BUT, as for me....

Micah 7:7, " But as for me, I will look to the Lord;  I will wait for The Lord of my salvation; my God will hear me."

It's interesting to me that the first six verses  Micah is complaining about all that is wrong and then in verse seven he has an epiphany, he says, "As for me, I will look to The Lord."    Micah was referring to the corrupt  unfaithful leaders before him when he said, "As for me."  Micah is  comparing  himself to the watchmen of verse four when he said, " I will look."  The word "look" is the same Hebrew verb  as watchmen, it means I will wait, my God will hear me.

So many times we get stuck in complaining about the leaders, the unjust, the useless mundane every day grind of life and we loose sight of  keeping our eyes on Jesus..Micah said, the godly has vanished from the earth, there is no upright among us, they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts each other with nets, their hands do what is evil, and they do it well, they yell out the evil desires of their souls, they hate their neighbor, and have no confidence in their friends, all the family members have turned against each other, BUT for me, I will look to The Lord; I will wait for The Lord of my salvation because I know he hears me.  Can you say this, with that amount  of  confidence today ?  Who are you looking at?  Who are you talking to ?  Micah was saying everything is falling down around me and Lord it would be easy for me to lose my focus BUT I refuse to think of you that small.  I refuse to allow the circumstance around me to determine who You are in my life.  I will not be pushed around by impatience, or dragged through the mire of doubt and unbelief, No!!! I will feast my eyes upon my Lord and rejoice in knowing the fruit of patience I devour freely because I know my Lord has not been deafened by the noise of this world.    Although Micah started out with a cry of morning he ended  up with confidence in His God.  He said, " Rejoice not over me my enemy, when I fall, I shall rise; When I sit in darkness The Lord will be a light to me."  Somebody needs to shout today because the victory is yours, your failures has become your tuition for your success which was once said by a fellow author, Walter Brunel ....Choices are for the living
Keep your eyes on The Lord, and have confidence in the fact God does not have a hearing aid..

The Lord Will Provide

Where there is a Ram there is a way......

Genesis 22:13-14, " And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son.  So Abraham called this place, The Lord will provide.  And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."

  In this day and age with all the uncertainty that surrounds us from our job security, to our homes, gas prices, and bank accounts, it must be settled in our soul that God will provide a ram for us in the thicket.  You know as I re-read this amazing story of obedience and faith my senses were awakened.  When God asked Abraham to sacrifice as a burnt offering his only son whom he loved, the one Sarah and him had waited for Abraham did not answer with words but with action...Abraham did not say a word, not a peep, he just went.  How often do I hear through my travels or right here where I reside people saying, God told me to do.......but I told God.......How different would your life look if God told you to do something and without a word you headed in that direction???  You know Abraham had to walk 50 miles to get to the mountain God placed before him.  Abraham had to bring the wood, the fire , the knife, and his son( the sacrifice)... Abraham could have brought his son but not the wood or the fire but not the knife, or  the wood, knife, and fire, but not Isaac but Abraham did not miss a beat he obeyed every detail, and left no room for excuses.  Obedience to God moved Abraham up the mountain with each step he took he was counting the sacrifice.  Once Abraham was there, he was ready to follow through with God's request....But here it is folks, found in Genesis 22:11-13 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham! " And he said "Here I am"  He said, "do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know you fear God, seeing that you have not withheld your son, your only son from me."And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, behind him was a ram. Sometimes what we need the most is behind us...it is the very thing that you thought would destroy you that made it possible for you to scale the mountain which lay before you....Choices are for the living....

2012 Womens Conference.wmv

After this.....

Genesis 15:1, " After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward."

As soon as I read this one scripture I immediately started thinking....After what???? So, I reread the scriptures before this one....After God promises Abram a nation, after God told Abram to picked up his whole family and move at the age of seventy-five without even knowing where he was moving to.  After, Abram built God several altars as a reminder of God's promises.  After, Abram allowed his nephew Lot to have his choice of  land.  After, God told Abram to lift up his eyes and look to the north, south, east, and west an gave Abram all the land he could see. After, Abram rescues his nephew Lot form the choices he made in the land he chose.  After, Abram gave Melchizedek, a tenth of everything.  After, all of this a word came from the Lord, do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.

Wow!!! The Lord called him by his name, as if he was a friend, he told Abram do not be afraid, I am your shield your great reward...Do you hear God talking to you???  If it has grown silent, maybe there has not been many "After This", moments in your life....Maybe, God is waiting for you to do the last thing He said before He gives you something else...Don't get me wrong Abram was not perfect remember he lied about his wife to Pharaoh and said she was his sister so they would not kill him right before God said, After this and he went on to make many, many more mistakes. But, I believe in my heart Abram's heart was right, his actions did not always reflect it, but his heart was right...Abram would hear God's voice and obey. I know God is speaking, or has spoken to each and every reader today the question is...Are you obeying???? I am???
I want to challenge you to go back to the last thing God told you to do, and check and see if you did it... God has promises just for you for such a time as this...Don't be afraid. God is your shield He is your great reward... Choices are for the living...

JUST GO ALREADY

Matthew 28: 18-20, "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching then to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."


I am not sure what some of us are waiting for???? Did you know the word "GO" is written 1,487 times in the bible ?  I believe when Jesus commissioned us to GO He meant it... Every miracle begins with an act of obedience, it begins with "GO". Recently I returned from Thailand where a team and I went to minister the Word of God to Abba House, a house where children are saved from the very hands that were to take care of them , to encourage them, teach them, and protect them, many of these children were saved from their very own mothers, some were saved from sex trafficking, but without a doubt all of them needed to be saved from something or somebody.  Because Joyce Moore and her husband David decided to sell everything they had and "GO" to Thailand  to start a house called Abba House these children were saved in the physical realm as well as the spiritual realm. I cannot even pin to words the things they had to endure , the things they had to see and do just to survive, but God said "Go "and Joyce and David went selling all they had because they are truly sold out for the cause...Praise be to My God... Also, while I was in Thailand my team and I had an opportunity to go to the men's prison to minister the infallible Word of God where 122 men received the Lord as their Savor... Why??? Because a group of 9 heard the voice of God calling them to Thailand and chose to "GO".   It all boils down to this for me..... I am so glad someone 23 years ago decided to "GO" to me, to witness God's mercy and grace to me, to set this captive free, to take a chance that I might say "Yes", to the offer of salvation through Jesus Christ....Because someone chose to GO, I have now been serving The Lord for 23 years along with my husband and two girls.  I am an ordained minister, who is the CEO of Faith Builders Ministries Inc. , author of 5 books, traveling telling my testimony, going into the prison teaching God's Word all because someone decided to "GO"....But as always Choices are for the Living...Will you choose to go to a neighbor, a friend, a co-worker, or a family member to offer Jesus.  Can I hear anyway say, "Here I am send me Lord."?  Oh, if not now when?  We are called servants of God, so let's serve someone besides ourself.

Choices are for the Living

Choices are for the Living

What does it mean to fear God?  What does that even look like to you?  Could it mean to tremble every time you sin?  Could it mean shaking when His name is spoken aloud?  Or could it possibly mean reading His Word and then doing His Word, according to His word.  Examine the scriptures for yourself and let them reveal His truth.  The word fear is written in the NKJV bible 367 times and of those 367 times, 118 times are associated in direct fear of the Lord.

I’m not sharing this because I have arrived in any way shape or form understanding the fear of the Lord, but because I believe it has been misunderstood therefore ignored I am beginning to research the teaching myself.  If I could, I would take out the 51 times in the NKJV scriptures that said, "Do not fear."  It would make my goal easier if the Bible did not appear to contradict itself.  Do not fear, then fear, sounds like a contradiction to the word.  We must distinguish between the two fears.  "Do not fear" means "do not fear for I am with you" as it is written in Isaiah 41:10 NIV.  Hebrews 11:7 NIV says, "By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.  By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith".  The fear of the Lord actually saved mankind; the whole human race was saved because Noah took God at His word.  God said build an ark and Noah grabbed the nails and went to the wood pile.  Noah not only built an ark but he and his whole household entered the ark when God told them to. Allow me to take a little liberty with the word of God for a moment. I can see in my mind the day Noah began to build, with every coat of pitch and with every piece of wood the Nay Sayers were on the scene mocking the very thing God had willed Noah to do. For 120 years Noah stayed the course and remained faithful to the word which was spoken to him. Why? I believe it was because Noah had a reverent fear of the Lord.  He believed what God said, and acted on what he believed. Would your life look different if you read the scriptures with the fear of the Lord, if you believed what you read?   Noah obeyed God longer than most of us live it took him 120 years to build the ark, 120 years of faithfulness, 120 years of people laughing at him, 120 years of hard work and dedication, 120 years of consistency. Wow! It’s hard for some of you to be consistent in going to church, tithing, or reading your bible. Noah was repetitious with believing no matter how long the rain held back Noah moved forward.  Noah lived expecting the word of God to come to pass.

 I know when this story is told Noah is the one we recognize and we should recognize Noah, but let’s not forget about the other seven people who built right along with him. God spoke to Noah but Noah passed down the vision and the other seven seen what God showed Noah and began to build as well. Readers, I know many of you have received a word from the Lord and because you fear the Nay Sayers more than you fear God you remain stagnant, complacent, and unfulfilled in your lives. God spoke to Noah, Noah passed the vision on it witness to the others and an ark was built, a generation was saved, and the Lord was pleased.  Habakkuk 2:1-3 “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.  For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”  

The word of God said, “I will stand”, not moan, groan, complain, sleep or whine, but stand. Habakkuk positioned himself in the best position to receive God’s message. I challenge you today to get the vision, write it down and position yourself to receive the power to complete what God has called you to do. Ephesians 2:10,” For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”.  Mankind was saved because Noah feared God.  Whose life could be changed because you chose to fear the Lord and obey. Choices are for the Living

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 9:10  

Do what He has called you to do and build your ark.

Michele Davenport
For prayer request or questions about my column you can email me at my new email address fbmin02@gmail.com

To order my books or listen to my teachings by audio go to fbministrie

Choices are for the Living

Choices are for the Living    

Reduction…..

Wake up, eyes lifted, ears aroused by the noise of living a life of existence.  Rush around preparing for your day, gathering your thoughts and reducing them to your surroundings.  Reducing, is what we have become masters at, reducing the hunger pains of another person whether it’s food or love.  Reducing the homeless to the selected few you observe a holding a sign. Reducing the imprisoned to an outreach program or by defining the imprisoned; to only the ones who are locked behind bars. We have become reduction experts. We reduce the millions who die every day; due to lack of clean water, nutrition, medicine, and preventable vaccines. How do we reduce them, by letting our minds slumber, the part of our mind that should be awake and respond has become reduced, the faces of the dying has been tucked away in a bed covered with complacency.  Self is in the forefront of everything we do.  Reducing the people who have a need to our limited resources, to what only we can believe for. I wonder what difference we would make in the world around us if we really believed what we prayed. We have even reduced our prayers according to our limited understanding; because we don’t fully understand how our prayers could work we don’t pray with the authority given to us through Jesus. Have we allowed our faith to be reduced to the size less than a mustard seed?  Reducing your giving according to your bank account, instead of what God can supply. Have we become the kind of givers who give only what we obtain in the natural?  That is what the world does should we not be different than the world?   We have become reduction experts; just ask us we will tell you how to do it.

Have we reduced our compassion for others down to what we are comfortable feeling? Are you guilty of reducing your life to your own existence, your own survival, and your own needs? Have we reduced ourselves down to nothing but a mere memory of what was supposed to be?  Something interesting happens when reduction continues, soon nothing but a vapor appears. Choices are for the living, chose to refuse to live a life of reduction allow God to increase you in every area where you slumber.

Revelation 3:2-3, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”

John 14:12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Living a life awake…….Michele Davenport

For prayer or questions about today’s message email me at my new email fbmin02@gmail.com to listen to my teachings on audio or to order my books go to fbministries.com