Growth Daily Verses

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Hidden In His Cross

Luke 9:23 - "If anyone wishes to come after Me; he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

When the Cross is alive, it burns up the flesh – dreams of the flesh, ambitions of the flesh – all of the flesh.

All of the flesh it consumes. It consumed man's flesh beyond recognition, and so it is with His own. So when the Father looks down, He sees the reflection of His Son and then there becomes recognition.

Let the Cross have its work. Let the grave contain what is causing death, but let the Spirit quicken what is life.

Thank Him for the Cross; for the work of the Cross. For we are a people of His Cross -- you are marked by His Cross.
Cast not away the Blood of Jesus. Let the Blood consume. Let the Blood be the fuel for the fire of the Cross.

Let the Spirit of the Living God consume the flesh, so that in His Spirit you will live and move and have your being, but first, there must be the working of the Cross.

And as His Cross becomes your cross, know He has hidden you in His Cross. For your cross is within His Cross, and the enemy cannot beat you with your cross when you bow down and let the working of His Cross take precedence.

Feel His Cross. Feel His Blood. It is real. It is truth. He is alive forevermore, and so are you. Your spirit is eternal. Let your spirit be free to mature through the working of the Cross. For, yes, there is death, but more importantly, there is the life of the Cross.

Let His Cross consume you. Let His grave clothes transform you. Let His robes of righteousness transfuse you, through the Blood of the Cross.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Affirming Our Inheritance


Colossians 2:9,10 - "For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority."

Does that sound like a description of some pitiful, poor weakling that can barely make ends meet? No!. It's a description of the child of the King.

God is moving all over the Earth. Stay with Him. Stay in the Word. Every day affirm and meditate on those scriptures that show us our inheritance in Jesus' finished work of the cross and our sonship in Him.

It is our job to keep the Word of our redemption hot and alive in our spirits and minds. It's God's business to meet our needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19).

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Taking Ground

All other things , in comparison to Christ, are not worth a look -- they are but as vile things, as under things, as poor and low and mean and base things, in comparison to Christ. (Philippians 8:8)

MEDITATION:
We are to be continually taking ground for the Kingdom of God as we position ourselves in the place that He has called us to. As we continually experience His person our eyes are opened to see from His heavenly perspective.

If we choose not to heed the leading of the Spirit and become proactive in renewing our minds, it is possible that we will limit God's power and anointing from flowing through our lives because of un-renewed thinking patterns that we are still embracing.

You have the potential to believe impossibilities into possibilities.

"Everything is possible for him who believes." - Mark 9:23

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Taking No Offense


Matthew 5:39 - "But I say unto you, That you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also."

These verses reveal the humiliation of being a Christian. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but make it an occasion to exhibit the Son of God. To the saint personal insult becomes the occasion of revealing the incredible love of the Lord Jesus.

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not -- Do your duty, but -- Do what is not your duty. It is not your duty to go the second mile, to turn the other cheek, but Jesus says if we are His disciples we shall always do these things. There will be no spirit of -- "Oh, well, I cannot do any more, I have been so misunderstood."

Every time I insist upon my rights, I hurt the Son of God. The disciple realizes that it is his Lord's honor that is at stake in his life, not his own honor. We are always looking for justice; the teaching on the Sermon on the Mount is -- Never look for justice, but never cease to live it.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - The Spirit Of The Lord Is Upon Me

Luke 4:18 - "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me."

Believe God is bringing us to a place where we know that the Spirit of the Lord is upon us. God wants to bring us to the fact of what Jesus said in John 14: "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever."

Because the Spirit of the Lord came upon Him who is our Head, we must see to it that we receive the same anointing and that the same Spirit is upon us. We see the manifestation of the Spirit resting upon Him so that His ministry was with power. May God awaken us to the fact that this is the only place where there is any ministry of power.

There is no limit to what we may become if we dwell and live in the Spirit. In the Spirit of prayer, we are taken right away from earth into heaven. It is only in the Spirit that the love of God is poured out in us (Romans 5:5).

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Spending Our Lives For Others

Romans 1:14 - “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians.”

Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent himself to express it. "Ye are not your own.“ Paul sold himself to Jesus Christ.

The great inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor. We need to quit praying about ourselves and be spent for others as the bondslave of Jesus. That is the meaning of being made broken bread and poured-out wine in reality (Philippians 2:17).

Questions to ask myself:
Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His Redemption into actual manifestation in other lives?

Am I willing to let the Spirit of God work in me this sense of indebtedness?

Am I truly a bondslave of the Lord Jesus.?

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Pressing In

2 Corinthians 5:7 - "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

Faith in God's Word is how the treasures of God's wisdom and knowledge are released. Walking by faith means building up our spirit through affirming and meditating on God's word until it becomes the "sword of the spirit."

This is the time to receive deliverance from those pains and harassments that have been hanging around you. It is time to pull strongholds down. Remember, breakthroughs happen in the unseen world before they take place in the seen world.

Don't let up -- be persistent and press in. Rejoice continually -- whether you feel like it or not and whether it looks like its working or not. The Word says it is working, so it is!

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Christ Lives In Me


Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."

Satan wants us to feel alone and abandoned. We are never disconnected from the Lord because He lives in us. We don't always feel the presence of God but He is always in us.

We stay "God-inside minded." We live by and through Him. He is our wisdom, strength, peace, righteousness, and everything else we will ever need. We simply need to believe that Christ in us is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

He is our hope of our finding and living in His purpose for our life and bearing fruit that remains for the Kingdom. He promised to be with us always (Matthew 28:20). Meditate on the fact that God lives in you and you are never disconnected from Him no matter how you feel.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Living In The Anointing


Ezekiel 37:5 - "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live."

While Ezekiel was in the Spirit, it came to him to prophesy to the dry bones and say "O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord" (verse 4) and he saw an "exceeding great army" (verse 10) rising up about him. What is impossible with man is possible with God (Luke 18:27).

Our hearts always ought to burn. There is a place where we can live in the anointing and the clothing of the Spirit, where our words will be clothed with power. "Do not be drunk with wine...but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18).

All human reasoning and all human knowledge cannot be compared with the power of the life that is lived in the Spirit. In the Spirit, we have power to loose and power to bind (Matthew 16:19). May our spirit, soul, and body be preserved holy (1 Thessalonians 5:23), and may we always be on fire, always ready with the anointing on us. If this is not so, we are out of divine order, and we ought to cry to Him until the glory comes upon us.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Bible Hope

Hebrews 11:1 - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
The way we use the word "hope" in everyday speech and the meaning of hope used in the Bible are two different things. When we say "I hope so" we simply mean "I desire or I wish."

Bible hope isn't wishing at all. It is earnest confident intense expectation -- and that's something else entirely. Acts 26:6 uses the phrase "hope of the promise" referring to the covenant God made with Abraham. That kind of hope is an earnest intense expectation that comes from God's promises. There's a vast difference between "I wish something would happen" and "I intensely expect that to happen."

Even when there is no natural evidence that what we hope for will come to pass, we can be expectant because we have faith in God's Word. Hope is always expectant, looking toward the future. Faith is always now! Without hope, faith has nothing to bring to pass.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Bestowing God's Blessing On Others


1 Timothy 2:1 - "I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them." Luke 6:28 -"bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

When we bless someone, we are, in essence, saying, "May all of God's good plan for your come to pass." When we bless others, the blessing comes back to us. Not only should we bless those whom we love and admire, but God also commands us to bless our enemies so that we might inherit a blessing from Him.

When we bless our enemies, we place them in God's hands and trust that His best for them will be worked out in their lives, including the recognition and repentance of their sins.

Prayer: Father, teach me to bless and never to curse. You have blessed me, and I want to always release Your blessing to others. I want them to experience Your good plan for their lives. Bless each thing I lay my hands to do. In Jesus name. Amen.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Speaking The Oracles Of God

Romans 8:11 - "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."

As the dead body of Christ was given life and brought out by the Holy Spirit, may we be given eyes to see and ears to hear and a tongue to speak as the oracles of God. "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God" (1 Peter 4:11). We are dependent on the Holy Spirit to breath through us. It is by the Spirit of the Lord giving vent, speaking through us.

We live in the latter days when God is pouring forth His Spirit, and rivers of power are available at our word. We need to live by Mark 11:22,23 - "Have faith in God...Whoever...believes...will have whatever he says."

Let God arise. Let God breathe His Holy Spirit through your nature, through your eyes and tongue -- the supernatural in the natural for the glory of God.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Living In Abundant Fruit Bearing


John 15:16 - "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you."

Many Christians never progress beyond the basic principles of the gospel: others -- the minority -- demonstrate the abundant riches of God's grace.

The preacher's task should be to preach of the fullness of grace through Jesus Christ. Christians need to become aware of God's purpose for their lives and be encouraged to believe that a life of abundance in the fullness of the Spirit is meant for them.

Ask yourself whether you are living in the abundant fruit-bearing life that Jesus came to give you. If you are, it will be evidenced in your love for Jesus and a revelation of your calling in Christ, bearing fruit that remains -- leading the lost to Jesus and discipling them into their life in Christ.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Realizing The Source Of Our Potential


Romans 6:12 - "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions."

God did not intend the body to relate to the spiritual or supernatural world. It is essential, then, that we do not judge our true potential by the abilities or limitations of our physical bodies.

Our powers of sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste are all related to the natural, physical world. The potential of our bodies is therefore governed by its physical capabilities. Man's fall (Genesis 3:24) placed his body in a position it had not been designed to occupy.

This change caused man to limit the potential ability to the capabilities of the senses and his physical body. God never intended man to be controlled or limited by his physical body.

You were not created to be intimidated by your environment.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Rising To Greater Heights


Colossians 2:10 - "And you have been given full life in union with him..."

Ephesians 2:10 - "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

You have a unique purpose and a destiny that is distinct from any other person who has ever lived.

If you are more concerned about people's opinion of you than God's vision for you, then give-in to peer pressure, and fit in with everyone else. Dress like them -- Act like them -- Eat what they eat -- Spend 70 hours a week watching television like they do -- live on credit like they do, satisfied with barely getting by -- Go where they go -- Think like they think -- talk like they talk.

Be courageous enough to claim your right and affirm your ability to rise to greater heights. You're a rising star in the Kingdom of God. You have inside you the courage and stamina to push away the negativity of conformity. Invite the upward call of Christ in your life to come in.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Functioning Like God


Colossians 1:27 - "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

When God made you in His likeness, He did not make you to look like Him. He made you to function like Him. That's what likeness literally means. When God created you, He made you to operate like Him. If you are not functioning like God, you are "malfunctioning" because God wired and designed you to function like Him.

How does God function? "Without faith it is impossible to please God" - Hebrews 11:6. God functions by faith. We were designed to operate by faith. Our potential, therefore, needs faith in order to be maximized.

Affirmation:

Since Christ is in me, my potential is everything that is in Christ.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Christ and Christ Alone is My Deliverance


Exodus 12:13 - "The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you..."

It is the blood of Jesus alone that delivers you. If you think that it is because of your faith, then you will always be wondering "Do I have enough faith?"

When God sees that you see that it is the blood alone that saves, He calls that faith in the blood, and every plague will pass over you!

Every time you think that your deliverance depends partly on God and partly on you, you will not have a settled peace in your heart. But when you know that it is the blood alone that saves, you will have an unshakable peace.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Embracing The Holy Flame


1 Thessalonians 5:19 - "Do not restrain the Holy Spirit;"

When we are "sowing to the Spirit" - (Galatians 6:8), we are exposing ourselves to the presence of God whether we feel it or not.

As focusing upon the Holy Spirit becomes the habit of our souls, we receive the wonderful anointing spoken of in Hebrews, "who makes His...ministers a flame of fire" (Hebrews 1:7). The flaming heart of Christ ignites our hearts -- Fire begets fire.

The holy flame is relentless and consuming. It will ignite a focused soul, even though it may be barren, and release deep emotions of hunger for Jesus.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture of The Day - Entering Into His Rest

John 15:5 - "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

Do you ever feel that no matter what you do, you should be doing something more? The truth is that no matter what we do it will never be enough, and that is why God sent His Son. He is not only enough, He is more than enough!

Our goal should be to increase in understanding of our inheritance in Christ and our Right Standing with God and avoid doing things in order to try to obtain from God what He gives us freely by His grace.

Let us always do what we do for God to show our love for Him, and never to buy His love for us. Enter the rest of God, and refuse to live under the pressure of constantly feeling that you need to earn approval in order to be acceptable to God.

 

[Albert Finch]

Scripture Of The Day - Understanding The Abundance Of Resources In His Kingdom

Luke 17:21 - "...for indeed, the Kingdom of God is within you."

God doesn't want you to be conscious of the lack in your natural circumstances. He doesn't want you to live by how much you earn or how much you have in the bank.

God wants you to be conscious of the abundance of resources in His Kingdom. Jesus said that "the Kingdom of God is within you." this means that the Kingdom of God is not some physical place. It is within you and it is where the abundance of resources is.

So if you want to experience abundance in your life, be conscious first of the Christ-life inside you. Then what is inside you will become a reality on the outside because His Kingdom is within you!