Sometimes we look at our lives and we ask God, “Why?”
We don’t understand why we are going through times of hurt; times of pain; times of weakness; times of warfare.
Beloved of God! The Lord is with us in and through it all! And not only is He with us…
But “…we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”. (Romans 8:28)
Be assured, precious ones, that no matter what you are going through…no matter how bad it may seem…the Lord loves you!!
What the enemy would use for your destruction – The Lord will use to strengthen you…to equip you…to help you to become more than a mighty conqueror!
This is His promise…this is His Truth! Believe it and declare it!
“Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18 NASB)
This is such a good reminder that our praise of Almighty God is not dependent on how things are going on in our lives. Our praise is not in response to our circumstances – but our praise is in response to who God is!
As we continue to journey through COVID – we offer our undiluted praise to the LORD!!
As we walk in uncertainty of what our future holds – we offer our praises of faith to the LORD!!
I invite you to join me in wholehearted, faith-filled, joyful praise to the God of our salvation!! Our circumstances are constantly changing – but the LORD does not change! Hallelujah!!
“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1 ESV)
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV)
This scripture reminds us that no matter the temptation – there are others who have journeyed through the same thing. It’s easy to sometimes feel that we are alone in our journey, but that’s not true!
The Lord uses others to support and help us as we are going through challenging circumstances. As they have journeyed through – so can we!
And even more powerful is God’s promise that He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. AND He will provide a way out. Hallelujah!!
[Prayer]. Lord, You are FAITHFUL!! You are trustworthy! You are more than able to see us through anything that tries to stop us in our journey with You. You go before us and provide a solution, an answer, a way out of our temptations. And You are with us providing all the strength and wisdom we need. LORD, YOU ARE FAITHFUL!!
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;”. Philippians 2:12 NASB
Paul is recognizing that the Philippians followed his teachings not only while he was there among them, but even when he was absent.
Do we follow the teachings of Jesus not only when we are among our fellow Christians, but when we are out in the world?
We are to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” We are not working FOR our salvation. There is nothing we can do to earn it. We have been saved by God’s Grace through faith. We are able to receive salvation by what JESUS has done. Hallelujah!!
As a result of our salvation, we begin to “work out” or do the good works of God that He has prepared us to do.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV
LORD, as we go forward from our position of being saved by grace, may we never take it for granted! May we never take YOU for granted! You are Almighty, Creator, King of kings and Lord of lords! May everything we do and say in Your name be in recognition of Who You are. You are WORTHY of our deepest reverence and our highest praise!! Amen!
God has spoken and continues to speak His love to you and me. I received this word from the Lord in 2011 on this day and He is still speaking it over us!❤️
“I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Psalm 16:8
Have you had times of feeling “shaken” lately? I know I have. It may be because of what we have allowed to be before us…what we are focused on. If we are more focused on the news and all that is happening in the world instead of on the Lord, we can be shaken! If we are more focused on the problems that arise in our day-to-day lives instead of on the Problem Solver, we can be shaken!
Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I have allowed other things to envelope all my attention and thoughts. I want YOU to be in my line of sight at all times. I want YOU to be my focus and be my right hand. I shall not be shaken!!!
A living sacrifice…are we willing to sacrifice our plans, our schedule, our desires, our lives…and put them in the hands of Almighty God?
This is worship that costs something. This is truly believing that the God of the universe has a better plan for us than we have for ourselves.
Do we trust Him that much? It is a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day choice.
I choose YOU to be the Master of my destiny, LORD! Your way is the best way! Your plan is the best plan! I offer myself as a living sacrifice. I am Your vessel… may You live in and through me! May You be glorified!!
Are you waiting? The door is slowly opening… Do you see the faint sliver of light? Do you feel that quiver of expectation and hope stirring in your spirit? Praise Him in the waiting…praise Him in the doing…praise Him in the resting! PRAISE HIM BELOVED!! HE IS OUR GOD AND HE IS WORTHY!!!!!
Are we talking too much about all the wrong things going on in our lives or in the lives of others? There comes a time when just talking about and lamenting our current circumstances needs to end.
It’s time to start DECLARING and DECREEING God’s will in our circumstances and in the circumstances that others are facing and in our world!!
“The tongue has the power of life and death…”. Proverbs 18:21 NIV
The Lord is calling us to SPEAK LIFE! SPEAK LIFE! SPEAK LIFE!
“for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Matthew 10:20 NIV
“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life…”. Proverbs 10:11 NIV
Help us, Lord, to speak forth Your heart, Your love, Your will!! May Your life-giving words flow forth in power and accomplish what You desire!! In Jesus’ Name! AMEN!
“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”. (2 Corinthians 10:5 )
I want to be transparent with you about my weak moments. I know this scripture in 2 Corinthians and have even taught it. But, just because we know God’s truth does not mean it is easy to walk it out in our lives.
I have to admit that the isolation and social distancing during COVID-19 has been hard for me. There are some days that I wake up and I can feel the heavy blanket of depression trying to take over my thoughts. And that is not a good place to be! Not only does it affect me but it affects those closest to me.
Brothers and Sisters! We all have times when we may feel despair, doubt, fear, frustration, anger, and hopelessness. But, we need to make sure that we have the right response when and if it happens.
We are told in God’s word that we are to TAKE EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE to the obedience of Jesus! We are to DESTROY speculations and every lofty thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God.
In other words, are our thoughts in alignment with our knowledge of who God is and in alignment with who God says we are?
We don’t have to act upon every thought! We don’t have to allow our thoughts to dictate how we feel about ourselves or others. We don’t have to allow our thoughts to be the “rudder” of our lives!
WE are in control of what thoughts we allow to take hold in our lives! If the thoughts we are having are causing us to fear, to hate, to be judgmental, or to feel depressed and unworthy —then we are to TAKE AUTHORITY over our thoughts and replace them with GOD’S TRUTH!!
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
LORD, thank You for being the Giver of Truth! Thank You for empowering us through Your Holy Spirit to control our thoughts and to not be ruled by them. We bring our thoughts into obedience to YOU!! Thank You, Jesus, for being the way, and the truth, and the life! It is in Your Name that we pray. AMEN!!
