SPIRITUALITY AND FAITH
Pastor Philip Nissley has been the Senior Pastor of New Hope Assembly for 24+ years. He has a passion for the Downriver community and Detroit to be changed by the power of God.
pants". Then the miner explained to Strauss that there weren't any pants strong enough to endure the arduous conditions of mining. So, Levi Strauss immediately took the heavy canvas fabric that he had brought with him and made the miner a pair of work pants. Within days, Levi Strauss struck gold. Not the bright, shiny gold found in the ground or rivers, but the gold of opportunity.
C. Opportunities only become opportunities when we embrace them as opportunities. Seize the moment! Listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and grab the opportunity! In Atlanta an 84-year-old widow became quite bored with watching TV and reading the paper. She decided that she wanted to minister to others. She took out a small Ad in the paper which read, “Pianist will play hymns over the phone to shut-ins”. Within 3 days of issuing the Ad, she had received 300 phone calls. She played favorite hymns and listened to those who were alone. She eventually ministered to over 12,000 people. When asked why she did it, she replied, “Church taught me to love hymns and to love people.” Even though she was 84, she realized she still had a purpose. So, she enacted a plan to carry out her God-given purpose and many benefited through it. Let God use you to benefit others!
MINIMIZE THE NEGATIVE VOICES
AROUND YOU
A. Listen to the Holy Spirit and silence the negative voices around you! Paul in Romans 5:5, “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy
Spirit who is given to us”. He goes on to add here in Rom. 8:32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS!”
B. Thriving requires following the voice of the Holy Spirit and capitalizing on our God-given opportunities. Doubting people will always say dumb stuff. When Robert Fulton invented the steamboat and presented his new invention, he had plenty of critics crowded on the river bank. The critics yelled, "It'll never start, it'll never start." Fulton proved them wrong. After a lot of clanking and groaning, the steamboat started up and moved down the river. The critics became quiet momentarily in amazement, then they rallied together and started yelling, "It'll never stop, it'll never stop." Listen to me. We must never let people hold us back who are small minded, bound by their own disappointments and fear of failing…when God is prompting us to DISCOVER YOU! Seize the opportunities placed before you by God. Rom. 8:37 says, “In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us!”
C. Set a daily pattern for thriving!
Genuine faith is contagious faith. Paul adds in I Cor. 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” In Philippians 4, we are call to…