Monthly Archive

Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ 

This scripture shows up often around the holidays encouraging people to give. It is more of a blessing to give than to receive. Although it’s more of a blessing to give than to receive, we still have to learn how to receive.

Receiving may not come easy to everyone. Several factors get in the way that prevent us from being good receivers. Some of those factors include, pride, fear, or obligation. Some have too much pride to take handouts from anyone. Some fear being in debt to someone else. Some don’t want to obligate themselves to give back to the person who gave to them. 

There’s one thing we must remember. It’s not the person who is giving to us. It’s God working through the person to give to us. If we don’t realize this, we’ll turn down blessings God’s attempting to give to us simply because it’s coming through a person. 

So, remove all the pride and fear and become better receivers. 

If someone, you didn’t really know said, “there’s just something I like about you.” They then proceeded to pay all your student loans, car note, and mortgage. We may respond by asking if there’s anything we could do for them as a token of our appreciation. The person only says, freely receive my gift to you. By the person declining any labor intensive offer from us should compel most of us to ask if there’s anything we could do again. 

This is what Jesus did for us. He paid ALL of our debts and He didn’t require any labor intensive chore from us. All He asks is that we believe that He paid all of our debts and receive the gifts He’s made available to us through His sacrifice. 

Some may say, “doesn’t God require obedience, tithing, prayer, and church attendance?” The answer to that question is no. If He required service for salvation that wouldn’t be considered The FREE gift of grace. God’s freely given goodness and grace should eventually compel us to obey, tithe, pray and attend church, but just know, it’s not a requirement for salvation. 

Thank God for His goodness and mercy He’s shown through Jesus. It can compel anyone to do better. 

Romans 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not byworks, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

Psalms 59:16 But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.

Anyone can praise God when things are going well in their lives.

Got a new job…Praise God!

Got married…Praise God!

Got a raise…Praise God!

But what about praising Him in the times of pressure? How often are we praising Him when things are not looking so good? 

Are we praising Him when our house gets foreclosed? Are we genuinely praising God when a loved one passes away? Are we praising God when things don’t seem like they’re getting better? 

We should. The same God who blessed us with good and prosperous things is the same God that can cause our seemingly negative situations to work out for our good.

So wherever you are in life. Give God the praise. 

We live in a world of the next best thing. We hear something big or exciting, but after awhile, that news gets old and we want to hear something bigger or different.

However, when it comes to God and all the wonderful things He’s done, we should never get tired of hearing of His goodness. There should be no such thing as “old testimonies.” 

Hearing of God’s goodness encourages us to believe for the miraculous. It will remind us of how good, merciful, and kind God is towards us. Sharing God’s goodness continues to allow His glory to spread all across the world. 

As we celebrate the day of thanks, think back on some old things God has done for you, share it with someone else, and tell God thank you. 

2 Corinthians 4:15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 

Jesus was our example of how we should operate in the earth using our God-given authority. When Jesus was resisting the devil using the Word of God in Matthew 4, He was showing us how to resist the devil. When Jesus spoke to and calmed the storm in Mark 4, He was teaching us how to use our words to speak to our negative situations. When God raised Lazarus from the dead, He was teaching us how to raise people from the dead.

Some may say, “I can’t do all that Jesus had done. Jesus could do the miraculous because He is the Son of God.” Well, according to John 14:12, we have no more excuses.

John 14:12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

The only thing stopping us from doing the miraculous in the earth is ourselves. We have our example (Jesus) showing us the way, our faith, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We’re a triple threat against opposition. Use your authority to make changes aligned with the Word of God.

God has given us authority to operate on the earth. One key area of authority we should master is the power of confession. Our confession has the ability to literally shape and enhance our world.

The story of Lazarus being raised from the dead is very familiar. Without touching him or placing anything on his body, Jesus used His words to raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43-44).

What some may not realize is, prior to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus confessed what was going to occur.

John 11:1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

Jesus confessed Lazarus’ sickness will not end in death. Knowing His authority and using the power of confession, Jesus had enough faith to raise Lazarus from the dead.

We have the same authority to operate like Jesus did on the earth (John 14:12). Confessing the Word of God over our situation will feed our faith and our faith will eventually change the situation.

Begin confessing the Word of God over your life, the lives of others, and the Kingdom of God.

Inspired by Apostle F. Price

Genesis 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

The world has placed a negative connotation around the concept of work. A lot of us complain about it and our ideal lifestyle is to become rich so we don’t have to work. We’ve been deceived into thinking work is a problem. Based on the scripture, work was originated by God.

We view work negatively because a lot of us are working outside of our purpose. God has given everyone an assignment here in the earth. Our assignment is attached to our gifts and talents. Some of us are called to be teachers, while others are called to be truck drivers.

Regardless of where we work, our additional assignment is to be a light at our work environment. What would the world look like if we had believers operating at their maximum potential, enjoying what they did, in the assigned area where God called them? It would be epic.

Let’s renew our minds around the concept of work. Work is God-ordained and it can be beneficial to the Kingdom of God and the world we live in.

Inspired by Pastor Bill Winston.

Matthew 8:13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! As you have believed, so will it be done for you.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

God can do some awesome and amazing things in our lives if we let Him. The key words in that sentence is “if we let Him.”

God is a lover and He’s given mankind free will, therefore, He’s not going to force His will or His blessings on our lives. The magnitude of the promises we receive from God is going to be according to our faith (Matthew 9:29). If we have faith for a multitude of God’s promises found in the Word of God, we’ll receive numerous promises; and if we have faith for the bare minimum of God’s promises, we’ll have just that. One is not better than the other. It’s up to us.

Regardless if we desire a multitude or the minimum, we should stand in faith for those promises. We stand in faith by acknowledging Jesus sacrificed Himself and made every promise available to the believer. After asking God for a certain promise, we thank God that Jesus has made it available to us.

We often have a tendency to make a blessing ourselves. We get married to a person we’re unsure of, buy houses we can’t afford, take jobs we shouldn’t have accepted, but want God to bless it. However, if we stand in faith, totally relying on the wisdom of God, we’ll receive every promise from God, at the right time, with no sorrow.

Trust God, stand in faith, and receive the promises of God.

Psalms 107:22 Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, And tell of His works with joyful singing.

It can be a sacrifice to give thanks to God. For instance, when we don’t feel like being thankful, we sacrifice the moodiness of our flesh to give thanks to God. When our life is not going the way we desired, we surrender our negative emotions, think on what God has done, and offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

The very breath we have in our lungs to give thanks is a reason to thank God. The fact that we’re not dead is a reason to thank God. The promise that God is always with us, guarantees to protect us, and continuously blesses us is a reason to thank God. What we’re thankful for is a direct result of a sacrifice. That sacrifice was made by Jesus. If we can’t think of anything else to be thankful for, thank God for Jesus.

We may not always feel like it and thanksgiving may not always seem warranted based on our current conditions, but if we really look closely at our lives, God deserves all of the praise, glory, honor, and thanks for what He’s done.

Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

There are some who attempt to over-complicate salvation. They feel like confessing with our mouths “Jesus is Lord” and believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead is not enough. They feel like it’s too simple.

Contrary to religious belief, we don’t have to ask for forgiveness before being saved, we don’t have to be baptized before being saved, we don’t have to be filled with the Holy Spirit before being saved, and we don’t have to be in a church to receive salvation. All those things are good, but it’s not a requirement of salvation. In context, Romans 10:9 and John 3:16 tells us all we have to do is confess and believe.

Complicated salvation pushes unbelievers away from the cross. Who wants to get saved when it’s a ten step process and it takes an hour? The grace of God makes salvation quick, easy, and free. Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord today and/or encourage others to make that same painless step as well.

Inspired by Pastor Tony Evans

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

1. “Everyone has sex before marriage.”
2. “I can’t forgive them.”
3. “God made me homosexual.”
4. “Marijuana is from the earth.”
5. “The Bible doesn’t say cursing is a sin.”

These statements are not to single out anyone or to bring condemnation on anyone, but some people use these statements to justify or suit their own desires.

Our flesh craves things contrary to the Word of God. That craving can be so intense until we’ll use scripture to justify our cravings or ignore the Word of God and label it archaic.

Times may have changed, but the Word of God remains the same. Instead of having the Word of God conform to our lives, we need to conform our lives to the Word of God. We also must want our lives to conform to God’s Word.

Conforming may not be easy, but God’s grace is all we need. To overcome the cravings of our flesh, we must remind ourselves we are the righteousness of God in Christ, believe God loves and has forgiven us regardless of what we have done or are doing, and receive His grace to overcome our flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Col. 2:13; 2 Cor. 12:9).

Resist the cravings and submit to God.

Hebrews 6:12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

As believers, we should be standing in faith for something. It could be a new car or a new job; it can be something for someone else, or something for the Kingdom of God. Regardless of what we’re standing in faith for, faith is always accompanied with patience.

In the Kingdom of God, patience is consistently doing what we know to do according God’s Word until our desires manifest.

Initially, we pray for our desires according to Mark 11:24 which states, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. At the time we pray, we are to believe that we’ve already received our desire. In between our prayer and the physical manifestation of our desire should be persistent patience.

Persistent patience is continuously focusing on the promise and not the delay. Satan will always throw darts of doubt in our minds regarding the delay. He’ll make us think we need to do something extra, like extended prayer or fasting, to get God to “move.” If he’s successful, he’ll have us focus on the delay so much until we’ll give up on our desires.

Persistent patience includes praise and thanking God for our desire, confessing that we’ve received our desire, and countering those darts of doubt with the Word of God. Once again, this doesn’t get God to speed up the manifestation of our desires, but this helps us from being anxious and impatient by keeping God’s promise in front of us.

Be patient, the manifestation is coming.

Acts 26:2 I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before you concerning all the things of which I am accused of the Jews:

God made our minds so powerful until we can change our disposition. He’s given us the ability to think ourselves happy.

Paul was imprisoned, surrounded by rats, roaches, and probably barely fed because he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the midst of that situation, he utilized his God-given ability to think himself happy.

We may be facing or will face unpleasant circumstances. Some of our circumstances seem downright awful. In the midst of that situation, we have the ability to think ourselves happy.

We think ourselves happy by meditating on the goodness and promises of God. It may be a trying situation, but thank God it’s not worse. We may be struggling financially, but praise God we have a place to stay and food to eat. We meditate on how God delivered us out of a terrible situation in the past, and how He’s already made a way for us to escape this current situation (1 Corinthians 10:13). Meditate on God’s saving power, His healing power, and His love towards us.

Thinking ourselves happy WILL have to be done continuously because we have an enemy who will bombard our minds with thoughts focused on our current situation and not the promises of God. So, remember Proverbs 23:7 which says for as he thinks within himself, so he is. We embody what we think. 

Malachi 3:6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

A lot of us have been so accustomed to people leaving us, turning their backs on us, and changing their minds about us until it can be difficult to believe there’s a person who can be continuously consistent. That’s what we have in God. God won’t change.

Having an understanding that God won’t change will assist in our complete trust in God. It’s easier to trust in a person when they’ve told us they’re not going to change and they have around 4000 years of faithfulness and millions of positive testimonies on their resume.

What God’s Word says about us and our lives is true and it won’t change. When God said He will never leave us nor forsake us in Hebrews 13:5, regardless of how far we’ve gone away from Him, His consistent presence won’t change. When God’s Word says nothing can separate us from His love in Romans 8:38, regardless of how many times we’ve missed the mark, His love won’t change. When God said, His plan is to prosper us in Jeremiah 29:11, no matter how much we think we’ve messed things up, His plan won’t change.

We might as well place our total trust in God because He won’t change and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Psalm 107:6 “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses.”‭‭

There are four additional instances in this chapter alone where it says, “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses” (v. 9, 13, 19, & 28). Do you think God is trying to tell us something?

In each case, mankind found themselves in trouble, however, when they cried out to the Lord, He delivered them from all of their distresses. God hasn’t changed. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever more (Malachi 3:6). He’s still willing and able to deliver us out of our distresses when we cry out to Him.

This is not a pitiful whimpering cry to God. This is a bold focused declaration to God, informing Him that we need Him. So, instead of trying to figure out the problem using our finite logic, cry out to God informing Him of His necessity in our lives. 

Everything we do or say contrary to the Word of God begins with a thought. Lust, greed, selfishness, and gossip all begin with a thought. If we get our thoughts together, our actions will follow.

Philippians 4:8 says, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.‭

The key to having our actions and words align with the Word of God is to control our thought life. Philippians 4:8 tells us how to think. If we think on things that are true, we won’t believe the lies. If we think on things that are pure, we won’t have impure thoughts that lead to lust. If we think on things that are of a good report, we won’t spread gossip and negativity.

It all starts with our thoughts. Think or meditate on the things God instructed us to think on and be a brighter light in the world and live a holier life unto God.

Proverbs 18:21 says, death and life are in the power of the tongue, so, whatever we’re speaking about on a daily basis is what we’re giving life to. If we’re talking about how hard life is or how bad a situation is, we’re feeding or giving life to that bad situation.

What we say also magnifies what we believe. Luke 6:45 says, what we say flows from what our heart is full of. So, if we’re constantly speaking doom and gloom over our lives or about the negative situation, at our core, we believe more in the negative events in front of us than the Word of God.

The spiritual solution to kill any negative event in our lives is to keep silent. Stop feeding the negative situation through our speech. Begin saying what we want to see instead of saying what we’re seeing. Correct believing will birth correct speech and correct speech will produce a positive life. Speak life.

Proverbs 10:19 When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise.

Acts 8:1 And Saul approved of their killing him…

Our background can sometimes intimidate us from doing the work of the Lord. We look at how many times we’ve missed the mark, how many marriages we’ve had, or our criminal background, and think someone is going to judge us based on our past. Unfortunately, some people will judge, but that shouldn’t stop us from doing the work of the Lord.

Think about this. Paul, who was once called Saul, was murdering the family members of people he would eventually preach to. If Paul would have focused on his past, he wouldn’t have had the revelation to do what he did and write the majority of the New Testament. It was imperative that Paul received his forgiveness, forgot the things of his past, and pressed towards what God called him to.

We can’t be concerned about the opinions of men regarding our past. We must do what God has called us to because God’s opinion of us is the only opinion that matters.

Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have laid hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

Psalms 105:24 The LORD made his people grow rapidly in number and stronger than their enemies.

We have enemies. We have natural enemies and we have spiritual enemies. It makes no difference what type of enemies we’re facing, God made us stronger than our enemies.

Do you have a manager who is deliberately making your life difficult? God made us stronger than our enemies. Do you have a disease that keeps reoccurring? God made us stronger than our enemies. Do you have strife in your marriage? God made us stronger than our enemies.

God made it so that nothing can stop us. There is nothing in Satan’s arsenal that can stop us. We don’t have to accept being under the thumb of our enemies. We don’t have to live below God’s best.

So how do we activate our strength? By faith. We must believe that we’re stronger than our enemies. We must believe that the One in us is greater than the one in the world (1 John 4:4). We must believe that with God we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies (Psalms 108:13).

Regardless of how it appears as we see it today, if we would believe the word of God regarding overcoming our enemies, we will maintain our victory.

Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Since the beginning, one of the first things some of us do when we miss the mark is attempt to hide from God. In our case, some of us avoid the very place that can help us. We avoid the house of God.

Some of us get so filled with guilt, shame, and condemnation until we avoid coming to church and avoid our accountability partners. Religious leaders haven’t made it any easier by preaching guilt and shame from the pulpit. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about grace, forgiveness, and love no matter how many times we fall. Sin is still displeasing to God, but where sin has increased, grace increased all the more (Romans 5:20).

The correct way to handle a situation when we’ve missed the mark is to do the following:

1. Acknowledge that we’ve missed the mark and thank God that forgiveness has been made available through the blood of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:9; Colossians 2:13).

2. In the midst of having a temptation to feel guilty, come into the house of God and worship God because of His grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness in spite of what we’ve done.

3. If necessary, rededicate our lives to God and make a commitment to live a holy life.

Don’t run from God. Nothing good happens when we avoid God. Run to God. He’s waiting there with loving, open arms.