31. December 2009 by Bernice Davis.

PHILIPPIANS 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

Happy New Year.  Hope you have been writing your plans down for the New Year all week.

Have a wonderful New Year’s Eve  and bring in the New Year with much praise, gratitude, anticipation, and expectation towards God.

I will not be posting on New Years Day or of course the weekend.  So When I return on Monday, I will share with you some of my New Years Plans (Vision) and you can also send me yours and I will put them in my Prayer Photo Album and will join with you to keep them lifted up before God for the New Year.

Again,  Have a Happy New Year.

Thanks for following me all Year and to Bev in England and Tracy in Australia, a very Personal Happy New Year.  You guys are the best.  Thanks for all your continuous words of encouragement and financial support.

To Crystal in North Carolina,  be blessed my friend and I miss hearing from you every day.  Have a Happy New Year.

God Bless you All, you keep me inspired to post daily…

Stay encouraged and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

Bernice

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30. December 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello:

Spiritual

1.  Choose a place to volunteer this year.  There is such an amazing blessing in giving of your time and talent to others who are less fortunate and are in need.  You will often find that when you volunteer the people will tell you that you are being a blessing to them but in actuality it is a blessing to you also.   I always say that Life is not living unless you giving.   Watch how it will help you grow spiritually.  I am a volunteer chaplain at a prison here in Atlanta and my work there has been some of the most precious moments of my life.  So on your list of plans that you are making for 2010 include some volunteer time.  I always suggest that you start out small and let it grow.  If you try to do too much at one time, you will feel overwhelmed and will easily be defeated.     You can start out with once a month or once every two months or once every three months, whatever your lifestyle can accomodate and watch your spiritual life be enhanced.

Physical

1.  Change up on your routine.   Do the gym or indoor activities during the winter and walk during spring, maybe add swimming or water areobics during the summer.  I have found that when you keep changing up your activities, it helps the weight come off quicker and also it is more interesting for you and easier to stay committed when you are trying different things.

2.  Don’t get stuck in the same exercise routine.  Increase your levels. Your body will get use to your routine and you will stop seeing progress and you yourself may get bored and slack off.  Keep the workouts as fun and exciting as possible.

3.  Use your workout time to help your spiritual growth.  Play a sermon CD while walking, or on the threadmill or at the gym, etc.   Increase your biblical knowledge while working on your health.  Maximize your time.

Financial

1.  Buy you a small notebook that you can carry with you and keep track of absoultely every penny that you spend.  I’m talking about things as small as going into the gas station and buying a pack of gum.   Do this for a week or better yet 30 days so you can see exactly where your money is going and where the waste is.

Okay.. we’ll wrap our tips up on tomorrow.

Stay encouraged and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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29. December 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello:

As you know this week I will be giving you tips on helping you to plan for 2010.   I am no means an authority in this area but I can only share with you what has helped and worked for me.  Yesterday, we talked about start thinking  in three different categories; Spiritual, Physical and Financial.  Here are a couple of suggestions and you can choose your own according to your lifestyle and schedule.

Spiritual Goals-  Set biblical and prayer goals.  Currently my prayer goal is to meet God every morning at about 6am at the chapel where I pray.  I usually go about 5 days per week (monday-Friday) and I pray for about an hour.

Please note that I have worked myself up to this and you may want to set a realistic goal especially if you are not use to praying for an entire hour.   Start out with something as simple as 5 minutes a night/morning but make sure it is a time where you can meet God.   Choose a place.  A closet , an extra bedroom that is not being used,  don’t just lay in the bed and talk to God… GO TO A PLACE.   it really makes a difference even if the place is the floor by your bed.  Choose a time, a place and the amount of time that you can realistically commit to prayer and if it is small don’t worry.  Watch how it will increase.

Biblical goals could be reading the bible in a year.  There are plenty of wonderful read the bible in a year bibles that you can buy or follow online for free.  You can also choose to do a particular study this year.    This year I studied the entire book of Matthew.

Physical-   Set some time to work out or just walk.   Develop a hobby that deals with exercise such as tennis, skating, etc. It will help you get in shape.

Financial-  Before you can plan to get out of debt, you must first know how much debt you’re in.  You would be surprised at the amount of people who just pay bills and have no idea of what their total debt is.   The next couple of days, go through all your bills and just write down the name of the people you owe, when it is due and what your balance is.

Okay, enough for today,   Get to writing/planning.  Tomorrow, we will go over some more tips.

Stay encouraged and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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28. December 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello Everyone:

I am so excited about 2010.   I am such a supporter of making New Year’s eve resolutions because they have just worked for me.   My new year’s  resolutions are my plans for the year and I write them down and start planning day one towards accomplishing them and I can honestly say that they have worked.  Now I will admit I have not accomplish every single item on them but I do usually get through most of them.   I put them on my prayer list and I keep them lifted up before God and WOW  does God ever answer prayer.

Those of you that follow me know that I had been on a five year plan to get out of debt and  I am completely out of debt except for my mortgage.  The only bills that come in my house are my utilities and mortgage and WOW… is it freeing.  No more car notes, no more student loan payments, no more credit card debt…   OHHHHHHHHHHH….. thank you God..  But if I had not planned and it was an intense five year program, I would not have this testimony now.  We cut back on eating out, on vacations, on everything and now I can do those things debt free.     People would ask me why am I being so strict on myself and to live a little and of course they would always say but what if you die tomorrow.   My answer would be but what if I live.    I am so glad I did not listen to the many people who tried to get me off course.   NOW I can live just how I want to.    Please note I am by no means saying that I am rich but when you don’t owe nobody and the money that  you do bring in only goes to utilities and the mortgage then life is a whole lot easier

I feel like I have been given a new beginning.

I said all this to say  that making checklists and goals and planning really does work.     So what I thought we could do this week is starting planning on some realistic goals for 2010.  Don’t go overboard especially if you are the type of person that struggles each year with your list.     Some of you are really aggressive and can push yourself so you’re the best judge of what’s best for you.

I do have some suggestions for you.   To create a balance, make sure your goals are spiritual, physical, and financial.

So on this week, we will  think about these goals and each day leading up to New Years I’ll give you some more tips and then my first post of the New Year, I will share with you my goals.

We will continue on study of the monarchy in the New Year.

Stay encouraged and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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25. December 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello:

Merry Christmas

Our text for today is as
follows:

Luke 2: 1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed . 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed ,
every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was , that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered . 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes , and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field , keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo , the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid . 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold , I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes , lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying , 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 15 And it came to pass , as the angels were gone away from them into heaven , the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass , which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste , and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things , and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned , glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen , as it was told unto them.

Enjoy your day family.   I had an amazing Christmas Eve.  God is so Good and I am looking forward to
hanging out with family and watching Christmas movies.  (lol)

He is born,  HE’s alive and He lives within us.

Stay encouraged!

God Bless!!!!!!!

Don’t forget to pray and read
God’s word daily.

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23. December 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello Everyone:

Our text today contains the famous birth narrative of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It is always so fresh and so powerful to me when I read it. 

Read it slow and just meditate on how powerful it is.

Here is our text:

Luke 1: 26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin‘s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said , Hail , thou that art highly favoured , the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be . 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold , thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be , seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 36 And, behold , thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible . 38 And Mary said , Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. 39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass , that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said , Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo , as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed : for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 46 And Mary said , My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold , from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed . 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away . 54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; 55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. 56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

When it opens up with the sixth month, it is talking about the next month after Elizabeth was five months pregnant with John the Baptist.  So as you can see, only a little over five months separated them in age.  

One of my favorite versus in this birth narrative is verse # 45 and it reads; “4And blessed is she that believed : for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

The power of believing?   Wow!!!!!!!!  Blessed is the person that believes for there shall be a performance of the things that God said unto you.

Believe.   Just Believe.  All things are possible if you only believe.   Let’s make 2010 a year of believing.   Lord, I vow to just believe.

Stay encouraged everyone and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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22. December 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello:

Our text for today is as follows:

Luke 1:11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled , and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard ; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years . 19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings . 20 And, behold , thou shalt be dumb , and not able to speak , until the day that these things shall be performed , because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. 21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. 22 And when he came out , he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless. 23 And it came to pass , that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished , he departed to his own house. 24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived , and hid herself five months, saying , 25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.  

On yesterday, we talked about how Zacharias lot  was to burn incense..   Today we see the reward of his faithfulness.  

The angel appears to him and tells him that his prayer has been hard.  His long time prayer has been heard. 

But he doesn’t believe it.  He wants a sign.  

Sometimes you can wait for something so long and when you get word that it is finally happening, it is so hard to believe.  I just experienced this couple of weeks ago.  God answered a long time prayer for me and I still can’t believe it’s true.  It’s like my mind can’t totally process it because I have been believing God for it for so long.   But it is real and it feels so overwhelming in a good way.

You can tell that Zacharias and Elisabeth walked in shame before their community because the text says because of her pregnancy the reproach has now been removed from her.

Stay faithful…. God will.  

Zacharias needs a sign and his sign will be that he will be unable to speak until the child is born.

Tomorrow, our story takes us into the birth narrative of Christ.

Stay encouraged!

God Bless!!!!!!!

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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21. December 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello Everyone:

Welcome back from the weekend.  Last week we left off with the birth narrative of John the Baptist.  We studied the meaning of the names of John’s parents Zacharias and Elisabeth and the meaning of barrenness in the Hebrew thought.     We know that the text teaches that they were not under a curse but that God said that they were perfect and upright and observing all the commandments of God.

Our text for today is as follows:

Luke1:8 And it came to pass , that while he executed the priest‘s office before God in the order of his course, 9 According to the custom of the priest‘s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

Our text teaches that he was of the course of Abia.  This is from verse 5 of our previous lesson.    In I Chronicle 24, you will see the division of the priesthood.  The priest came from the sons of Aaron and the high priest was the oldest descendant of the sons of Aaron.   The temple duties were divided up amongst the priesthood by courses.   According to the Chronicles passage, the sons of Abia were the eight course.   This meant that the duties of taking care of the temple went to the sons of Abia for that particular timeframe which usually went from Sabbath to Sabbath.

Among the sons of Abia, lots were chosen to see who would do certain duties.  The lot to burn incense fell upon Zacharias.  In the temple the place to burn incense was the place right before you entered the Holies of Holies.   The holies of Holies was the place that only the high priest could go to offer the sacrifice on behalf of the people and that job was reserved for him alone.   The next highest honor fell to the priest that would burn incense.  The incense was a sweet aromatic fire (smoke) that constantly went up to God.

The following text give us the description of this altar of incense.

Exod 30:1-10 “You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood. A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width– it shall be square– and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. Two gold rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall place them on its two sides, and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it. You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you. Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. You shall not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it. And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD.”

Let’s just pause for a moment and I want you to note something.    Though Zacharias and Elisabeth were now old and though they had been living in the shadows of possible ridicule because of their barrenness and they also believed God for a child that now in their old age seemed impossible. 

In spite of all this, what did you find Zacharias doing?  He was faithfully still showing up at the house of God faithfully carrying out his duties.  Because he was in place, on that day the lot fell on him and it was his time to enter into the place closest to the holy of holies, an honor that would rarely happen in one’s lifetime.   He could have been depressed about his situation and forsake his priestly duties but he was faithful no matter what.  And He kept showing up.     Ohhhhhhhhhh….. What do you do when you’re believing God and waiting on a promise to be fulfilled or just waiting for a change?  You keep showing up.  You keep being faithful to the things of God.  You never know when your day of deliverance is here.   He kept showing up and now it is his time.  Yes, it has been what seems like a lifetime, but his prayers are about to be answered.

Tomorrow, we will study what happens when he goes to burn the incense upon the alter.

Stay encouraged everyone and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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18. December 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello Everyone:

Those of you that follow my daily devotional know that I break away from my subject whenever I feel that there is just something burning in my heart that I want to share.

I would like to encourage everyone to not give up on this year yet.  God is still able.   Stay in a spirit of anticipation.  So many people have counted this year out and are now moving on to “maybe things will happen or be better on next year.”

In early November, my sister who is a mighty woman of God that is intouch with God and sensitive to God’s voice came by my house one night and said that she had been praying for me and that God showed her that I had given up on somethings that I trusted God to do for me this year and assumed it was not going to happen.  She told me that God was still going to do it and that I would get a major breakthrough before the end of this year.

She was so on point as to how I was feeling.  I did feel that this year would end without some things that I was believing God for not manifesting.  Now, please know that I wasn’t discouraged but I was feeling overwhelmed.  Things were really just starting to pile up on me.

Well, just two weeks ago,  a phenomenal,,,,,,,,, really, really phenomenal blessing came into my life and my long time prayer that I had been believing God for was answered at the end ……

I just feel so blessed ..   I can’t even breathe….  I love him so.   Listen,,,, I didn’t just fall in love with God because of the blessing, those of you that have been following me daily know that I have been talking this way all year about my love for God.  It is a way of life for me.      I just am grateful that God just blessed me in such a powerful way.

I am still anticipating that  God would do even more things concerning me and my relationship with him by the end of this year.  So many people are already looking forward to the New Year, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow and living in the now.

GOD IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend and live in anticipation and expectation.

Stay encouraged and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.  We will resume our study on Monday.

God Bless you

Bernice

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17. December 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello:

I want to thank everyone for constantly checking the website everyday to see if I am posting.   Again,   it means the world to me that you take time out of your day to study the scriptures with me.  In our last post, we talked about the birth of John the Baptist.  We did a short study on what “In the days of Herod” meant.  

Here is our text for today:

Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

The parents of John the Baptist are Zacharias and Elisabeth.   I want to start off our study by giving you the meaning of the names of John the Baptist parents.  Zacharias means “beloved of Jehovah” and Elisabeth means “oath of God.” 

As you can see in our text, we are dealing with an older couple where the wife was barren.  The names here are fascinating.  In the Hebrew tradition, Parents took care in naming their children because it was prophetic to them of what their destiny would be.  

Being barren in those days was considered by the people to being cursed from God.  Their rationale of this concept came from the promises made to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy.  God promised them that once they entered the promise land, that there would be no barrenness among their cattle or their wives.   So when a woman was barren, the community considered them as being punished by God. 

It was every Hebrew woman’s dream to have children.   They lived to be able to provide an heir to their husband and even hoped that their child would be the Messiah, the long awaited deliverer of Israel.   It was very difficult for a woman to live with barrenness.

In our text, it teaches us that it was God that made Elisabeth barren and now they are pass child bearing age.  Their names mean beloved of God and oath of God and yet they have lived in the shadows of false assumptions from the community that they are disfavored and being punished by God. 

What you will find as a common thread throughout the scriptures is that in the barren woman motif narratives, the children that end up being born are all special and have a major mission and purpose from God.    Some examples include the birth of Samuel by the barren Hannah, and the birth of Isaac from the barren Sarah, the birth of Samson from his barren mother, the birth of Joseph from his barren mother Rachel, and the birth of the other tribes of Judah from their barren mother Leah, and now we have the birth of John the Baptist from his barren mother Elisabeth.

Their names mean promise and loved by God but their circumstances seem to be contradictory.   The text teaches us clearly that God had not cursed them.   In the description of their character, we know that they are upright and righteous, walking in all the commandments of the Lord blameless yet they have this problem.  They cannot have children and it has been an unanswered prayer for a long time.   We know the end of this story and we know that GOD is faithful.  Though it took a very long time, God did remember them and God did show them favor which is a fulfillment of their names.   I am getting all teary as I write this cause I am reminded that God just answered a long time prayer for me just a couple of weeks of God.  Something that I have been believing God for years and something that just seemed so far out of my reach but I would never give up on it.  I will admit, I sometimes thought it would never happen.  Longevity of time can cause you to lose hope, but GOD is faithful.   Ohhhhhhhh…… just so faithful.  It is never too late and God will perform his promises in your life. 

Okay, on tomorrow, we will do a little study on Zacharias life and the duties of the priesthood so you can clearly understand what is about to happen.

Stay encouraged!

God Bless!!!!!!!

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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