Bishop Stenneth E. Powell, Sr. - Pastor First Lady Beverly Powell 4400 Old Poole Rd, Raleigh, NC 27610 www.alcogic.org Consecration Journal
AćĚēĉĆēę LĎċĊ CĆęčĊĉėĆđ 2024 VĎĘĎĔē...PROVISION! Jesus left us with the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us achieve an abundant life. His Spirit dwells within us to teach and give wise counsel. His conviction and power lead us to produce His fruit. He intercedes for us when we are weak. There is nothing God’s Spirit cannot do. So, what is our part in living an abundant life? Here are 3 steps to get you started: 1) Evaluate Your Life The ϐirst step to start your new year off right is to look back- yes, evaluate your last year. What lessons did you learn? Think about your successes and failures and what they taught you. I always teach that you have a part to play in a successful life. Note: Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” How Is Your Prayer Life? Colossians 4:2 NLT holds us to this standard: “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.” Sometimes we make prayer harder than it must be. Prayer is a conversation with God. Jesus knocks on your door daily, waiting for you to answer. (Rev 3:20) He desires an intimate personal relationship with you. One way we do that is with prayer!
Think about the things that hold your attention and keep you from getting up and answering his knock. What if His knock was a Facebook, Twitter or TikTok notiϐication? Would you check it out then? · Is your prayer life a struggle or a joy? · Are all your prayers “need” related? · What is your biggest obstacle to prayer? · How long can you go without praying? How Well Do You Really Know God? We can know true joy, peace, and rest in our lives when we know the attributes, personality, and character of God. Sometimes it’s knowing what God is not. When we question His timing, live in fear and worry, feel hopeless or weak, etc., we are letting our human nature take control (so easy to do!) Remember that living an abundant life this new year will have ups and downs. Our God wakes us each morning with his mercies that are new (Lamentations 3: 22-23). This is one of those promises of God that I cling to every morning! His mercies never end. He doesn’t base them on how good or bad we are, but his compassionate nature shines in this fresh morning gift.
When we fail at meeting or keeping our goals, we can ask for forgiveness and direction on how to do better. He listens to the words of every contrite heart. Jesus Wants an Abundant Life for You! He wants us to succeed and to live out the abundant life He gives. Jesus came to give us eternal life, but He also wants us to experience “life to the fullest” in our earthly lives as well. We do that when we walk with Him in His joy, peace, love, and power. Accept His blessings of mercy, grace, and wisdom and share them with others. That’s when we are living an abundant life in Christ. If we study His word (a lifetime occupation!), we will know Him. Planting the seeds of His word in our hearts grows trust and peace. Just as a deep root ϐirmly anchors a plant into the soil, we need to be deeply rooted and anchored in Jesus. Plant the seeds of His Word and fertilize them daily to really know God. Reϐlect back on the blessings you received this past year. · What attributes of God do they show you? · How often do you study His Word? · What do you prioritize before cracking open your Bible? We all have something that, at times, comes ϐirst.
Sinful Nature vs Spiritual Nature One of my favorite verses from Romans is 7:18-19 NLT: “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” We can all agree with Paul about this dilemma! We try, but we fail. It is our human nature. Jesus knew we would struggle. He told his disciples to “keep watch and pray so that you will not give into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the ϐlesh (body) is weak!” Mt 26:41 NLT · Along this line of thinking, how often do you identify what sinful natures are a problem for you? · Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you of sin that keeps you from growing an abundant life. · Do you struggle with living out Jesus’ attributes? · How does His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control manifest itself in your life? Identify and work on those that are your personal struggle. 2) Set New Year Goals Now that we’ve done some introspection, it’s time to make some goals to start our New Year off right and setting goals can be a powerful process for making positive changes in your spiritual life. I know what you’re thinking and they’re hard for me too… But setting goals works. Give it a try.
· Reϐlect on the areas we covered or areas you feel convicted to change. You choose the areas you feel led to improve on as you work towards the goal of living an abundant life in Jesus. · The next step is to commit to working on your goal. This can be harder than it sounds. If you have a goal to improve your health, you have to eat right and exercise. If you want to improve your marriage, do your part by staying in your lane and learn how to forgive. If you are serious about it and really desired it, you have to act on my goals and follow through. Goal and Plan Selection When you are thinking about your goals for improving your spiritual life, be honest, and pray about it. · Do you have a deep desire to improve your spiritual life or is it something you just like to think about year after year? · Are you committed to follow through and make it a priority? Help to make it a reality by writing down your hopes and thoughts on improving. What areas are you convinced to follow through on?
For example, if you want to work on studying God’s Word to learn His character, then your goal needs to be workable. Decide how often and when you can work on this goal. How many minutes will you give to this goal? The more speciϐic you can be, the more success you will have. If your goal is to improve your prayer life, plan a speciϐic and measurable goal. “I will spend 5 minutes in prayer before I get out of bed” or “I will buy E.M. Bounds book on prayer and read one chapter each night.” It’s immensely helpful to write out your goals. Plan the steps you need to take, if necessary, to help you succeed. “On Tuesday I will research books on prayer. On Wednesday I will order the book on Prayer by E. M. Bounds. Setting goals and taking the steps to make them a reality helps you achieve your desired outcome for an abundant life in Jesus. As problem areas crop us, use this same system to take the necessary steps to make changes.
3) Evaluate Your Goal Progress · Pick a day of the week to consistently and honestly assess how you are progressing towards your goal. · What has distracted you or derailed your best intentions to follow through? The enemy would love for you to forget about living an abundant life and be content with lying on the couch, worrying about a situation, and putting anything other than your relationship with Jesus ϐirst. He would also like you to be so busy that you choose other activities in place of or put in front of your goals. In His Service, Bishop Stenneth E. Powell, Sr. Senior Pastor, Abundant Life Cathedral
9 Habits to Develop when Learning to Trust God’s Provision 1. Honor God with the ϐirst of all you have. -Matthew 6:25-26 2. Don’t stress about your day-to-day needs. -Matthew 6:25-26 3. Take God at His Word and believe in His promises. -Psalm 121:1-3 -Philippians 4:19 4. Expect the best from a God who always comes through. -Matthew 7:11 -Psalm 37:25-26 -Psalm 36:5-6 5. Help provide for others as God provides for you. -2 Corinthians 9:6-11 6. Don’t stop talking of the ways He provides. -Acts 4:20 7. Rest peaceably – and don’t strive – when it comes to your ϐinances. -Proverbs 6:9-11 -Psalm 127:2 8. Live conϐidently that God has you securely in His hands. -Psalm 16 -Isaiah 33:6 9. Trust His ways – and timing – are so much better than yours. -Isaiah 55:8-11 -Psalm 18:30
FėĔĒ ęčĊ DĊĘĐ Ĕċ OĚė BĎĘčĔĕ…. The I Am Factor I’m sure that all of us would want 12 months of happiness, 52 weeks of success, 365 days of health, 8765 hours of peace and 525,949 minutes of love in the coming year. However, those things will not happen without your faith and efforts. As 2023 is ushered out and 2024 ushered in, God gives us “A New Year to start off right going in the Right direction” and truly exemplify a New Life. Things won’t change for the better unless we change for the better and we all know that can’t happen without a positive mindset which comes from making the right kind of afϐirmations. We see the triumph of God over the forces of chaos as God created the world with word but when it came to man the climax of His creation, He used His hands. Also, Matthew 11:29 Jesus says “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for my yoke is easy and my burdens are light. Both of these passages speak of a relationship with God. We are God’s “Imago Dei” on earth (God’s image in the earth). We have the ability to reason and think, Reason integrates man's perceptions by means of forming abstractions or conceptions, thus raising man's knowledge from the perceptual level, which he shares with animals, to the conceptual level, which he alone can reach.
The language you use in any situation is so important in effectively conveying your message. Often employers look beyond a candidate’s skills, experience, and qualiϐications to seek out positivity. Note: this is particularly relevant in competitive markets where experience might be equal with many candidates who could do the job. In this case, the enthusiasm with which you tackle things provides a key advantage. If you think about your day-to-day interactions with people and how they make you feel, positive language can have a huge impact, and will usually create a far better impression than negative or even neutral language. How often does someone say not too bad when you ask how are they doing? When someone asks me, I say… “Super Fantastic!” That leaves a great impression on them providing them with immediate insight into my mood and outlook on life. Being positive is a critical factor with your colleagues, your clients, and your church in determining workplace for success. In our everyday lives, we often tend to think and express ourselves using negative language, the ones that are ϐilled with “don’t”, “not”, “can’t”, “won’t”, and all kinds of negative statements.
Although most of us do not notice the impact of them-it’s a generations-long trend to communicate with each other, these statements affect our self-image, shape our outlook on life, and predeϐines our behavior. Bishop, it seems like in these days unfavorable topics garner the most attention. You need to understand that being constantly bombarded with the negative is unhealthy for both your mental health and conϐidence. If we speak positive words, we will see positive results. On the contrary, if we speak negatively, we’ll reap negative results. Good seeds produce good fruit and bad seed produces rotten fruit. Try to see the words you use as seeds that you are planting. Say good things about yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. Positive words such as “peace” and “love,” can alter the expression of genes, strengthening areas in our frontal lobes which regulate your emotions and promoting the brain’s cognitive function. They propel the motivational centers of the brain into action. Mental chatter or selftalk is something we do all day long. We talk to ourselves, either silently or out loud, and often don’t realize we are doing it. Evidence has shown that the conversations we have in our heads can have a big impact on our emotions, our view of ourselves and our actions. When you want to reach your goals, you need to be CLEAR about what you want to achieve.
Write your dreams and goals down. Think BIG when you do that. If you want to achieve your goals and to be successful, you need to believe that you CAN make it happen. Don’t doubt yourself because you will create negative energies that will block you and you won't attract what you want. YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. Believe that you are capable of making things happen, that you have the talents, the abilities and skills to create your desired life. Believe that you deserve the best and the Universe supports you. What you also need to do is to control your selftalk, and to eliminate any negative and limiting beliefs. When you start worrying and doubting yourself, you will start to make the ‘I am not good enough’ and ‘I can’t do this’ happen. MAINTAIN A STATE OF POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS. If you say ‘I can’t start my own business’, guess what? You will not start your own business. But if you say ‘I will learn how to start my own business and by step by step make it happen…’ you will eventually run your own business.
CONTROL YOUR SELF-TALK Researchers have found that the average person thinks 50,000 thoughts a day. However, unfortunately, many of those thoughts are negative. Negative self-talk sounds like this: I’ll never lose weight; it doesn’t matter what I do; nothing ever works out for me. Psychologists call this talk the victim language. Victim language keeps you in a victim state of mind, it is a form of self-hypnosis. You eventually put yourself into a belief that you are incompetent. In order to get what you want, you need to give up this victim language and start talking to yourself like winners do — I can do it; I know there is a solution; I am smart enough and strong enough to ϐigure this out; Everything I eat helps me maintain my perfect body weight etc. YOU ARE ALWAYS PROGRAMMING YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND! Imagine that your subconscious mind is the crew of a ship and you are the captain. You are the boss and it is your job to give the crew orders. When you do this, the crew = your subconscious, takes everything you say literally. The crew has no sense of humor.
The crew blindly follows your orders; when you say, “Everything I eat goes straight to my hips,” the crew hears that as an order: Take everything she eats, turn it into fat and put it on her hips. If you say, “Everything I eat helps me maintain my perfect body weight,” the crew will begin to make that into reality by helping you make better food choices, exercise and maintain the right metabolism rate for your body. Helpful tips to get better results: It ϐirst starts with using your words to not only uplift and encourage others, but also yourself. Instead of speaking struggle, speak victories over your circumstances. You’re either going to be a victim or a victor. In order to become victorious over your circumstances, you have to use winning words. Remove yourself from negative environments. Choosing to limit your time in negative environments, especially when that environment is your own mind, will help improve your mindset. Instead of thinking about what you can’t do and why things won’t work, think about what you can do and things will work. It’s a positive opposite. Tell your critical inner voice to be quiet.
Sometimes people struggle with a lot of mental pollution from life challenges or past hurts. Please understand this simple formula: The solution to your mental pollution is dilution. Choose to let as much good into your mind as possible. That will help to dilute your negative thoughts. Positive input will really help lead you to positive results! Use afϐirmations to help yourself. You can even replace the word “afϐirmations” with “faith reminders” or “internal ads”. An afϐirmation is just a positive thought or saying that you speak over a personal struggle. Afϐirmations require repetition. If you want to erase longstanding, harmful beliefs you’ve had about yourself, it’s going to take persistence and consistency. Changing your thought pattern may not be easy, but it’s completely possible. Use your words as tools to build happy thoughts and good results. Consider an attitude adjustment. For some people, a good attitude doesn’t come automatically. Thankfully, anyone can learn to have a good attitude. There is no doubt that the tips listed above can help anyone live a more positive life and overcome a lot of life’s challenges. Having a good attitude towards personal growth and development will make all these tips even more impactful.
The power of spoken word will change your life. You’re not meant to go through life with small dreams, low self-esteem and a defeated mindset. You can’t have a negative mouth and a positive life. Commit to changing the way you speak. As with all things, it becomes much easier the longer you do Positive Afϐirmations & Daily Declarations I am a child of God. I am the righteousness of God. I am loved by God. I am healed. I am delivered. I am prosperous. I am rich. I am strong. I am a winner. I am a ϐinisher. I am blessed and cannot be cursed. I am super fantastic. I am victorious. I am alive. I am resourceful. I am a king. I am a priest. I am solider in the army of the lord. I am wise. I am wonderfully made. I can do all things. I am a lender and not a borrower. In His Service,
7 Steps For Observing A Fast 1. Be speciϐic. Do not be vague in your objections. Deϐine your reason(s) for fasting immediately. 2. Fast as a spiritual commitment. Reϐlect on the level of your spiritual commitment, as reϐlected in constant prayer during the fast. Refrain from gossip, and avenues that support it (ie. Gossip blogs or shows) 3. Reϐlect inner desire by external discipline. Many people have an inner desire for better health, but they can’t discipline themselves to avoid junk food, and other foods that are not good for their health. The physical health you seek from God may be more than an answer to prayer. Your physical health may be linked to any of the following factors: a) Your food choices b) Your time commitment. If you determine to fast for a certain time, keep it. For example, if you determine to fast ten days, don’t stop on day nine. 4. Pray to see sin’s role in your health or sickness. Actions and attitudes are important. James said, “are there any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.” James 5:13 5. Fast as a statement of faith to others. 6. Learn the effects of the foods. Why are some foods good for us, and other foods not? What does certain food do to your body? If we really knew, there would likely be some things we would never eat again. 7. Yield all results to God.
SĈėĎĕęĚėĊĘ Ĕē FĆĘęĎēČ…. 1 Kings 21:9 Isaiah 58:4 Matthew 6:16 Nehemiah 9:1 Isaiah 58:6 Matthew 6:1 Esther 4:3 Jeremiah 36:6 Mark 2:18 Esther 9:3 Jeremiah 36:9 Mark 9:29 Psalms 35:13 Daniel 9 Luke 2:37 Psalms 109:24 Joel 2:12 Acts 13:2 10 Ways to Kick-Start Your New Year 1. Write your top 10 goals for this year and post them where you can see them. 2. Take daily steps toward achieving your long term vision. 3. Write a not-to-do list. 4. Schedule a regular date night on your calendar with your spouse. 5. Lose other people’s opinions. 6. Schedule family time. 7. Make a commitment to ϐitness. 8. Write letters to three people in your life to let them know what they mean to you. 9. Write a personal mission statement or mantra. 10. Do something nice for someone.
For the ϐirst 10 days of our consecration, focus your mind on being grateful. Each day, describe 3 things that you are grateful for and attempt NOT to repeat any items. DAY 1 - DAY 2 -
DAY 3 - DAY 4 -
DAY 5 - DAY 6 -
DAY 7 - DAY 8 -
DAY 9 - DAY 10 -
WHAT GOD HAS REVEALED….?
WHAT IS MY VISION/GOAL FOR 2024? (MISSION STATEMENT/MANTRA)
2024 Fasting Instructions January 2-January 23, 2024 *Review the Consecration Calendar for weekly breakdown* 1. Although not speciϔically mentioned in the fasting regiment, please try to limit your overall intake of : —Pork and beef, dairy products, sweets, sweeteners, sodas, added sodium, or foods high in salt, fried foods, reϐined and processed food products — Refrain from eating after 8pm when possible 2. Regain ORDER in Personal Growth/Development: —Make no credit card charges for a new purchase or borrowing money —Pray for HIS vision for your life and empowerment to do HIS will —Invite God to use you. Ask Him to show you how to inϐluence your world, your family, your church, your community , your country, and beyond! —Be grateful daily. Express that through giving something away daily (ie: kind word, encouragement, prayer, lunch, uplifting text, clothing, donation, card) 3. Regain Order in your Ministry efforts: —Be present at every service or corporate gathering (inperson/online) during the 21 days —Invite someone to worship with you Jan 7, 14 & 21 —Win at least one soul and disciple them to your church —Give your ϐirst fruits offering (10% of your ϐirst check or increase) in addition to your tithe 4. Regain Order through accountability partners to help adopt a healthier lifestyle by adding: —Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, all -beans, quality oils, seasoning, tofu, herbs, spices —21 minutes of daily exercise —21 minutes of personal prayer/devotion —The reading of Old Testament Proverbs —The reading of a book, listening to music of faith and inspirational messages —Drink 8 glasses (8 oz) of water daily
2024 Fasting and Prayer Conference Call ScheduleSun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 7 DAY FREE 8 TOTAL Call 6am Prayer Day FAST All 9 SALADS & 7pm Prayer (in PROTEIN - Revival Service person)/ 7:30pm 10 SALADS Call 6am Prayer & PROTEIN 11 SALADS & PROTEIN 12 SALAD/ Call 6am Prayer FISH ONLY VEGGIES/ 13 FRUIT/ ONLY VEGGIES 14 DAY FREE 15 TOTAL Call 6am Prayer Day FAST All 16 SALADS & 7pm Prayer (in PROTEIN - Revival Service person)/ 7:30pm 17 SALADS Call 6am Prayer & PROTEIN 18 SALADS & PROTEIN 19 SALAD/ Call 6am Prayer FISH ONLY VEGGIES/ 20 FRUIT/ ONLY VEGGIES 21 DAY FREE 22 TOTAL Call 6am Prayer Day FAST All 23 SALADS & 7pm Prayer (in PROTEIN - Revival Service person)/ 7:30pm 1 2 TOTAL 7:30pm FAST All Day -8:15pm Prayer (in- person) 3 SALADS & Call 6am Prayer PROTEIN 4 SALADS & PROTEIN 5 SALAD/ Call 6am Prayer FISH ONLY VEGGIES/ 6 FRUIT/ ONLY VEGGIES *Prayer calls will last for 30 mins, each day except Sundays. Dial –in info is as follows: (425)436-6280, Access Code: 832004# speak, press *6 to unmute yourself and press again to re *All lines will be automatically muted. If asked to pray or - mute yourself to ensure audio clarity. *