Monthly Archive

The godly are showered with blessings; the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions.
Proverbs 10:6 NLT

The godly are those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. We don’t have to earn our godly status. We simply receive our godly status through our belief in Jesus as Lord.

Since we are the godly, we might as well take a shower. Our shower is not only with soap and water. Our shower is a blessing shower from God. This shower is a guarantee to any of the godly who are willing to believe.

A blessing shower consists of favor, increase, prosperity, great health and more. Notice, there’s no end to this shower. This shower can and should go on through our lifetime. The only thing that can stop our shower is our unbelief. But if we’re willing to believe that God will shower us with blessings, we’ll continously have all that we need and more.

The Lord will not let the godly go hungry, but he refuses to satisfy the craving of the wicked.
Proverbs 10:3 NLT

The fears of the wicked will be fulfilled; the hopes of the godly will be granted.
Proverbs 10:24 NLT

When the bible mentions the godly, it doesn’t mean a perfect person and it doesn’t mean a person always on their best behavior. The godly are people who are in right relationship with God through Jesus. If we’ve accepted Jesus as Lord, we are considered the godly.

As we can see, the godly, have a few promises. A great promise from God is no matter how bad it gets, God will make sure we have all we need. Verse 3 says, we’ll NEVER go hungry. Gas prices may be high and job stability may be unsure for some, but the godly will have all we need.

In verse 24, He ensures us hope. Any and every hope or desire will be granted. From a small desire like a good seat at church to a major desire like a new house, God ensures us that our hopes will be granted.

For the godly, our needs and desires will always be met. That’s God’s guarantee. Believe that. Receive that. And don’t let what you see stop your belief in His promises to the godly.

And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people.
Mark 6:5‭-‬6 NLT

Jesus couldn’t do any miracles in His hometown because of their unbelief. It wasn’t because He lacked power. It was because they limited Him due to their unbelief.

So what did Jesus do after being astonished because of their unbelief? He went from village to village teaching the people.

The key to overcoming doubt and unbelief in God’s word is being appropriately taught the word of God. Today, through books, TV, and the internet, we have access to all these great teachers of the word of God.

WARNING Every person who calls themselves a minister or teacher is not accurately teaching the word of God. It’s important to let the Holy Spirit lead you on who to listen to.

As we consistently listen to good teaching, faith comes (Romans 10:17). And faith is what we need to obtain all the promises of God.

And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people.
Mark 6:5‭-‬6

Jesus was limited in what He could do in His hometown. It wasn’t because He lacked power. He was limited because of their unbelief.

Our belief or unbelief is what opens or closes the window of heaven. It’s not God withholding something from us. It’s our belief or unbelief.

It’s simple. If we believe and maintain our belief in what God has promised in His word, despite what we see, we’ll have what we desire. If we’re doubting or in unbelief in what God has promised us, we limit what God can do in our lives.

The choice is up to us. Don’t limit God. He has all these wonderful things He wants to give and do for us. Let Him do it by maintaining belief in His word.

Revelations 1:5-6 says, through Christ we’re kings and priests. As a king, let’s look at the benefits.

How the king rejoices in your strength, O Lord! He shouts with joy because you give him victory. For you have given him his heart’s desire; you have withheld nothing he requested. Interlude You welcomed him back with success and prosperity. You placed a crown of finest gold on his head. He asked you to preserve his life, and you granted his request. The days of his life stretch on forever. Your victory brings him great honor, and you have clothed him with splendor and majesty. You have endowed him with eternal blessings and given him the joy of your presence.
Psalms 21:1‭-‬6 NLT

These are promises given to every born-again king. We have victory, granted desires, restoration, prosperity, everlasting life, and more. This is part of our inheritance.
Receive this and don’t let it go. Know that as a born-again child of God, you are a king and these are the benefits of royalty.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Isaiah 26:3 NLT

When we keep our thoughts on God and all that He has promised and all that He’s already accomplished, we’ll remain in perfect peace.

The problem we have is when our thoughts are not on Him. When our thoughts are not on Him, we’ll experience depression, sadness, boredom, fear, worry, anxiety, and any other negative emotion out there. If we pay more attention to what’s going on in the world, what’s not happened in our lives yet, or negative events that have already occurred, peace can’t remain.

Let’s maintain our peace by focusing on God and what He’s promised. If we find ourselves going from one negative thought to another, we need to catch ourselves and think on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise (Phil 4:8).

Lord, you will grant us peace; all we have accomplished is really from you.
Isaiah 26:12 NLT

Some of us think all of our degrees, promotions, and accolades come from OUR intelligence, OUR discipline, who WE know, and who WE have helped. Some of us elevated ourselves onto a pedestal and totally eliminated God.

Let’s face it, any accomplishment and anything we’ve ever achieved came from God. It was God who gave us the intelligence to get all those degrees. It was God moving the heart of our superiors to grant us that promotion. It was God who gave us that gift or talent that’s being recognized by others. It was God who blessed us with the ability to do anything special.

Open up your mouth and give God glory for ALL HE has done.

You can be sure of this: The Lord set apart the godly for himself. The Lord will answer when I call to him.
Psalms 4:3 NLT

We, the godly, have an assurance that we belong to God and He answers us when we call. It’s not a possibility, but a guarantee.

He doesn’t set us apart and answer when we call because we’ve been so good and done so many good works. He sets us apart because He made a commitment to care for the ones who made a commitment to Christ.

Don’t second guess if God is really for you based on what you did or didn’t do. It’s not about us, but the works of Christ. He’s committed to those who are committed to Him. Whether you’ve been on your best behavior or just messed up last night, if you’ve made Jesus the Lord of your life, you belong to God and you’ll always have His undivided attention.

You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
Luke 1:45

Blessed means empowered to prosper. When we believe the word of God, we become empowered to prosper.

Believing is half the battle when it comes to obtaining the promises of God. The devil will throw darts of doubt in our minds that will have us question if God’s word will come to pass. If God’s word says it, we must believe it.

The other half of the battle is acting on what we believe. If we believe what God said and act on what we believe through our confession or some other God-inspired instructions, we’ll have everything God wants us to have.

Let’s believe so we won’t miss out on our blessing.

In Grinding Part 1, we mentioned when people say they’re grinding, they’re usually working a lot and losing sleep. The only being who doesn’t need sleep is God.

Psalm 121:4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.

If we’re up long hours “grinding” only getting around 4 hours of sleep, that can negatively impact our health. Studies say lack of sleep weakens our immune system.

We need to ask ourselves if God instructed us to do all of this or if we’re depending on ourselves to be wealthy and successful. The world says grinding is the key to our goals, but what does God’s word say about that? Proverbs 10:22 says the blessing of the LORD brings wealth, without painful toil for it.

This scripture doesn’t mean we don’t work. It means we work under the blessing. Under the blessing, we don’t have to “grind” like the rest of the world. We let God lead us on when and where we should work and let the blessing do the rest.

It’s all about our dependence on God. If we’re grinding like the world, we’re more dependent on ourselves than God and that can lead to exhaustion and an early death. Depend on God rather than self.

Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

When we hear the term or people say they’re grinding, that usually means they have more than one source of income, they’re working long hours, and/or they’re working more than 5 days a week. Society pats them on the back because they see them working hard to provide for their family or accomplish a goal.

God wants us to rely on Him. If God instructs us to work long hours or have two jobs, that’s one thing. However, if we’re doing all these things in our own efforts, that’s another thing. 

If we’re relying on ourselves to get ahead, what’s the point of God being around? How can we use our faith? Or, are we only calling God when we’re exhausted?

It may be in our best interests to rest, but we have a commitment to work. That lack of rest may impact our health or other responsibilities.

Grinding sounds great to certain people, but be sure it’s God who’s leading you to grind.

What’s your Jericho walk?

One of the most illogical stories in the Bible is the Israelites walking around the Jericho wall to take the city. They had trained men ready to fight, but God told them to walk around the city for 7 days. How dumb is that? Although they were possibly confused and probably were wondering if Joshua heard God correctly, they obeyed. And without losing a single person in the battle, they were able to take the city.

What illogical thing has God told you to do? Is it consistently giving (financially) to the Kingdom of God in order to become debt free? Is it getting off social media in order to obtain a husband or wife? Is it downsizing to start a business or a ministry?

Whatever the thing is, do it. It may not make sense now, but as we trust Him and obey, we’ll obtain our desired outcome. Trust Him.

You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.”
Joshua 6:3‭-‬5 NLT

For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.
Philippians 1:10‭-‬11 NLT

People often feel like something is missing in their lives. They’ll say if they only had a husband or wife or children they would be happy. If they only had a house they would be complete. If they only had a better career they would be fulfilled.

All of these things are nice, but they’re missing the key ingredient. Fulfillment doesn’t come from things. Fulfillment comes from a continuously developing relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

When we put Jesus at the center of our lives and focus our attention on doing what the Father specifically asks of us, we’ll be fulfilled.

Thoughts will come that will make us think that these external things are what we need to be fulfilled, but that’s not true. We should rebuke those thoughts as quickly as they come. True fulfillment comes from God. When that’s settled in our minds, we’ll maintain our peace, joy, and contentment.

We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.
1 Thessalonians 2:12 NLT

As born-again believers, we know what’s right and wrong. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us and we’ll get a conviction when we’re doing or about to do something that displeases God or is not in our best interests.

We can ignore the Holy Spirit and keep doing what we feel like doing or change our ways. If we continue to ignore the Holy Spirit, our soul will get callus and we’ll begin to justify why it’s okay to go against the word of God. That leads to natural consequences like, being emotionally hurt, divorced, sick, or broke.

When God instructs us to live a certain way, He’s not trying to ruin our fun. He knows what’s best for us and He knows what we need. Walk in a manner that’s pleasing to the Lord to bring Him honor and so that we can enjoy this life.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 NLT Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.

How do we really know if the Holy Bible is actually the word of God and not a person’s opinion? This has been a question that’s been asked for years. The answer is, we don’t know.

There’s no evidence to confirm the bible is the written word of God. That’s why there’s faith. Faith is believing without actual proof or evidence.

We have faith in other texts. All those scientific theories, school textbooks, and articles we take at face value. We don’t question it or do the research ourselves to confirm what they’re saying is true. We’ll just believe it. But when it comes to the bible, we have 1001 questions about its validity. We can believe other people’s text to be true, why not believe the bible as true?

2 Timothy 3:16 says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. God inspired people to write His word. We either believe this or we don’t. For best results, believe the word of God.

1 Thessalonians 2:4 NLT For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.

People pleasing is something that sneaks up on us. We think we don’t care about what people may say or think about us, but a lot of times we do.

If we don’t care about what people think about us, we’ll unapologetically praise God, witness the gospel to everyone, and represent Jesus to the fullest.

If we don’t care about what people think about us, we’ll focus our attention on pleasing God instead of compromising. We’ll make sure we don’t engage in sin with others for their acceptance. We’ll make sure we don’t stay in relationships that God is telling us to leave.

People’s approval is not our goal. Let’s keep the mindset of pleasing God, not people.

You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition.
1 Thessalonians 2:2 NLT

Our commission from Jesus Christ is to go out and preach the gospel to everyone (Mark 16:15). It takes boldness to preach the gospel.

Some people may disassociate themselves from us. People may laugh at us. Some may even curse us out.
We must be bold enough to be okay with their rejection. They’re not rejecting us. Unfortunately, they’re rejecting Christ. Although they may reject Christ now, we must continue to believe that our words are a seed that will hopefully lead them to accepting Christ.

This is one of the few things God requires of us in the New Covenant. Let’s remove our reputation, our feelings, and our status out of the way and boldly preach Christ to everyone (waiters, salespeople, Amazon delivery people, relatives, co-workers, and more).

“I treat people kindly. I don’t bother anybody. I help when I can. I’m a good person. I don’t know why this happened to me.”

Some of us think our good deeds can keep us from facing difficulties. We may blame God because we think our good efforts should have awarded us protection from God. That’s not how this works.

No matter how good we think we are, we’ll all experience difficulties. On top of that, there’s a real devil who likes no one and He wants to see us all suffer and be destroyed (John 10:10).

Like getting tackled is a part of football, difficulties are a part of life. How we handle these difficulties determines the source and the strength of our foundation. If our foundation is in our good efforts, it won’t last because we’ll always feel like it’s unfair when we go through difficulties. But, if our source is in Christ, it will turn that tragedy into a triumph and the more we rely on Christ to get us through, the stronger our foundation becomes.

Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:7 NLT

Romans 10:9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

There’s only one thing we need to do to be and remain saved. We must believe that Jesus is Lord. Saying Jesus is Lord means, He is the One who sacrificed Himself for our sins and He reigns in our lives.

SALVATION is not going to church, reading our bibles cover to cover once a month, or keeping the Mosaic law. These things are good and beneficial, but they don’t make or keep us saved. SALVATION is not not listening to secular music, not enjoying ourselves, and not wearing makeup.

We are 100% saved when we’re listening to secular music, watching TV, playing games, wearing makeup, and not reading our bibles. God sees our belief (not works) in the sacrifice of Jesus and counts it as righteous.

1 Peter 2:4 NLT You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.

If anyone knows anything about being rejected, it’s Jesus. Unfortunately, He’s still being rejected today. Although He was rejected, He overcame rejection and fulfilled His purpose in the earth.

We may have been rejected by parents, a sibling, a spouse, a boyfriend or girlfriend, but that doesn’t mean we can’t accomplish our purpose.

We overcome people’s rejection by magnifying God’s acceptance. When we know God loves us, He’s never going to leave us, He’s truly for us, and wants to make us happy, people’s acceptance becomes minor.

The pain of past rejections may still be there. We usually create walls in order to avoid being hurt again. However, when we give that pain to God, renew our minds with what His word says about us, and allow His love to heal our wounds, we can go through life without being guarded.

Let those pains go and receive God’s acceptance and fulfill purpose.