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			 Scripture:  
			2 Kings 4:1-7 (NIV) 
			- "Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars.  
			Don't ask for just a few."  
			Message:  The widow was in 
			need of a miracle. Elisha gave the instructions, and now it was up 
			to her obedience.  How many empty jars did they gather?  
			What was her level of faith and expectancy?  When the last jar 
			was full, the oil stopped flowing.  But what if she had 
			gathered more?  With the Lord, there is always more.  Read 
			the invitation of the Lord in Isaiah 55.  And go gather and get 
			ready, don't ask for just a few. 
			Prayer:  Lord may our hearts be 
			lifted up to dream God sized dreams.  May our expectancy be for 
			the God of the impossible.  Speak Lord, for your servant is 
			listening.  Amen. 
			Pastor Daniel Ivey 
			
			
			
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			Scriptures:  
			James 1:5-8 
			- "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives 
			generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to 
			him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who 
			doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That 
			man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a 
			double-minded man, unstable in all he does." 
			 
			
			
			Proverbs 2:7 
			- "He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to 
			those who walk in integrity." 
			 
			
			Message: 
			If any of you lacks wisdom...well, I think that probably encompasses 
			us all. Who doesn't lack wisdom? Who doesn't need to ask God for 
			insight into the matters of life that we face? Yet, I ask us all to 
			look in the mirror today and be true to ourselves: have I asked for 
			wisdom today? 
			
			I remember coming 
			across these verses in the Bible, and especially the book of 
			Proverbs and Ecclesiastes when I was a young teenager. I took it to 
			the bank, the storehouse of Heaven. I believed that if I would just 
			simply ask God for wisdom with a prayer of faith, that God would 
			give it just as God promised, liberally and without reproach. I set 
			myself out to pray for wisdom regularly in my prayer life. 
			
			But, we have to ask 
			and pray in faith. We have to believe that God is able and that God 
			is willing. Almighty God is certainly able. Maybe what you need to 
			know today is that God is more than eager to give than you are to 
			receive. 
			
			Prayer:  
			Lord, show me the way to receive what You offer. Grant me wisdom, so 
			I may know Your will for my life. Amen. 
			
			
			
			Pastor Daniel Ivey 
			
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			Scripture: 
			Ephesians 4:32 
			- "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving 
			each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." 
			 
			
			Message: Be kind to one another.  My Granny always told it to me this way, 
			"Be sweet!" Be sweet.  This is something that has really stuck with 
			me throughout my years.  I like to pass that word on to others.  "Be 
			sweet!" But why?  Just to be sugary and nice?  Just to be syrupy 
			and sweet? 
			
			No, because God in 
			Christ forgave us.  We are to be sweet, kind and compassionate 
			people who are about the mission of God to be forgiving people, 
			because we are the people of God who have been forgiven by God. 
			
			Next time you feel 
			like being anything else but sweet toward someone else, and maybe 
			even hold something against them.  I'd like you to consider how much 
			of your own faults you'd like God to continue to hold against you.  
			How much of your sin are you willing to let God hold onto and not 
			forgive? 
			
			I think I'm hearing 
			crickets, so the answer must be none.  Therefore, we are called to 
			hold onto none as well.  Be forgiving.  Be compassionate.  Be kind.  
			Be sweet! 
			
			Prayer: 
			Father God, help me to be sweet in all my dealings with others and 
			help me to remember to be sweet to myself. 
			
			
			
			Pastor Daniel Ivey 
			
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			 Scripture: 
			Luke 1:5-80 - "In the 
			time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named 
			Zacharias....And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he 
			lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly in Israel. 
			 
			
			(Read 
			this entire passage for the story of the birth of John the Baptist)
			
			
			Message: Zacharias and Elizabeth 
			always wanted to be parents, but old age had come upon them. Their 
			dreams and prayers of family seemed to be forgotten, or at least 
			accepted as loss. Then the angel Gabriel pops in on the scene in the 
			Temple with extraordinary news. Not only a son, but the forerunner 
			of the Messiah, John the Baptist. 
			Now it is doubtful that Zacharias had 
			recently in his old age prayed a prayer for a son. This gives us 
			insight into God's timing. Sometimes our dreams and hopes of old, 
			come to fruition now or in the future. But instead of believing the 
			word of the Lord from Gabriel, Zacharias questioned. At his doubting 
			and questioning, his voice went mute. He remained mute all of 
			Elizabeth's pregnancy and after his son was born. But on the eighth 
			day when the baby was to be named, Zacharias wrote the words of the 
			Lord from Gabriel's mouth, "His name is John." This then led to the 
			glory of God being released in prophetic utterance. 
			Here we draw two points. First, the 
			things we've prayed for are never forgotten. Second, our voice in 
			this world is only authentic and effective if it is backed by faith. 
			Prayer: Lord, may we always 
			remember, that You remember. May we always trust that You are 
			trustworthy and that You hold the future. 
			Pastor Daniel 
			Ivey 
			
			
			
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