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    Fifty Days for an Enduring Ministry of Encouragement: Be Encouraged Today
    Fifty Days for an Enduring Ministry of Encouragement: Be Encouraged Today
    Fifty Days for an Enduring Ministry of Encouragement: Be Encouraged Today
    Ebook123 pages1 hour

    Fifty Days for an Enduring Ministry of Encouragement: Be Encouraged Today

    By Billy B. Matiyabo Sr.

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    About this ebook

    Called with a mandate to encourage Gods people to become all that God has created them to be, author Billy B. Matiyabo has a passion and gift for proclaiming the Word of God and in being sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit. In Fifty Days for an Enduring Ministry of Encouragement, he presents a collection of devotionals that he prepared and sent weekly to his local church to support the congregations faith journey.



    The devotionals share his experiences and ideas about Christian faith, using personal anecdotes and stories to illustrate how God works in the lives of the faithful. He explores some of the obligations and responsibilities of Christians and illustrates how to find comfort and guidance in the Bible. Fifty Days for an Enduring Ministry of Encouragement covers a wide range of topics including fear, anxiousness, trust, praise, joy, the call of God, generosity, the power of testament, and confession.



    Matiyabo provides these devotionals as a resource to help believers stand for the truth in the midst of hostility and the encouragement they need to hold fast to eternal truths in a godless milieu.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateJun 14, 2013
    ISBN9781475990973
    Fifty Days for an Enduring Ministry of Encouragement: Be Encouraged Today
    Author

    Billy B. Matiyabo Sr.

    Billy B. Matiyabo Sr. earned a master’s degree in Economics before becoming a preacher. He has experience in church planting. Matiyabo and his wife, Melanie, have two children. He lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

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      Fifty Days for an Enduring Ministry of Encouragement - Billy B. Matiyabo Sr.

      Fear Not

      We live in uncertain times. What the Lord is putting in my heart to share with you today is how we can come against fear or worry. Let’s look at scripture from 2 Chronicles:

      Then Jahaziel was moved by the Spirit of God to speak from the midst of the congregation. (Jahaziel was the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah the Levite of the Asaph clan.) He said, Attention everyone—all of you from out of town, all you from Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat—God’s word: Don’t be afraid; don’t pay any mind to this vandal horde. This is God’s war, not yours. Tomorrow you’ll go after them; see, they’re already on their way up the slopes of Ziz; you’ll meet them at the end of the ravine near the wilderness of Jeruel. You won’t have to lift a hand in this battle; just stand firm, Judah and Jerusalem, and watch God’s saving work for you take shape. Don’t be afraid, don’t waver. March out boldly tomorrow—God is with you. (20:14–17 MSG)

      Our position is one of abiding in Jesus Christ and entering the rest of God. It is one of waiting on the Lord continuously with our eyes focused on Him, doing what He directs us to do, rather than rushing in and messing things up. This is what patience is all about, my friend. But remember that there is no such thing as the rest of God without opposition!

      Let me brag on you a little bit. You are beautiful because everything God created is good. You are a child of God, and God has your best interest at heart. He will take care of you; He will provide for you. Never doubt that God is for you, not against you. And because of that, you have an advantage when you tackle difficult situations and problems in life. Be encouraged. I hope that you are involved in your local church in some capacity; if not, I encourage you to do so. I am in agreement with you that the dreams God has placed in your heart will come very soon, in Jesus’s name. Maybe you have felt like quitting lately. But I believe in you. Don’t give up!

      There is no need for us to be worrying about our lives, because God has promised to never leave us, nor forsake us (Matthew 28:20). Can you dare trust that God knows your current situation and is in charge? Relax, because God will meet your concerns. He cares for you and me. One thing with worry is that it keeps us from enjoying the blessings God has given us. When we begin to worry about what we do not have, we will eventually worry about what we do have. Isn’t that something?

      To worry is to try to assume responsibilities we cannot handle. The truth is that they are responsibilities that God never intended for us to handle because they are His. When the temptation to worry first arrives, the tendency is to entertain it. We let it onto the front porch of our lives, and we allow it to sit there. But before we know it, worry will crawl in through the window and make itself at home! No, worry must be stopped. Let us decide right now to commit all worries to God and refuse to entertain them (1 Peter 5:7).

      This is another good scripture to help us go through difficult moments:

      Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. (Matthew 6:34 MSG)

      No Fear

      Please read Numbers 13:2–27.

      The children of Israel were delivered from slavery in Egypt. When the time came for them to go and possess the land promised to their forefathers, the Lord instructed Joshua to first send a group of twelve leaders on a mission to spy in the land of Canaan.

      Ten of those spies did not believe God would bring them to the Promised Land. Their negative confession doomed them to the wilderness while Caleb and Joshua believed God was going to give it to them. To Joshua and Caleb, whoever was Israel’s enemy did not matter to them. What mattered was only that the Lord said He had given it to them. There is a moral lesson here: Just because the Lord has made promises to us, that doesn’t mean everything will be okay without a battle! Maybe you are pulling back, hiding, and cowering right now because of fear and terror. But let me remind you that, in order to possess God’s promise for your life, you must be determined not to change the course the Lord has for your life and to be free to despair no more. God will turn around for our good what the enemy meant to harm us if we refuse to back off (Romans 8:28).

      Let us commit ourselves to begin putting one foot in front of the other in obedience to God. The Lord ordered us not to be anxious about our lives. God personally cares about those things that worry us and prey upon our thoughts. He cares about them more than we care about them. Not a single nagging, aching, worrisome, stomach-tensing, blood-pressure-raising thought escapes His notice. As the apostle Peter wrote, Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). The Phillips translation renders this verse: You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.

      God is not mad at us; He is for us. And because He is for us, nothing can hold us back now.

      When we see fear in our lives, and we well know not to give it a free ride, we have the responsibility to take authority in Jesus’s name and cast it out. When we correct the situation according to the Word of God, we are preparing ourselves to handle the abundance that is coming our way.

      God has bigger plans than we could possibly imagine. Often, in the midst of great pain, on the heels of mistreatment, the Lord appears in His Word and provides peace through His Spirit. He whispers, I’ve got everything under control. You’re right where you’re supposed to be. Just as it is not over yet, I am not through with you yet. Amazing, isn’t it?

      To break the power of fear, one must go after the spiritual force behind it. What people do not confront will not change, and if evil is ignored, it will eventually become stronger! The anointing destroys fear! For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father (Romans 8:15).

      The apostles could not reach their world until the yoke and bondage of fear were broken by the anointing on the day of Pentecost. Boldness became their girdle after the Holy Ghost came (Acts 4:13). The chains of fear had been broken! The same Peter who swore and denied any knowledge of his Master was turned into a rock and began to speak boldly. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is definitively the remedy for fear.

      The more trust in God’s character is developed, His commandments obeyed, and His power allowed to transform us, the more His victory will be experienced. The Holy Spirit always shows us how to respond in each trial and temptation of life. That does not mean that every battle will be won. Even the greatest men and women of faith had terrible setbacks, but as they continued to hope in God, those defeats became character-building stepping-stones to victory. No situation is too hopeless for God. The battle is His, and the final outcome is assured! We would do well to keep God in focus, to fear His displeasure, and to respond to His Spirit.

      Freedom from Fear

      Please read 1 Kings 19:1–17.

      The theme of fear is one we have to go back to over and over again throughout our Christian walk. God’s will for

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