Monthly Archive

Job 9:10 He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number.

As we approach the last hours of 2020, it’s a good time to reflect on the great things of God. In spite of the pandemic, God has done some great things for us if we look closely.

Some of us still have employment. That’s a great thing. For those who don’t, you’re still alive with the potential to get another job. That’s also a great thing. Some of us got married, pregnant, or had a baby in 2020. That’s awesome. Some of us have been delivered from toxic relationships. That’s refreshing. With the shutdowns, some of us had time to achieve clarity regarding our purpose.

Depending on our perspective, we can always find something good or bad to dwell on. Why not dwell on the great things God has done for us?

Psalm 34:2 (CEV) With all my heart, I will praise the LORD. Let all who are helpless, listen and be glad.

When God blesses us, don’t hide it. Don’t try to fit in and have a commonality with friends or coworkers. Let others know what God has done.

Our friends may be having a pity party discussing how broke they are and how depressing life is. They may be trying to one up each other on how miserable their life has become.
If we know God has blessed us and we’re not struggling financially, don’t join in. Tell them how good God has been. Our friends may think we’re boasting. They’re absolutely correct; we are. We’re boasting in the Lord and all He’s accomplished for us. There’s no sin in telling everyone how good God has been.

If they can’t handle God blessing our lives without being jealous, they’re not meant to be our friends. If we can’t handle criticism after receiving a head-turning blessing from God, don’t ask God.

Don’t go down to their level. Give them an opportunity to use their faith to get whatever they want and need from God.

God is always doing things for us. Some of them just so happen to be more noticeable than others. We can easily identify God blessing us with an unexpected raise or a new car, but it’s equally important to identify God in more common ways.

For instance, when we get a front row parking space, that’s God. When we could have injured ourselves playing basketball but we didn’t, that’s God. When we come home to a drama-free house, that’s God. When our children come home safe from school, that’s God.

Don’t take these moments for granted. That’s God in our corner working for our good (Rom. 8:28). Identify the more common areas where God is consistently blessing our lives. That way, we’ll never be deceived into thinking God isn’t doing anything for us.

Psalm 103:1-2 (MSG) O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name! O my soul, bless God, don’t forget a single blessing!

Acts 8:29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay by it.”

When we pray, it’s important to allow God to talk back to us. As we’re listening to God, it’s even more important to not make assumptions about what God is saying.

For instance, God may say “business.” Just because God said “business” doesn’t mean we should quit our jobs and start a business. Let God provide the full set of instructions. He may say “business” for a week during our time in prayer. Just meditate on that for now. The following week, He may tell us to invest in a particular business. We could have made our lives problematic if we would have assumed God meant for us to start a business.

Just know, God is not going to lead us astray. He’ll provide clarity in what He wants us to do. Ask Him 3 times if necessary. Don’t be anxious and assume. Be sure, and know what the Lord is telling you.

Inspired by Creflo Dollar

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Merry Christmas! Remember, today is all about Jesus. It’s not about presents, food, or being off of work. It’s about God sending His Son to save mankind from their sins and giving us abundant life.

Take a moment to think about what God has done through Jesus. Worship God with your family. Sing songs about Jesus. Even if everything’s not perfect, reflect on the perfection of Jesus and what He means in your life.

Jesus we honor You, we thank You, and we praise You. And although December 25th is not technically Your birthday, we choose to celebrate Your arrival on earth this day. Thank You God for Jesus.

1 Corinthians 9:27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

As we celebrate Christmas and the new year, it’s important to keep our bodies in check. Around this time of year, we tend to cook a lot of food. We all want to be healthy and live long. One way to do that is to eat well. That means, being led by the Spirit with what we eat and how much we eat.

If God says don’t get a second plate, let’s keep our flesh in check, and resist the temptation of a second plate. If God says don’t eat a certain thing too late, don’t eat it.

We have to understand God is looking at the big picture and is lending a helping hand with our overall health. Let’s listen to Him and keep our flesh in check.

Some people don’t want to listen to anyone who hasn’t experienced anything. They don’t want to listen to parenting advice from someone who doesn’t have children and they don’t want to get business advice from someone who doesn’t own a successful business. With that attitude, they tune people out who could really help them or worse, they tune out the vessel God is speaking through.

Look at Paul. In Ephesians, Paul gives us parental and marriage advice. Paul wasn’t married and he didn’t have any children. We accept this because it’s in the bible, but God is still speaking through people.

Don’t get caught up in the qualifications of the vessel. It could be a child, a person who was married 3 times, or a drunkard. God can use anyone. Listen to their words. If it aligns with the word of God, receive it with gladness. Let’s keep our ears and our heart open to hear God’s word.

Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Sometimes, it can get a little difficult to comprehend the word of God surrounding His promises. One way to fully internalize God’s promises toward us is to add “I Promise” to every promise found in scripture, and imagine God speaking directly to you.

Example:
Isaiah 54:17(a) says, no weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn.

Imagine God saying this to you…
I PROMISE, no weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn.

Isaiah 53:5 says, But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

Add an I PROMISE to it and make it personal.
I PROMISE, He (Jesus) was wounded for your transgressions, He was bruised for your iniquities; The chastisement for your peace was upon Him and by His stripes you are healed.

Adding that I PROMISE and personalizing the scriptures just makes it easier to realize God is speaking directly to us. Praise God for His word and His promises.

Jonah 2:7 “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord ; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.

Situations in life can have us feeling like there’s no way out. Times can get so rough until all we can think about is ending it all. It’s during those times when we need to remember the Lord.

Thinking about His goodness, His power, and His ability to change any situation can give us enough faith to last another day. Remembering how He brought us out the last time will encourage us to press on.

The devil will magnify the problems in front of us, but it’s up to us to remember the Lord in times of trouble.

So don’t end it all and don’t sink into depression. Remember the Lord, call on Him, and He will answer.

John 7:27 However we know where this man comes from, but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from.”

Background: The people in the crowd are trying to figure out if Jesus was the Messiah. One person says, “no one will know where the Messiah comes from.”

Where did he get this from? It doesn’t say anywhere in the Old Testament that no one will know where the Messiah will come from. He may have convinced someone not to believe in Jesus with that statement.

Today, we still have untruths, myths, and assumptions coming out of the mouths of people in and out of the body of Christ.

We have…
“Money is the root of all evil.” This statement has people believing God wants us poor. It says, “the love of money is the root of all evil.” (1 Tim. 6:10). That’s a big difference.
We also have…
“God helps those who help themselves.” That’s not true. God says, before we call, He will answer (Isaiah 65:24). He’s always there to help.
Let’s not forget about…
“The bible condones slavery.” This alone has so many black people turning their backs on God. Slavery of bible times was very different from the slavery we know and hate. It actually would have been much closer to indentured servitude. Slaves were not expected to be enslaved for life (Ex. 21:2).

These are just a few statements thrown around, but it can impact those around us and have people believing a lie. In context, let’s validate every statement we hear with the word of God and speak the truth.

1 Samuel 7:3 Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the Israelites put away the Baals and Ashtoreths and served only the LORD.

10 As the Philistines drew near to fight against Israel, Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering. But that day the LORD thundered loudly against the Philistines and threw them into such confusion that they fled before Israel.

The Israelites worshipped false gods and they had no interest in God until things got too difficult for them with the Philistines. But as soon as they turned to God and asked for help, God immediately stepped in and helped them.

What does this mean for us? No matter how long we’ve turned our back on God, as soon as we turn to Him, He’s there to help us. As we seek Him, He’ll fix our problems, guide us through our shortcomings, and help us become better people.

Don’t let your past hold you down or define who you are. Turn to Him and He’ll be there to help.

Colossians 4:17 Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”

We all have a God-given ministry. Some of us are assigned to a ministry within the church such as, pastors, ministers, and church staff, but the majority of us are assigned to a ministry outside the four walls of the church.

We are teachers, lawyers, engineers, business owners, politicians, and more. Some may think of this as a job, but it’s a ministry. As born-again believers, we are to bring the Kingdom of God in those areas. That means we pray for God’s protection, supernatural increase, and efficiency in our ministry. We work unto the Lord. We allow the Holy Spirit to direct us in our decisions. We bind and rebuke demonic influences that cause drama. And we loose peace and joy in our ministry.

It doesn’t matter if we’re working in a fast food restaurant or on the board of a fortune 500 company, our responsibility is to complete the ministry we have received in the Lord.  

Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.

Spouses, children, siblings, and friends should all receive prayer from us. We always should be praying for someone else. As much as we want to succeed and prosper, we should want the same thing for others.

We should desire that they succeed and prosper in their families, their businesses, and their health. We should want them to fulfill the purposes God has for them. We should want them to mature and grow in the things of God.

There’s enough God to go around for everyone. We have to stop thinking about ourselves only and take the time to intercede on the behalf of others. Let’s sincerely pray.  

There are so many people who get so serious when they talk about God. It’s fine to be serious about God, but it’s also okay to have fun with God.

When it comes to God and the things of God, we can have fun. Praying can be fun. We should talk to God like we talk to our best friend. Listening to God’s Word can be fun. People like Jeremy Foster and John Gray incorporate humor in their message. Even reading the bible, yes the bible, can be entertaining. When reading about the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, with a smile on our face, we gladly appreciate Him.

When it comes to God, we don’t have to get deep and serious all the time. Laugh, smile, and have fun with God. He enjoys us so, we should enjoy Him too.

Philippians 4:4 (MSG) Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

Matthew 5:44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

When a relative or a close friend tells us about how they were hurt by another person, we usually get upset with the other person.

Some of us don’t talk to them anymore. We may talk bad about them to others. In some cases, we hope they fail. They haven’t done anything to us, but they hurt someone close to us. For that, we don’t like them.

Guess what? They still need prayer. They should receive grace and mercy just like we need grace and mercy. They still need to know they’re loved by God, they’re forgiven by God, and loved by us.

It’s not popular and it can be difficult at times, but that’s the Christian thing to do. If we don’t pray for them, who will? If we don’t extend grace and mercy to them, how will they become a better person? How can they fix their mistakes if someone doesn’t lovingly show them their faults? We needed grace and mercy when we hurt someone else, so extend that same grace and mercy to others.

There are some of us who want to do the right thing. We want to please God by being a good servant for His Kingdom, acknowledge God in all our ways, be a good spouse, and be a good parent.

It’s a good thing to want to do the right thing, but sometimes we miss it. We desire to do good, but our flesh gets in the way and we miss the mark. That’s not the time to beat ourselves up or believe Satan’s lie that we’re going to miss our blessing. We must extend grace to ourselves.

Step 1: Acknowledge that we missed the mark.
Step 2: Receive God’s forgiveness and His forgetfulness of the mark we’ve missed (Heb. 8:12).
Step 3: Understand if God has forgiven us and forgotten our sins, we should too.
Step 4: Continue on with life as if we haven’t done anything wrong.

By extending grace to ourselves, the devil can’t hold anything over our heads (condemnation). Follow these steps to experience complete freedom from everything we’ve done wrong.  

Ecclesiastes 7:20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Job 8:7 Though your beginning was small, Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.

We may have an efficient vehicle, decent employment, and a moderate house, but our dreams are humongous.

Don’t get down because your dreams are not matching your reality yet. Continue to trust in God for your desires. Continue to believe that you received them. Prepare, in whatever way you can, to receive what you envision for your life.

It may look small or basic now, but it won’t always be like this. Keep your faith in God and expect an abundant future.

The best way to discredit someone is to mock them, belittle them, make fun of them, and tell someone else how ridiculous they sound. It’s bad enough we do this to people, but some of us (saved and unsaved) have done this to the Holy Spirit.

In some circles, He’s a running joke. He’s been reduced to jumping, dancing, and fainting. Some pretend to jerk their bodies and talk in tongues.

Who’s behind this discrediting? Answer: Satan.

Satan has discredited the Holy Spirit because he knows if we properly use the Holy Spirit, his attacks will be instantly defeated. He knows we’ll have an abundant life, tap into our purpose, and advance the Kingdom of God.

So what does Satan do? He makes people feel foolish if they consult with and pray in the Holy Spirit. He causes division in the body of Christ about the Holy Spirit’s role. He influences believers and nonbelievers to make a mockery of Him.

Don’t get caught in this trap. Study and learn about the Holy Spirit. Learn about His role to assist us in obtaining a prosperous life. Jesus lets us know the Holy Spirit is a gift and our helper. So why wouldn’t we use Him?

Acts 1:3 After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

The next time you pray, be mindful of how many times you use the words, me, my, and I. There’s nothing wrong with praying for yourself and your desires, but don’t forget about others.

Pray for that relative who hasn’t accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Loose ministering spirits that will encourage them to receive salvation. Pray for your friend’s child that may be stressing your friend out. Pray for the President. Pray that He makes decisions that align with the word of God.

There are so many other people and situations to pray for outside of ourselves. Equalize your petitions. Instead of always saying me, my, and I, include, he, her, and them.

Psalm 71:18 (CEV) Don’t leave me when I am old and my hair turns gray. Let me tell future generations about your mighty power.

*Let’s set the record straight, God will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5).

As we get older, it’s important to tell the next generation about the goodness of God. How will they know God is the Savior, the deliverer, and the healer if we don’t tell them?

We’re old enough to have testimonies of our own. We can tell them how God came through when the situation seemed impossible. We can tell them how God answered our prayers better than we could have imagined.

From our children to our grandchildren, let’s position ourselves to tell the next generation about God and His wonderful works.