Getting Ready For Marriage

What is it about marriage that almost everyone wants to experience? Is it the routine of humanity since the dawn of time? Or there is really an ecstatic taste for such an experience that no one wants to miss? I don’t know if you are single or engaged but in case you are single this devotion will stir you for marriage and if you are already in the golden cage, posture yourself for one of the greatest experiences that God fashioned for you.

The idea of marriage is perfect, awesome and exciting, not agreeing with this? Well go check all the wedding photos and videos, everyone is smiling and seems to be happy. Marriage ought not to be celebrated big time out loud once by the couple, celebration is the big entrance that should lead you to other party doors that await you to discover or create. Sounds so perfect and too good to be true? You can’t believe it because of the kind of marriages you are seeing around you in this fallen world? Let me remind you that God is good and his concepts, designs and lifestyles for you are so good, but we ruin it. I believe if you connect back to him as couples and surrender your marriage to him, you will relive the glorious experience again or soon you will if you are still single.

God wants to heal you and your marriage and he wants to put a banner of love above it all the time. This should be your atmosphere and ceiling to live under, not division, unforgiveness, dishonor and cold love. Do you remember when you surrendered your life to Jesus and got saved? Still remember the excitement that day you marked on your calendar? Everything you surrender to God shall be saved, so does your marriage my friend.

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Glory to God
Tony Francis

Marveled at his Faith

Faith is a person, it is Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God functions and operates on the basis of his character and nature. That’s why faith is important and essential. God doesn’t doubt himself because he knows what he says must be. “so shall My Word be, which goes out of My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall certainly do what I sent it to do.” Isaiah 55:11. It is the case of any earthly king, do you think that an authoritative king thinks in his heart this way: “I wonder if my commandments will be executed or not.” Kings rule and they know without a shadow of a doubt what they command will be done! From where do they get this confidence, assurance and faith? From their position and authority.

God is the higher authority in the whole universe, his authority fills heaven and earth. He is called the King of kings. Who are the kings he is King over? You and I and everyone who is in Christ. You are made in the image of this King to decree his word into your situation, your nation, your family and over any sickness or disease and everything that is not aligned with his glory. One day, Jesus spoke to a fig tree and told it to wither from the roots. Instantly that tree obeyed and the disciples saw this and marveled at it and told Jesus excitedly about it. After that, Jesus taught his followers, you among them, that they can do the same and greater if they “have faith in God”, Mark 11:22. In Greek, the original language is echō pistis theos, which means: Possess God’s Faith!

Glory to God
Tony Francis

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Recruiting Angels

Have you worked with some professional employees on your team that amazed you and took your business to a higher level? Working with gifted people is amazing it creates in you excitement to be around them daily. Although your team is highly gifted they will go nowhere without your leading. You are the boss, you are in charge and you see the wide vision of your life. Your highly gifted team will stay gifted but unfruitful if you don’t orchestrate the symphony. Your authority empowers your team and ignites the fire in them. Your team will do nothing without you arranging the tasks and creating an action plan for each one of them.

This is a close example to introduce you to your team of Angels that are eager to be recruited by you. They know that Christ has given you the authority on earth as it is in heaven and they can do nothing on their own without you binding and loosing and operating in your authority. Your home servant will do nothing unless you command him, right? Although it will be nice of him if he does something never been told to do. But it is mostly not the case! Scriptures are full of keys and insights to teach you how to activate your powerful team of Angels. I am not discussing here those keys although I may do it in another devotion, I just want to make you aware of your invisible team of support and great help that are waiting to join forces with you to bring heaven on earth daily. You don’t worship your team when they bring you success, you just appreciate them more, same with Angels.

Why miss the chance anymore for being greatly empowered? Today open up spiritually to see this long queue of unemployed Angels that are waiting long enough to be recruited by you!

Glory to God
Tony Francis

Long Lasting Success

Have you recently plugged your mobile in the charger and after some time it notified you with a green tick that the battery is successfully charged?
It is a happy scene because now you can use your smart phone powered up! I always make sure not to unplug my phone quickly until I am sure the battery is full. I want it to last long! Do you want your success to last long? Yes you do that’s why you are reading this secret tip! Before I tell you how your success can last long, you need to have success first! How to gain success?

God’s word reveals in Psalm 1 “He whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, whatever they do PROSPERS.” Before applying this truth, you need to stop walking in the ways of the wicked, stop standing in the ways that sinners take and stop siting in the company of mockers. Turn away from all this, and connect yourself to success, to the word of God that never fails. God’s word never returns void unto him but always succeed for whatever it is sent to do. Jesus, the word of God, said in John 15: “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” Success doesn’t come from you but from connecting yourself to him, to his word and to REMAIN in it if you want a last longing one. Adam & Eve were successful and blessed in the Garden until the moment their relationship broke with God. If you are a backslider, I have good news for you, you can RECONNECT! What are you connecting yourself to? Don’t you know that you are connected directly to your thought life? Then make sure you connect your thought life to God’s thoughts to see success and fruitfulness!

When it comes to the word of God, learn these 3 powerful tools: Walk, Stand and Sit. Walking is like reading his word without stopping, standing is when you stop because you feel a certain word, a verse or an idea touching your heart, sitting is to meditate on it and suck all the glory and the nutrition out of it for your personal life and growth.

Glory to God
Tony Francis

We’ve complicated Love

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” 1 John 1:1 Read more

A Terrifying Beauty

Jesus Christ the King is the most excellent of men and his lips are so beautiful anointed with favor and grace, his words and teachings  are pleasant, full of authority and he is so blessed there is no curse in him. That’s why the bride in Song of Solomon 1:2 passionately said: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth– for your love is more delightful than wine.” His kisses awaits you, are you hungry for them? His prophetic word for you is filled with love that brings ecstasy stronger than wine making you a love drunkard and one of his love captives. You are totally dismantled of your power and resistance in the bosom of his love for you; you can’t resist him when he wraps his strong and gentle arms around you and when he looks at you, you are fully captured!

Jesus is a mighty ferocious warrior girded with a sword and clothed with splendor and majesty. When he wars in a battle he always wins, he loves to fight for truth, humility and righteousness because it is his very nature. His arrows pierce the enemies’ hearts and the nations fall beneath his feet. He reigns forever in justice, what a beautiful kingdom to be part of! You are a citizen of such a kingdom and king and if not you are invited to become part! Jesus is so joyful and happy there is no depression in his presence, only fullness of joy!

All his robes are fragranced with amazing perfume, “Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you!” Song of Solomon 1:3. Jesus loves to listen to music. People who surround him are all royalty, kings, queens, princes and princesses and you!  Everybody wants to be around him for their values come directly from him! In his presence you are highly favored and precious! Everyone looks at him and waits carefully for him to speak and weight every word he says and every gesture he makes. His facial expressions are so heavenly and you can’t but gaze and gaze upon him night and day! He is so beautiful in his holiness! Everything he does is so beautiful! Love beautifies. In his presence everyone ushers to pour out their gifts, sacrifices and praises for him with so much delight. The pain of giving is eased for his sake. When you give him you don’t add value to him but to you. The wise men showered him with expensive gifts when he was born!

This royal husband delights in your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord. You were made to encounter his terrifying beauty continually … you were made to become like him!

This devotion is mostly paraphrased from Psalm 45

Glory to God
Tony Francis

Back to Authority

I hear many believers asking and diligently seeking after their calling. Today I am going to tell you what your calling in life is. “Really? You know what’s my calling? Wow, did God give you a word for me?” Yes, he did, he gave me a word from his word.

I was amazed when I read in the story of the creation of man that God didn't say let’s make man in our image to express our love, peace, joy or wisdom although I believe all these wonderful divine attributes were embedded in Adam before his fall to display it but God said let’s make man in our image after our likeness to take DOMINION! God’s first and last calling for man is to rule and reign with him. You were created by God to rule, reign and take dominion! When the enemy tempted Eve to disobey God it wasn’t really in his mind to make Eve enjoy a delicious meal of a fresh fruit salad, he was after her authority. Why would the devil go after this authority if he has one? The answer is he didn’t. He lost his authority when he fell from heaven as Adam lost it when he fell from the Garden of Eden. Man has authority because he was under the authority of God because he obeyed God but he became under the authority of the devil when he obeyed the devil. You are under the authority of whom you obey! From that moment this authority belonged to the devil and he is still operating in it in our world today. The devil is a liar and will remain but if he spoke the raw truth for once it was in his encounter with Jesus: “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'” (Luke 4:5-8). The Lord knows this and he came to restore to us the authority, how? By kneeling to the devil? Not at all, but by kneeling to the heavenly Father whom all authorities come from.

Jesus the second Adam is flawless, sinless and full of authority. But same old same old, the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness to make him sin to disarm him from his authority and what he came for, but he failed! The first Adam was tempted in the garden in a perfect place; the second Adam was tempted in the wilderness among the beasts.  The devil will tempt you both in pleasure and in pressure for one thing: your authority! Those who are in Christ are translated from the authority and the kingdom of darkness to the authority and the kingdom of light. In Christ you have authority over the devil again in your personal life, in your realms of influence and in the things of God when it comes to minister to others and release the kingdom (Acts 10:38). What gave Adam this divine authority? He was after the likeness of God. The more you are Christ like the more you are established in authority. You can’t cast the devil if you are acting like a devil, Jesus said: “I will not talk with you much more, for the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me. [He has nothing in common with me; there is nothing in me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.] (John 14:30)

I've always thought that since the devil took our authority the Lord definitely came to take it back from him and give it back to us. The authority that Jesus gave us as a church and individuals through his redemptive work on the cross and his resurrection isn’t from the devil but from God. “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:8-11).

In this illustration you will understand more how authority is greater than power. It takes a policeman just to raise his hand to stop a long queue of crazy beeping cars, motorcycles and camions. This is authority! This same policeman has also power (gun, physical force, backup) that he can use secondly in case his authority was disobeyed. However the devil is totally and always submissive to the name of Jesus released by faith. Jesus replied: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:18-20). Lightning is so fast, so quick and could be missed if you blink; it also speaks of instantaneous breakthroughs. Do you believe that the devil is cast in a glimpse of an eye when you subdue him in the name of Jesus? Let it be according to your faith!

Glory to God
Tony Francis

The Bride of Christ

“And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.” Revelation 21:9

 What is the deep desire of a father? To see his son married! The wedding of Jesus the only begotten son of God was in the mind of his Father from eternity. This awesome dad of Jesus is obsessed with the idea of getting his son married! He has been thinking about it over and over, this glorious wedding was rolling like a tape in his mind and imagination! The wedding planners and organizations of our days are countless and they do their best to arrange weddings according to each couple’s budget. But if there is one in the universe who really knows how to plan for a wedding it is the heavenly FATHER, he is the expert and there is none like him! Abraham sent his faithful servant to look for a bride to his son Isaac and made him swear not to return empty hands because he so longed to see his son married and he found him one, Rebekah! The other spiritual facet of this story points to the heavenly Father who sent his faithful Holy Spirit to search for a Bride for his son Jesus and he found him one, YOU! “The king's daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is trimmed with gold. She shall be brought to the king in clothing of needlework; the virgins, her companions after her, shall be brought to you. They shall be led with joy and gladness; they shall enter into the King's palace.” Psalms 45:13-15. Oh, how beautiful the bride of the lamb is (Song of Solomon 4:7), how beautiful and holy the perfecting of the saints that the Lord is doing in our hearts preparing us for the wedding!

 Read in Ezekiel 16: 7-14 God’s heart toward his wife, toward you, it will stir your heart with so much passion and love and will connect you to the heart beat of your heavenly groom: “I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked. And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine. “Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign LORD.”

 Jesus loves his church in a way we can’t fathom, you can just foretaste a little bit of his extravagant love for you through the revealed word of God. Song of Solomon is such a concentrated love letter between Jesus and his church. The time is approaching, the wedding preparations are coming to an end, and the church is getting ready to be raptured after being captured by his love … Jesus is coming soon!

 P.S: Don’t be among the attendants, become his bride! Receive Jesus now in your heart!

Compaction

“By this we have known the love of God, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother having need, and shuts up his bowels from him, how does the love of God dwell in him? My children let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18)

In his epistle, John the apostle of love defines in simple words what true love is. If you are Christian, a follower of Christ than what do you think the greatest thing to pursue and to learn about is? How to preach effectively and make the masses convert and repent? Or maybe take some courses on how to cast out devils and look spiritual and violent with the enemy? Maybe some courses on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the prophetic activations or how to be healed in 7 steps? Look my friend, I thank God for all these blessings that we have in Christ but a true Christian is someone who is totally aware of his high calling which is loving God and his neighbor! This is Jesus’ greatest commandment for you and me that we have to pursue with all of our strength to be like our master and not to go astray from the pathways of love.

In a parable Jesus told us about a man who was victimized by thieves (Luke 10:30) and was left half dead, we read that 3 men passed by him, a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. The first two looked at him and left him but the Samaritan had compassion on this tortured man when he saw him and helped him with first aids but also went the extra mile, not only the extra mile he went all the miles with him until he was totally whole and fully recovered. This Good Samaritan had a heart full of love and not just a religious head and a hardened heart. The Greek meaning of the word compassion means “to be moved with” and this is what happened to the Samaritan, he didn’t just felt pity and said few touching words for the victimized man and the people around: “Oh I am sorry for you brother, you don’t deserve this, God protect you and heal you …” No! A spiritual man is someone who acts because faith without works is dead. If you pretend that the love of the Holy Spirit is poured out in your heart without manifesting it in actions, than you are a liar! Compassion is love in action and I call it COMPACTION!

Glory to God
Tony Francis

The Devil

His name was Lucifer which means “Carrier of Light” before he became a fallen angel. He was created by God as an archangel anointed for worship & praise, he used to lead the citizens of heaven to worship God what a high privilege. But the very thing he was anointed and gifted with was tempted for! He decided one day to exalt himself to be worshiped as God. He was puffed up with pride and deceived by his own thoughts and he didn't know that if God designed you for something you will not delight in being and doing something else. He was immediately judged in the glory and was cast out of heaven with one third of his angels. In the glory he wanted to be worshiped as God but out of the glory he became darker and more proud and wanted God himself to worship him and this is what we discover when he tempted Jesus to bow down to him.

He is God’s adversary and opponent and he wants to mess with all of his plans and his creations and this is what we see when we look around us today. He is your enemy whether you know it or not and he hates you because you were made in the image and likeness of Jesus who defeated him for you on the cross and gave you back the authority and the victory over him. The scriptures clearly say that people are under the authority of the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light. If you gave your life to Jesus you are translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light and you are no more subject to the Devil but to Christ although he will stay your enemy but glory to God who made us his sons and his daughters and subjected our enemies to us because we have been given Christ’s authority. This word is not to glorify the Devil whatsoever but to expose him who likes to work in the dark and to open your eyes and redeem your time by shifting your blame on God who is for you to the Devil who is against you. You need to biblically fight the Devil who works behind the scenes to knock you down and prevent you to go on in your spiritual life to glorify Jesus. Be aware of him and his schemes but stay focused all the time on Jesus who is your redeemer, your victory, your protection, your wisdom, your glory and your head lifter. Jesus is wonderful and no one compares to his awesome greatness, glory and power. It’s so ridiculous to compare an ant to an elephant. God is God and the Devil is NOT! Halleluiah

Glory to God
Tony Francis