Bethel At Balata

Thursday, 1 January 2026

Prayers for today

Pray…

Father, I pray that You would give me a vision of Your sovereignty that will bring me to my knees in worship and in adoration, that will cause me, like David, to dance and prance, rejoicing before You; that a view of Your holiness will bring me to humiliation at my present state, knowing that I have far to go, but in Christ Jesus I will indeed go and bear the fruit of righteousness.

Teach me, through the working of Your Holy Spirit within me, how to properly work out my own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is You Who works in me, both to will and to work for Your good pleasure. Work through me O God, as I strive for holiness and to be conformed to the image of Your beloved Son Jesus Christ.

Only You are sovereign O God, controlling all that You do through love for Your people. And it is You, the True and Living God, Who works all things together for my good and Your glory, that I pray, through the matchless name of Jesus Christ with thanksgiving, Amen †.

Pray…

Lord Jesus Christ, You have opened the floodgates of grace to me, and so, I now set my heart to experience the more-than-superabundance of Your grace. I declare that from today I see Your grace and favour upon my life each and every moment of every day. Amen †.

Pray…

You, O LORD, are exalted forever! I thank You for exalting my strength – making me as strong as a wild ox, and for anointing me with Your finest oil; for causing me to flourish like a palm and to grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon; planted in the Lord’s own house, I flourish in the courts of my God. I declare even in old age I will still produce fruit, I will remain fresh and green, declaring, the LORD is upright, He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him! Hallelujah! Praise be to God! Amen †

Pray…

Lord, I thank You that the days are coming when You will fulfill the gracious promise You made to me. Amen †

Wednesday, 31 December 2025

Get Out of the Boat!

He said, “Come ahead.”

Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!”

Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”

The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!”

(Matthew 14:29-33 MSG)

During the storms of life, when the boat you’re in is a place of refuge, it will surely take more than a little faith for you to get out of the boat.

As a matter of fact, it takes confident faith to hear the howling wind, feel the blustery weather against your skin, see the billowing waves and taste and smell the salty air yet get out of the boat. But that’s exactly what Jesus wants us to do.

Jesus is beckoning us to look at Him, remain strong in faith, and get out of the boat.

When you look away from Jesus and begin to focus on nothing else but your stormy circumstances, your faith is replaced by fear, and you start to sink into a state of utter uncertainty.

Instead, fix your gaze upon the One who can save. Ignore all your natural senses and trust Him and His love for you.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

(Matthew 11:28 NLT)

Get out of the boat and rest in Him.

Beloved, as you enter a new year, keep in mind that God knows the plan for your life, He designed it after all. His plan for you is not for disaster or harm but it’s to give you a future full of hope and promise (Jeremiah 29:11).

God loves you dearly and His plan for your life is sure and good and bigger than your circumstances.

Amen †

Tuesday, 30 December 2025

Jesus walked on the water; you must walk on water too!

And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. – Matthew 14:25 (NRSVUE)

Jesus’ walk on the water is an example for us to follow and, even though His was a physical walk, ours, on the other hand, is a symbolic walk.

Throughout Scripture, water is symbolic of the Word of God and even though in this instance it is sea water the symbolism expressed remains the same.

Isaiah 11:9 (NRSVUE) tells us,

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Jesus tells us,

If you know me, you will know my Father also…The Father and I are one.
(John 14:7; 10:30 - NRSVUE)

And we know that Jesus is the Word from reading John 1:1 and 14.

When Jesus walked on the water, He was trusting in the knowledge of His Father to hold Him up in the midst of the raging storm. He knew without doubt that His Father was able to keep Him and sustain Him even in the worst situations.

Beloved, Jesus operated solely by the Word of God the Father (John 12:49). He listened and was completely obedient to God and in this account of Him walking on water, Jesus is teaching us to do the same.

Amen †

Monday, 29 December 2025

With Every Breath you Take

The Lord is God. He is the God who created the sky. He hung it up like a curtain. He created the earth and everything that lives on it. He gives life and breath to all the people who live on it.

(Isaiah 42:5 EASY)

Isaiah lets us know that God gives breath to all the people on earth. Isn’t it interesting that when it comes to “life” and “breath”, Isaiah uses the verb to give in the present tense? God gives life; God gives breath. Without God’s constant giving of breath, we cannot remain alive.

When you take away their breath, they die, and their bodies return to the dust. But when you send out your life-giving breath, things come alive

(Psalm 104:29-30 ERV)

Job understood, “the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4).

The breath of God brings our mortal bodies to life. When God created Adam, He breathed into His nostrils, “and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).

With all this in mind, lets ponder for a little while.

It is believed that the unpronounceable Name of God, YHWH, resonates with the aspirated sound of breathing, where YH is the inhale, while WH is the exhale. Try it if you haven’t already done so.

When you breathe in, it sounds like “YH” and when you breathe out, it sounds like “WH”, especially done deliberately through the mouth.

Beloved, this means that with every breath you take, you say the true Divine Name of God.

God breathed His precious Name into every human being, and that breath gives and sustains life. Upon our death, we release the breath that God gave us, perhaps returning it to Him together with our souls.

It is said that we take our last breath and sadly I have witnessed it for myself, it’s a quick breath in and a quick breath out, as if calling on the Name of our Creator.

Beloved, as you enter the new year, do not take breathing for granted, instead be conscious that with every breath you take, you utter the true Name of God.

Amen †

Sunday, 28 December 2025

A Good Life

Beloved,

This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”

(Jeremiah 29:11-12 ERV)

Let us pray...

Dear Lord, You are the only foundation of my life. Your wisdom and Your love are without end. You are the Creator of all things, and You have planned all things from the beginning of time. So Lord, I know that You have planned a good life for me, to prosper me, to give me hope and a great future.

I thank You that I have such a good life. I thank You that I have love in my relationships with my family, and I live in a happy home. I thank You that I live life in harmony, peace and love.

Lord, remind me to keep You as the central focus of my life.

Help me to understand that when I accepted Your Son, Jesus Christ, as my Lord and Saviour, a holy and divine covenant was established.

Help me to understand that being in relationship with You does not preclude me from challenges and that even in the midst of those challenges I can still find joy in life as I place complete trust in You.

Lord, I realize that if there is any unhappiness and distrust, it is because I have shifted my focus and strayed from the example which Christ set for me.

I pray that as time goes on, Your Holy Spirit will bear in me the Christ-like characteristics of, patience, kindness, faithfulness and empathy.

I pray that I will always listen to Your small still voice.

I pray that I will always speak words that lift up and not tear down.

I pray that my attitude toward others would create a positive environment and that I will love and accept others unconditionally, just as You love and accept me as I am.

Holy Spirit, if I am the cause of another’s hurt or if someone is the cause of mine, help me to quickly forgive, and be swift to heal our wounded emotions.

Forgive me for those times when I was insensitive, and when I was so self-absorbed that I failed to recognize the needs and the pain of those close to me, those around me, and those I meet along the way.

Lord, continue to bless me; let me never yield to temptation but deliver me from the destructive plans of the evil one.

Remind me to pray, not just for myself, but for others, and help me always to encourage others in the Lord.

I make this prayer in Jesus’ Name. Amen †

Saturday, 27 December 2025

Already In The House

And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us [a]joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

(Ephesians 2:6 AMPC)

Scripture tells us that when we accept and receive Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, we in Him and He in us, we are seated together with Him in our Father’s House – that’s why Jesus tells us that as His followers, even though we live in this world we do not belong to this world.

I have given and delivered to them Your word (message) and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world [do not belong to the world], just as I am not of the world.

They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world.

(John 17:14, 16 AMPC)

Spiritually, we are in the Heavenly realm, the House of God.

As a Believer, your position is in Jesus, so that means that you are already in the House – the Heavenly places found in Him.

You must understand that in Jesus you were chosen before the foundations of the world were even laid. God picked you out to be His own child through Jesus Christ because it was His intention and His pleasure for you to be a part of His family, to be a part of His divine plan long before He spoke Creation into existence.

Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.

For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [[a]because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]—

In Him we also were made [God’s] heritage (portion) and we obtained an inheritance; for we had been foreordained (chosen and appointed beforehand) in accordance with His purpose, Who works out everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His [own] will,

(Ephesians 1:4, 5, 11 AMPC)

Beloved, knowing this Truth, and as a new year approaches, let today be the beginning of a new phase in your life in the One Who, in love, willingly sacrificed His life for yours, to provide you with the opportunity to be a part of His household, ushered in through the Blood that Jesus shed on the cross, accepted and approved by God.

Amen †

Friday, 26 December 2025

Take Every Opportunity

Yesterday, Christmas Day, was a day of giving gifts and receiving gifts. We would have been careful to give gifts that we know our loved ones would like, appreciate and use. Just as we have been particular in our gift-giving, so too the Holy Spirit.

As it is written,

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one, just as He determines.” – 1 Corinthians 12:4-5, 11 (NIV)

Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit of God gives gifts to each person, every one distinct and different, though He remains the same.

We are expected to use these various gifts that we’re given to lift up high the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and not in any way to give glory to ourselves.

Our aim is to take every opportunity to use these precious gifts in service to Christ; be it in the form of possessions, words of knowledge, spiritual understanding, wonder-working faith, power to heal, prophecy, the gift of interpretation of dreams, visions and of tongues, the ability to discern between true spirits and false ones, and all other diverse spiritual gifts.

Beloved, from today, resolve to take every opportunity to use your Spirit-given gifts, your time and your possessions to advance the cause of Jesus Christ.

Amen †