Monthly Archive

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:3‭-‬4‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.
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We want the favor. We want God raising up someone to use their power, ability, and influence to help us. We confess favor, we think favor, and we expect favor. That’s good, but there’s a prerequisite. Loyalty and kindness are the prerequisites of favor.

We can’t expect all this favor and then turn around and be disloyal to our family members and mean to our friends. Favor won’t come when we consistently choose our friends above our family. Favor won’t come when we gossip about our friend’s love life. We can’t expect favor on our jobs when we cheat the company of time. We shouldn’t expect favor if we’re rude to the waiter.

Loyalty and kindness are what’s needed if we should expect favor to come. Let’s be loyal and kind to all.

1 Peter‬ ‭2:16‬ ‭TPT‬‬ As God’s loving servants, you should live in complete freedom, but never use your freedom as a cover-up for evil.

We are free from the law. Praise God! However, we shouldn’t use our freedom that we have in Christ to do evil.

The holidays are coming up. There’s halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. As born-again believers, we shouldn’t use these holidays as an excuse to do evil. We shouldn’t use these holidays as an opportunity to dress scantily clad, to get drunk, to be gluttonous, or to have sex with someone we just met. This may ruin the fun for our flesh, but it’s beneficial that we honor God with our lives.

Don’t let your flesh be in control this holiday season. Continue to put God first. We can still have fun and enjoy the holidays, but let’s do it God’s way.

1 Timothy‬ ‭1:19‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.

Life’s issues have the potential to pry our faith from God and His word. We see what’s going on in the world and in our own lives and get discouraged. As a result of getting discouraged, some minimize their communication with God and allow their flesh to have more freedom. This mindset will destroy our faith.

Recognize that this is a scheme of the enemy to pull us away from God. Instead of loosening our grip on our faith and doing what our flesh desires, we need to draw closer to Him. Listen to and read more of His word. Communicate with Him and spend time in His presence. We need to reflect on all the things He’s done.

Like a baby who doesn’t want to go to daycare clings to their mother, we need to cling to God. If you’ve strayed away from God, go back to Him and let Him work out all your problems.

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5:7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

The bible tells us to cast or give all our cares to God. If we give all our cares to God, we shouldn’t care about anything. Why? Because we’ve given all of them to God. Does this mean we become a cold heartless person? No. The fact that we’ve given our cares to God shows our love for the situation or the person.

There’s no benefit in keeping a single care. In fact, it’s been scientifically proven it does more harm when we hold on to cares. Some people get ulcers, immune systems decrease, and stress levels increase just by carrying cares. Why is this? Because we truly can’t do anything about the situation within our own strength.

However, when we give our cares to God, He can handle them. He not only can handle them, but in Psalm 138:8 it says, He will perfect what causes us concern.

We weren’t created to carry cares. No matter if it’s the health of a family member, financial concerns, or relationship drama, give those things to God and let Him perfect them.

Job‬ ‭7:20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, So that I am a burden to myself?

When bad things happen, some people blame God. They’ll blame God for causing the accident, they’ll blame God for the sickness, or they’ll blame God for allowing their loved ones to die. Like Job, most people don’t consider the real enemy behind all our misfortune.

In Job 1 and 2, we see that Satan was behind all the bad things in Job’s life. Initially, Job didn’t blame God (Job 1:22), but by Job 7, he began to identify God as the problem.

Unlike Job, because of Jesus, we have power over the enemy (Luke 10:19). We can take authority over every unfortunate situation and align it with God’s word. Matthew 18:18 says, whatever we ‭forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever we permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. So, if we don’t like what’s going on in our lives, we can stop it and make it better.

It’s not God behind the problems in our lives. It’s Satan. And since we have the power over him, we might as well use it for God’s glory and for our good.

Luke‬ ‭5:12‭-‬13‬ ‭NLT‬‬ In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. “Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

It’s the will of God for all of us to be healed. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cold, cancer, sleep apnea, insomnia, depression, a headache or a broken bone. God’s will is for us to be healed.

God is not using sickness or pain to teach us anything. It’s foolish to think God is using sickness to teach us something, but is willing to heal us of that thing that should be teaching us. God teaches us through His word and through His Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16; John 14:26).

Sickness is from Satan and Jesus came to destroy all his works (1 John 3:8). Trust and believe that by His stripes you are healed (1 Pet. 2:24). No matter the issue, it’s God’s will for anyone to be healed.

‭‭Luke‬ ‭8:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

-Every promise in the word of God is a seed.

Luke‬ ‭8:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

-We plant the seed (the word of God) in our hearts through belief. As we choose to believe God’s word, and don’t doubt, whatever God said will come to pass.

Mark‬ ‭4:26‭ ‭NKJV‬‬ And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.

-We don’t know how these seeds will come to pass. That’s God’s responsibility. Our job is to be patient and believe.

Example 1: A person has an injured shoulder.
Step 1 – Find solution seeds in the word of God. In this case, 1 Peter 2:24 says by His wounds you are healed.
Step 2 – Believe and expect God’s word to come to pass regardless of any pain.
Step 3 – Do whatever the Holy Spirit instructs, which could possibly be confess healing daily, rub salt on it, or go to the doctor.
Step 4 – Between steps 1, 2, and 3, praise God as if it’s already done because in Isaiah 55:11 it says, God’s word will ‭‭not fail to do what He planned for it; it will do everything He sent it to do.

Example 2: A person doesn’t have enough money.
Step 1- Find solution seeds in the word of God. This could be Philippians 4:19 where it says my God will supply all my needs. And Psalm 115:14 which says, the Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
Step 2 – Believe and expect God’s word to come to pass no matter what.
Step 3 – Do whatever the Holy Spirit instructs, which could possibly be to generously give, or invest in a certain company, or contact a specific bank or person who could provide a loan.
Step 4 – Between steps 1, 2, and 3, praise God as if it’s already done.

Whatever problem you’re facing in your life, grab some seeds in the word of God, plant them in your heart, and expect the situation to positively change.

Psalms‬ ‭84:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1:3‬ ‭KJV‬‬ according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

‭‭Mark‬ ‭11:24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

There are extremists who believe that God is not interested in us having materialistic things. ‭‭As we can see, God is not against us having things. He is against things having us.

How do we know if things have us? If we can’t give them away whenever instructed (see Matthew 19:16-22).

To expand the Kingdom of God, to be a blessing to others, and to enjoy life, it takes things. God understands this; therefore, He implemented numerous ways to give us things.

The number one goal in life is to develop a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. As a result of our relationship with Him, He promises to give us things. Glorify God with those things.

II Samuel‬ ‭7:22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Therefore You are great, O Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

There’s no one like our God. He loves us unconditionally. He gives us chance after chance to get it right. He stops bad things from happening that we deserve. He gives us good things that we didn’t earn.

He sent His Son Jesus to take our place and die on the cross for our sins. We have total forgiveness through His Son Jesus. We’re healed through Jesus. We’re blessed through Jesus. And we’re going to miss hell if we believe in the sacrifice of Jesus.

God promises to supply all our needs. He promises to give us the desires of our hearts. He promises to protect and watch over us. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us.

I can go on and on about Jehovah. But He’s a mighty God. Trust in Him. Tell others about Him. Don’t doubt what He said and honor Him with your life.

‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭19:28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.

There are people who have a misunderstanding about tattoos. They see in Leviticus where God clearly tells the children of Israel not to get tattoos. Some believers read this today and think it’s meant for every born-again believer.

Let’s look at this scripture in context. In Leviticus, God is calling the Hebrew people to be different or set apart from the people surrounding them (Exodus 19:6). In that day, the people surrounding the children of Israel, were in a religion where tattoos and cutting themselves was a way they paid homage to their god or got their god’s attention. God didn’t want the Israelites looking like or acting like them, which is why He said no tattoos.

This command was for that time, for the children of Israel, under the law. Most of us are not children of Israel and we’re no longer under the law. Through Jesus, our outward appearance doesn’t matter. God desires that our hearts are for Him (Matthew 15:8). Looking holy and being holy are two separate things. God only wants our hearts.

Under grace, we’re to be led by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:14). If He gives you permission to get a tattoo, get one. If He tells you to remove or cover up a tattoo, do that. Once again, our outward appearance doesn’t matter. God only wants our hearts.

Genesis‬ ‭8:22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”

We don’t have to beg God or pray for summer time. Summer will come every year regardless of what we do because that’s the order God set into motion from the beginning. The same applies with winter. We don’t have to fast or speak in tongues for winter to come. Winter will come based on the order of God.

In this same verse, God guarantees we’ll have an opportunity to sow a seed. This includes financial seeds, seeds of time, effort seeds, and seeds of help. With every seed we sow, God guarantees a harvest. Like winter and summer, we don’t have to pray or fast for our harvest. A harvest will automatically come from the seeds we sow.

Don’t be stingy with your time, effort, energy, or money. Make the world a better place by sowing seeds into people’s lives. As we sow, we’ll reap a harvest.

Inspired by Jerry Savelle

If you enter an elevator and press 12, you’re telling the elevator and everyone else around you that you want to go to the 12th floor.

The same concept applies to the authority we have in our words. When we declare that we have abundance and no lack, that’s like pressing the 12 on an elevator. We may not have abundance yet, but we’re calling for it. And like pressing the 12 on the elevator, we’re in expectation that our words, rooted in the word of God, will take us there.

Don’t underestimate the power of your words. Like an elevator, they’ll take you wherever you want to go.

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭45:1‬ ‭(AMPC)‬‬ My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my psalm to a King. My tongue is like the pen of a ready writer.

Inspired by Charles Capps

Sometimes, our deliverance is in the details. In 2 Kings 5, what if Naaman only dipped 6 times instead of 7? Do you think he would have been healed? In Mark 2, Jesus told the paralyzed man to stand up, pick up his mat, and walk. What if the paralyzed man logically wanted to crawl first, before he walked, to test Jesus’s healing abilities? Do you think his deliverance would have taken place?

In our own lives, God has given us specific instructions. Some of these instructions are illogical. But as we follow them to the letter, we’ll experience deliverance, breakthrough, and blessings.

If He tells you to eat oranges for a week to get rid of the pain in your back, follow those specific instructions. If He’s told you to not watch TV for a month to receive deliverance from a messy divorce, do it. Our breakthrough comes when we trust Him wholeheartedly. Don’t try to figure out how what He’s telling us to do is related to our current problem. Just do it and experience God’s best.

‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭4:3‭-‬6‬ ‭NLT‬‬ [3] And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. [4] Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.” [5] So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. [6] Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons. “There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.

Some of us had big dreams when we were younger. We wanted to start a business, have a certain career, or have a lot of money to enjoy life. Somewhere along the way, things got real. Bills needed to be paid and we had a family to manage. As life continued, some of us put that dream on the shelf, while others threw it out.

Dreams have been put up or thrown out because we’re only looking at things naturally. We’re only looking at what we can do with the amount of money, time, education, or experience we have. We’re not considering God in the equation to fulfill our dreams. We’re only thinking about what we can do with what we currently have.

If we shift our thinking to include God and all His promises towards us, we’ll have what we dreamed about 10, 20, or 30 years ago. It’s not too late. We say and read with God all things are possible, but do we truly believe that? If we do, no dreams should be thrown out. None.

If you’ve thrown a dream out, for whatever reason, get it back, keeping God in mind. With our faith, trust, and confidence in Him, He can manifest our dreams and give us desires we didn’t know we wanted. It’s not too late.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭20:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬ May He grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed.

Life has its challenges. Work and managing a family can be long, tiring, potentially stressful. We may have to deal with people who are rude and inconsiderate on a daily basis. Our bodies may be experiencing some aches and pains. These challenges may have us feeling down, sad, or depressed.

The good news is when we’re feeling down, we have a supernatural solution in praying in the Holy Spirit.

‭‭Jude‬ ‭1:20‬ ‭AMPC‬‬ But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit;

A lot of critics think praying in the Holy Spirit is a joke. There are believers who think praying in the Spirit is no longer for New Covenant believers. As we can see, God’s word instructs us to build ourselves up by praying in the Holy Spirit.

We won’t understand what we’re saying and it may seem foolish to do so, but praying in the Holy Spirit is a way we stay on top of life instead of life burying us.

Nothing is going to possess our bodies and make our mouths speak random sounds. We make the decision to open our mouths, focus on God, and pray in the Holy Spirit. Stay on top of life by praying in the Holy Spirit.

When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord, we’re given the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13). The Holy Spirit is given to be our guides and to teach us everything (John 16:13; John 14:26). Once we identify the Holy Spirit’s voice, He’ll tell us what to do.

Most of the time, He’s telling us little things to do. He’ll tell us to go to bed at a certain time. He’ll tell us to drive a different way to work. He’ll tell us to stop eating certain foods. Some of the things He tells us to do seem insignificant and we’ll wonder if it really was the Holy Spirit. Like anything else, when we get these simple instructions, we have a choice to make. We’ll obey His voice or ignore it.

These little adjustments could help us with major things down the line. Going to bed early could provide clarity for a presentation we have to make at work. That presentation could ultimately lead to a promotion. We could avoid a car accident if we drive a different way to work.

Anything He tells us, big or small, is for our good. Learn to listen to His voice and obey His instructions.

John 14:26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

Acts 20:32 MSG “Now I’m turning you over to God, our marvelous God whose gracious Word can make you into what He wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need in this community of holy friends.

You may be struggling with your identity. You may be missing the mark frequently. You may not know what to do. Regardless of our shortcomings, our solution is found in God’s gracious word.

God’s word of grace can build us up, make us into everything He wants us to be, and give us everything we need.

As we understand more and more about God’s grace and mercy, we’ll have a better understanding about His love. God’s love can change anything. Through God’s word, we’ll know who we are in Christ. We’ll have a better success rate in hitting the mark. God’s word will provide guidance on what to do in every situation.

Stop trying to figure it out on your own. Stop doubting the power of God’s word. Get in a relationship with Him and let His word build you up and build the life Jesus died for you to have.

Ezekiel‬ ‭36:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “Son of man, prophesy to Israel’s mountains. Give them this message: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord!

God had Ezekiel prophesy to Israel’s mountains. Mountains are inanimate objects, but God spoke to them through Ezekiel. He told the mountains what they were going to do and how prosperous they will be. In verse 8 God said, “‭the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops of fruit for my people.” In verse 11, God said “‭O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before.”

In Mark 11:12-14, Jesus spoke to a tree and it obeyed Him.

As the Holy Spirit leads, start speaking to some things. Speak to your bills and tell them to be supernaturally paid off in the name of Jesus. Speak to your house and all the appliances in it and tell them to function properly. Speak to your car and tell it to be problem-free. Speak to the land you have your eyes on and declare that it’s sold to you.

It may seem foolish at first, but it’s an act of faith. We’re using our authority that we have in Christ to speak to these things with an expectation for them to obey. If God can have Ezekiel, who was under the Old Covenant, speak to inanimate objects and Jesus who is our example speak to a tree, we can speak to inanimate objects and expect them to obey too.

Romans‬ ‭4:19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

Don’t consider how much money you have.
Don’t consider how many other people tried that same thing, but failed.
Don’t consider your age to go back to school, start a business, or have children.
Don’t consider how long it has taken.
Don’t consider your marital status.
Don’t consider your education, criminal history, or experience.
Whatever the world tells us to consider, don’t consider it.

Our job is to solely focus on and believe God’s word. If He said or promised it, it will come to pass. No matter how long it has taken, remain focused on God’s word.