my destiny…I will fulfill the plan God has for my life!” As you declare and expect God to move, your faith will grow. Your hope will grow. Keep expecting and waiting for the appointed time. As you do, you’ll step into the victorious destiny God has planned for you!

by Joel Osteen

What does it mean to be disciplined? The book of Proverb is full of reflections on discipline; words such as reprove, chastised, correct, instruct, punish, teach, etc. All these are all measures we can apply towards discipline life. Note that punishment is not the main factor but correction.

Discipline can be:

External; God and our parents (those in authority)
Internal; d application of self discipline

Proverb 13.24, Proverb 3.11-12, Proverb 13.1, Psalms 29.17, Psalms 19.18, Psalms 32.15

If you don’t discipline your children you ruin there life. God disciplines are for our benefits so that we live a happy life. Discipline is something we have to do as parents; it’s not always easy but it’s necessary.

The goal of external discipline is to create an internal discipline. It’s stupid to hate correction. Discipline helps develop us so it becomes a self consciousness.

Self discipline

It involves 3 things. God through out history with the help of his servants has told us that wise living involves discipline. Therefore discipline involves:

1. Personal responsibility -Proverb 4.20-27

There is a pay off in life to live discipline as well as there are repercussions for trying to skip discipline. We take responsible for our own lives; nobody will do it for us. We are our own biggest problems so we have to learn to direct it rightly. Self discipline entails to take care of the things of the heart. When we blame every one else but us, we don’t do ourselves well. It’s only wise if we take responsibility. We have to practice discipline, honesty, time management so we can live the self disciplined life.

2. Delayed gratification -Proverb 24.30-34

Delayed gratification means arranging pain and pleasure so we take the pains first and then have pleasure. It sounds simple but today in life we want the opposite. Delayed gratification incorporates into the acts of discipline. Some people try to enjoy life now and of course the pains can come thereafter. This is a law of life that is uncompromised; delayed gratification is no guarantee that life is going to work out, but its good element that we have a key to having a final pleasure.

Delayed gratification help us live life in fullness just as God intends for us -Proverb 14.23, Psalms 20.4. We do some painful things so we can enjoy latter. So also is life, we should sacrifice now so we can enjoy God's blessings latter. To have everything right now is a really contrast to what God teaches about wise living.

3. Advanced decision making -Proverb 5.1-14

God advises that if we want to live above sexual temptation, we have to make the decision ahead of time and discipline ourselves to live by it; God says avoid these temptation by making decision to do so. A lot of good things in life come from making advanced decision. Its true we sometimes don’t plan to sin, but again if we consider the repercussions or the outcomes, we then make the decision to abide by good living.
Advanced decision involves a whole area of our life; in our walk with God, in our daily living, in our family relations, how we spend our time, etc.

God wants us to develop wisdom and it comes from discipline. We are to decide on the practices we should follow that will develop us positively.

Discipline is hard; it can be a friend or an enemy. As an enemy it will force you to do what you don’t want, you will fight with certain aspects of life. However if discipline is your friend then it’s a means to having a good life.
Let us end with the Olympics; the athletes participating had to pass thru lots of self training -discipline to achieve their successes. Therefore, to have the successes God wants us to be willing to go on when no one is willing to go.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

God’s dream for your life is so much bigger than your own! He wants to bless you indeed and enlarge your territory. His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours, and His plan is so much bigger than we can imagine. Choose today to focus on the good things God has in store for you. Don’t allow the circumstances of life to drag your thoughts down. Choose to think God’s thoughts by meditating on His Word. The scripture says to “set your mind on things above.” Those “things above” are God’s thoughts and ways which are, “I am blessed and highly favored. I am above only and not beneath. I am the head and not the tail. I am a victor, not a victim. I am righteous, and my path shines brighter and brighter to the full day. I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus.” When you allow those higher thoughts to fill your mind, they will direct your steps, and you will rise higher in life! You will see yourself as an overcomer and live the abundant life the Lord has for you.

A Prayer for Today

Father in heaven, thank You for thinking good thoughts about me. Help me to focus on Your higher thoughts today. Empower me to obey Your Word so that I can live as an overcomer in every area of life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

“If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Salvation comes when you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that He was raised from the dead. In the same way, God’s Word becomes alive in our hearts when we confess and believe it. What are you confessing today? What are you saying about your situation? Are you confessing the Word and believing that God is at work behind the scenes? Or do you talk about your problems and always believe the worst. What ever you confess and put your faith in will come to pass in your life. If you’ve been saying the wrong things, simply repent today which literally means to turn around. You can turn around and start confessing and believing the Word. Don’t just let your mind and mouth wander any longer. Write down some scripture verses and take them with you. Be determined to speak the Word. As you allow His truth to sink down into your heart, you’ll find His salvation and victory in every area of your life.

A Prayer for Today

Father in heaven, today I repent for anything that I’ve been confessing that isn’t pleasing to You. I choose today to keep my mind and heart focused on Your Word. Make Your truth real to me today. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Proverb 21.2; this is a series in the proverb.

The person who gives a message is as important as the message itself. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the lord weighs the heart. This proverb explains two things, our own thoughts and how God weighs them. The 1st half affects our own mentality and thoughts that’s why the NIV says that all of a man’s way seems right and innocent but motives are weighed by the Lord. It in essence says we are established by our own perception but God evaluates all. It means there is something going on in our heart while also God is doing something.

Proverb.24.16; there are two biblical truths, principles from this passage:

1. Our decision making is 1st an issue of the heart before it is an issue of the head.

It also explains that there are things that go on in the inside of us that affects our logical conclusion. On s broader analysis, we sin because there is an issue we deal within us; passions that gives rise to bad decision or dealings. This is an issue that affects all mankind.

The NIV well explains the scenario and it stated that “everything is going on in a man’s heart that he assumes is right”. As a reflection to Genesis 6, it says the woman saw that the food was good for food, and the desire (passion) drove her to sin. So it happens in her heart before it was manifested.

2. Our hearts can manipulate our minds to justify what our hearts want.

What in the actually context is a sluggard saying in this context? It is simply saying that the sluggard is justifying his laziness. We at times, in order to back up our heart laziness; we twist reality to justify our bad desires. The sluggard makes up an excuse to justify his bad motives. Also, in Ephesians 4:17,18, Paul also referenced laziness as a negative factor and likened it to blackness. Why did Paul say this? It is because of the darkness of the heart. The mind is blackened because the darkness is clouding it.

Jesus also backed this up in His conversation with Nicodemus in John 3.19,20

Our deepest desire manipulates our rationality.

With this information then what is the next thing for us. If it starts from our heart, then we have to affect the heart to stop suppressing the truth.

We can do five things:

1. Get son-burned; let the son go in and burn up all those negativity. Let the living active word of God to go right into your heart. Know it that only God’s word can access every place in our heart, even down to d intentions of our hearts. We can ask God to help us out.

2. Pray for your heart; let us pray in line with these bible verses:

Incline –Psalms 119:36,
Open –Psalms 119.18,
Unite – Psalms 86:11,
Satisfy – Psalms 90:14

As we pray for our heart in these three steps we are simply saying God make us fully turned to You, even as You open our hearts to be receptive to You; unite our hearts to remove the other distraction.

3. Beat your chest; in d bible we know that people beat their chest as sign of repentance. Therefore simply say go in repentance. Remember the story of Jesus of the tax collector and the Pharisee; Jesus said that the sinner went away justified because he was humble.

4. Jump in; so many people are standing by the edge saying God it will b too cold, the transformation is too painful; but the one who loves you unconditionally is beckoning come on in.

5. Remember; God weighs my ways. if we know that every thing we do, God is definitely and ultimately have d last word. it is only very appropriate if we let God even now have, all we do.

Song to meditate on:

Take My Life

Holiness, holiness is what I long for
Holiness is what I need
Holiness, holiness is what you want from me

Take my heart and form it
Take my mind, transform it
Take my will, conform it
To Yours, to Yours, O Lord.

Righteousness, righteousness is what I long for
Righteousness is what I need
Righteousness, righteousness is what you want from me

Take my heart and form it
Take my mind, transform it
Take my will, conform it
To Yours, to Yours, O Lord.

Faithfulness, faithfulness is what I long for
Faithfulness is what I need
Faithfulness, faithfulness is what you want from me

Take my heart and form it
Take my mind, transform it
Take my will, conform it
To Yours, to Yours, O Lord.

Lord Reign In Me

Over all the Earth
You reign on high
Every mountain stream every sunset sky
But my one request Lord my only aim
Is that you reign in me again

Lord reign in me
Reign in your power
Over all my dreams
In my darkest hour
You are the Lord of all I am
So won't you reign in me again

Over every thought
Over every word
May my life reflect the beauty of my Lord
'Cause you mean more to me than any Earthly thing
So won't you reign in me again