Daily book quote;

    The blessing of God is not intended to make us materially rich. In fact, material things have a way of hindering God’s blessing! While he has promised to provide our needs, our hearts must be set on Him and His Kingdom; “Seek Ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”

    I could mention many ways in which we feel blessed by God; and they all are true blessings, but I think one of the most important and fulfilling dimensions of God’s blessings is when we allow ourselves to become “channels” of God’s blessing. The blessings of God in our lives, whatever we have received from God in our lives, be it financial, good relationships, love, grace, or peace, they must flow through us to reach people and show them God. When we are channels of those blessings, God will turn their hearts toward Him. When we think of the many ways we have been blessed, we ought to ask ourselves if we have just received those blessings and held on to them for ourselves, or have we had opportunity to be a “channel” and shared that blessing with someone in need?

Daily book quote;

    His name is Simon Peter. We remember him as the disciple who tried to walk on water, but started sinking when the wind and the waves blew his faith away. He was the one who testified Jesus as the Son of God, yet denied him three times in one night. He swore never to forsake his master, but ran away for fear of his life. Simon Peter, a man of broken promises…a man of failure.

    His name is Simon Peter. We remember him as a great Apostle. He boldly and tirelessly proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God. He baptized hundreds and perhaps thousands of people. He performed many miracles by healing the sick and even raising the dead. People chased his shadow believing that if his shadow fell upon them, they would be healed. Simon Peter: a man of great success and fame in the church of Jesus Christ.

    What made the difference between the first Simon Peter, and the second Simon Peter was the account in our scripture of Jesus – as he walked - approaching the shoreline – He was the God of “Second Chances”.

    There are two other separate occasions when Jesus appeared to His disciples, yet Jesus did not confront Peter. He gave him time! Then he gave him a second chance. Instead of rebuking Peter for his failures, Jesus gives him another chance to prove himself. Jesus was not looking to Peter’s past, he was looking to Peter’s future! He was looking to what Peter was going to do from that moment on.

Daily book quote;

    Then there are those who have “selective hearing”. They only hear what they want to hear. They “tune out” the things they don’t want or don’t like to hear. Sometimes we have selective hearing on a subconscious level. A mother, for instance can hear her child whimper while she is in the midst of a sound sleep.

    Then, of course, there are the good listeners. They are the seekers. They are seeking to know and seeking to grow. This is the kind of listener Cornelius was in Acts 10:30 -33 – “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.” 
    Good listeners are always ready to hear God speak. They are eager to take notes and hungry to learn. They are literally seeking to grow spiritually and not just content to let spiritual growth just happen to them. There is a certain part or parts of spiritual growth that will happen or “rub off” just because we are there! However, this type of listener desires life change!