Dealing With Enemies, Pastor Phil Sessa

Psalm 23:5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…” 

David wrote Psalm 23 toward the end of his life, and therefore it is his reflection of God’s work in the life of David. David had the following experiences: tending sheep, defeating Goliath, being chased by King Saul, anointed King of Israel, committing adultery, repenting of his sin, etc…. To say that David had a full life of vast experiences would be an understatement. Many of us are familiar with this most popular Psalm but what snapshot of David’s life was he thinking of when he wrote, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…?” Was Goliath on his mind, or one of his many battles that he led? I believe that David reflected on the time his sheep were hunted by a lion or a bear that could easily devour and carry them away. However David was the sheep, and he was not being hunted by a foreign army, or even any such enemy of Israel, he was being hunted by an enemy lion, with the attributes of Satan who seeks to steal kill and destroy, that was supposed to be on his side.

The Providence Of God, Evans Olang

Jeremiah 32:6-8, “6 And Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 7 ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, “Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it. ” 8 ’ Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.”

In our times many people equate God’s invention in lives by great signs, wonders and miracles. If God is not perfoming these things then perhaps we are not experiencing God’s abundant blessing as some may want us to believe.

Blessings Are Powerful, Evans Olang

Mathew 23:39, “…Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord”

We all crave for blessings because blessings are very powerful. Blessings are signs of approval from someone you value their approval. For example, Kids want their parents to approve the relationships they are in and bless it. Esau was destined to receive his father’s blessings but his brother pretended to be him and took it away. Esau upon hearing his lost opportunity for a blessing, “… he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me—me also, O my father!”“, Genesis 27:34.Throught the bible you read of fathers blessing their children based on how they lived their lives. Blessings are very powerful!!!.

Blessed Is The Man, Evans Olang

Psalm 1:1-6, “… He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings fruit in it’s season…”

I believe the opening chapter in the book of Psalm down to a few verses is one of the guidelines to being blessed of God. God has no shortcuts for His people to get blessed despite the many teachings we hear especially with televangelists. I believe God would want us to move from expecting miracles to being blessed. Being blessed in my judgment is a working progress. Let’s see what Psalm 1 teaches us how to be blessed.

Blessings And Curses, Part 4of4, Pastor Phil Sessa

Mark 11:14, “Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again…”

Jesus spoke a destructive miracle into being! Of all the miracles that Jesus performed, none of them was of a destructive nature other than the cursing of the fig tree. Upon leaving Bethany Jesus was hungry, and saw a fig tree in the distance, and therefore went over to it to satisfy his hunger. However the tree He noticed only bore leaves, but NO fruit. Then Jesus spoke the words of cursing upon the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” This doesn’t quite make much sense in light of Mark stating, “He [Jesus] found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.” Why is Jesus cursing a tree for having no figs, but every other fig tree had the same testimony, “because IT WAS NOT THE SEASON FOR FIGS.” Was it reasonable for Jesus to curse the fig tree for not bearing its fruit out of season?

Blessings and Curses, Part 2of4, Pastor Phil Sessa

Psalm 1:3-4, “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.”

The blessed is personified as a tree that is planted and therefore rooted. Jeremiah tells us “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit (17:7–8).”

Blessings and Curses, Part 1of4, Pastor Phil Sessa

Psalm 1:1–2, “BLESSED is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law does he meditate day and night.”

In Psalm 1 two lives are contrasted, the blessed life and the cursed (ungodly life). Many people think that they can stay on the fence, having one foot in the church and one foot in the world. If a soldier did that in war, stood in between both sides, he would surely be killed by the crossfire of both sides firing at him.

God Has A Plan To Bless You, Pastor Boaz Olang

Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

God has a grand plan to bless your life in a very special way. How do you get to know what plans He has for you? What do you need to do to receive His blessings, both spiritual and material? Here are a few recommendations to meditate on today:

First, you need to have a relationship with Him. You must be made His child and remain his forever (John 1:12). Only God’s children have inheritance to the blessings of God. The righteous shall inherit the earth, the Bible says.

Throw A Way The Recipe Book, Evans Olang

2Kings 5:1-14, vs. 1, “Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper”.

I am amazed by how God works, His ways are not our ways and His plans are not our plans. He is the God of the impossibilities. We know He will do it because He has said it in His word, yet often times we do not know how He will do it. We tend to work well with recipes because if we stick to a recipe, we can tell what the result will be. Often times we bring this also in our Christian life as we feel God has a recipe of doing things. It’s like He has set a method A,B,C of how to get it done.