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If Satan can make us doubt God’s word or His ability in one area of our lives, He could potentially make us doubt God’s word in another area, and another area, and another.
If he can convince a married couple to doubt God’s ability to get them pregnant based on Exodus 23:26, they may question if healing is meant for them.
If a person believes and boldly declares they’re healed, based on 1 Peter 2:24, but the situation hasn’t improved, this can cause doubt in that person’s mind. They then may question if their financial situation they’re believing God for will improve or if their family dynamics will improve.
Don’t let the seed of doubt grow into a tree of unbelief. If doubt of any kind enters your mind, recognize it’s an attack from the enemy against your faith. Secondly, replace the doubt with the word of God. Where you’re starting to doubt, begin consistently listening to God’s word on that subject. The more of God’s word we hear, the stronger our faith gets.
God’s word is the final authority. If it takes an additional month, year, or five years, don’t doubt God’s word or His ability. It must come to pass.
James 1:6-7 NIV But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
#ask #believe #trust #God #nodoubt #nofear #all #faith
1 Timothy 5:3 NLT Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her.
James 1:27 NLT Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Helping the widows and orphans is something we don’t hear about too often. We hear a lot about faith, grace, and love, but it’s seldom applied to widows and orphans. Although we don’t hear about helping them often, doesn’t mean that’s not God’s desire.
Shelters are full of widows and child protective agencies are full of orphans. Countries and states are struggling to provide the bare minimum for them. It was never the government’s responsibility to care for widows and orphans. That responsibility was given to the church.
That financial increase we’re in faith for should partially be used to help with assisting widows and orphans. That love we like talking about so much should be applied to widows and orphans. The grace we freely receive is something that should be given to widows and orphans.
Stop looking for someone else to help. Let’s take on our God-given responsibility to help the widows and orphans. If you don’t know where to start, ask the Holy Spirit and He’ll guide you in area where you can assist.
#help #somebody
Genesis 16:2 NLT So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.
Abram and Sarai made a flesh-led decision. Flesh-led decisions are birthed out of impatience and a lack of trust in God.
We’ve all made flesh-led decisions. We took a job we eventually hated because our flesh told us it paid more. We got into a relationship knowing there were red flags just so our flesh won’t be lonely. Our flesh got anxious while driving and caused an accident.
Although we’ve made flesh-led decisions before doesn’t mean we have to do it again. Instead of making flesh-led decisions, we can make Spirit-led decisions.
Ask the Holy Spirit which job to take, who to date, and where we should live. He’ll tell us everything we need to know. Once He tells us, don’t argue or debate with Him. Trust Him. Trust that God knows what He’s doing and He’s working everything out for our good (Rom. 8:28).
One of the fruits of the Spirit is patience (Gal. 5:22). Patience is a requirement when it comes to obtaining the promises of God (Heb. 10:36). We will have to wait at times. Instead of making an impulse decision grounded in logic or emotion, wait on God to fulfill His promise.
No more flesh-led decisions. Be patient, trust God, and let the Holy Spirit guide you into what God has for you.
#faith #patience #trust #God
Ecclesiastes 7:10 NLT Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise.
When we get around old friends or by ourselves, some of us like to play the “remember when…” game. We’ll tell or recall stories of how we acted and the things we did (some good and some bad), and we’ll just reminisce.
Some of us get stuck reminiscing about the “good old days.” We may not like what’s currently happening in our lives and long to go back to a “happier time.” As we can see, that’s not wise.
It’s not wise for a few reasons.
- Ungratefulness. Some are not grateful for all the good things God has done since then. Even if our lives are not going as planned, we’re still alive and God has blessed us with our necessities. We should be grateful.
- We’re not exercising our faith. The same God who allowed us to enjoy ourselves in the past is the same God who can make a better future. Trust God’s word where it says He will increase us more and more (Ps. 115:14). This includes an increase of joy.
- It doesn’t please God or benefit us if our longing is based on sinful activities. Focusing on how many women/men we were with, how drunk we used to get, or how hard we would party is something we shouldn’t long for. Be grateful that God’s grace and mercy kept us in our foolishness.
Don’t live in the past. Be grateful for the present and expect good things for the future.
#expect #good #letitgo #befree #enjoy #life
Hebrews 6:12 CEB This is so you won’t be lazy but follow the example of the ones who inherit the promises through faith and patience.
Some of us have drive-thru faith. Like being at a fast food restaurant, we make our request to God and by the time we get to the window, we expect it to be ready. It’s great to have high expectations for God to respond to our prayers quickly, but what if it doesn’t happen immediately? What if it takes weeks, months, or years for our prayers to manifest?
When the manifestation of our prayers takes too long, like some of us at a drive-thru, we give up our order, get out of line, and try to find another way to be satisfied.
Don’t give up on God or His word because it’s taking too long. Be willing to go the distance. Be willing to trust that God’s word will come to pass regardless of how long it takes.
Impatience is an enemy to faith. Have unwavering faith and believe that every delay is working in our favor (Rom. 8:28).
#faith #and #patience #promises #God #favor
Psalms 16:7 NLT I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me.
It’s a choice to let God guide you. Don’t resist His guidance. Embrace it. The more we resist Him, the more spiritual warfare we have on the battlefield of our minds. God is saying one thing, but our flesh is saying another. If we could make up in our minds to submit to God’s way, we’ll experience more peace.
Give Him praise for His guidance. Don’t be deceived into thinking you’re missing out on something. Why? Because His ways lead to victory. We may not know how or when this victory will occur, but we’re certain it will come to pass.
Submit to the guidance of the Lord and give Him praise. He could have just let us bump our heads by figuring it out on our own. But, He wants to be responsible for leading us to the promises that He prepared.
#trust #follow #believe #rely #on #God #Jesus #HolySpirit
Psalms 42:6 MSG When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of You, From Jordan depths to Hermon heights, including Mount Mizar.
Life has its difficult moments. Some of us don’t know how we’re going to pay our bills, some of us are dealing with excruciating pain, and some of us are having difficulties with our children.
When dealing with these moments, it’s important to rehearse everything we know about God. What we know and rehearse should be based on His word.
God’s word says He’s healed us, meaning the pain and sickness we may be experiencing must stop as we believe (1 Pet. 2:24). God’s word says He’s a deliverer, meaning these difficulties won’t last forever (Ps. 18:1). God’s word says our children shall be delivered, therefore we can give our worries about them to God and He’ll perfect our concerns (Prov. 11:21; 1 Pet. 5:7; Ps. 138:8).
To accompany His word, we can rehearse personal experiences of how God positively impacted our lives. We can recall how He healed our bodies in the past, we can remember when He blessed us financially at the last moment, and we can remember how He saved us from that car accident.
When we rehearse everything we know about God, that will give us the faith and strength we need to overcome our current difficulties.
#remember #testimony #believe #God #is #good
John 20:25 NLT They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
Why did Thomas doubt? Jesus told all of his disciples that in three days He will rise again. After all the miracles Thomas has personally seen and all the testimonies of people who witnessed Jesus alive, he still chose to not believe.
Some believers are like Thomas. They could see a promise in God’s word and hear about the testimonies of others, but for some reason, they still choose to not believe.
The main reason believers don’t believe in certain promises of God is a lack of trust in God’s word. They believe Jesus is the Son of God, but they don’t believe every believer is totally forgiven. They believe they’re healed, but they don’t believe every believer can be prosperous. They believe they’re loved, but they don’t believe they’ll receive a harvest from their giving.
These unbelieving believers can be influential or important people to us. They could be a grandmother, a pastor, real good friend, or widely seen as knowledgeable, but if what they believe or don’t believe contradicts the word of God, their belief is not the truth.
Beware of these unbelieving believers. If an opportunity presents itself, share the truth of God’s word with them in the efforts to help them become a believing believer.
#believe #God #Word #Jesus #miracles #goodness #faithfulness #life #joy #peace
John 20:25 NLT They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
What’s an unbelieving believer? It’s a person whose belief is roughly limited to salvation. For reasons such as, not wanting to be disappointed, fear of failure, or ignorance, they don’t believe in other things the bible has promised.
For instance, there are believers who don’t believe in healing. They believe if we get sick, it’s God’s will. If we get well, it’s God’s will. If we get sick and die, that God’s will too. They believe Jesus saves, but they don’t believe His stripes healed.
There are people who have made Jesus Lord, but they don’t believe in prosperity. They view prosperity as being associated with the world. They see having little as a spiritual badge of honor. Jesus died to save AND to prosper our lives. We don’t have to choose.
We must be mindful of unbelieving believers because, they can talk or preach us out of what’s been promised to us. Yes, preachers can be unbelieving believers too.
We must know with absolute confidence that what it says in God’s word belongs to us. Don’t let anyone twist the scriptures to make you think it’s something it’s not. If God says we’re healed, blessed, prosperous, forgiven, whole, delivered, etc., that’s exactly what we should believe.
Make sure you’re not an unbelieving believer and make sure you’re not being influenced by an unbelieving believer.
#trust #rely #believe #God #Word #Jesus #healed #delivered #blessed #prosperous #successful #in #Christ
Psalms 119:105 NLT Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
When we’re walking by faith, in the natural, we can’t see a thing. We don’t know how God’s promises are going to happen and we don’t know when it’s going to happen. The only source of light or hope we have is in the word of God.
From God’s word, we can see our healing, deliverance, help, the source of our guidance, and so much more. We may not see how any of this will come to pass, but if we can see it in God’s word, we can put our faith in it, and let that light guide us until it manifest.
Don’t look around in the natural for confirmation of God’s word. Sometimes the only thing we have is a few verses in God’s word. But those few verses have enough power to change our lives forever. Be guided by the light of God’s word.
#light #Word #God #power #guide #faith #trust #believe #Jesus
Mark 4:16-17 NLT The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.
Negative experiences come to take our confidence in the word of God.
The word says we’re healed (1 Peter 2:24), however having the flu attempts to tell us we’re not healed. What are you going to believe? The word or the negative experience?
The word tells us we won’t be barren (Exo. 23:26), but our experience says we’ve been waiting 13 years to have a child. What will you believe?
One more…
The word says we’re blessed (Gal. 3:14), but the problems in our lives and our bank account says otherwise. Will you believe what you see over the word?
We will have negative experiences and unfortunate circumstances, but we must not let those things convince us that the word doesn’t work. We must believe that God’s word can change any facts we see. If not, we’ll miss out on what’s rightfully ours.
Believe the word of God above anything else.
#God #is #greater #than #experience
Galatians 3:29 PEV You belong to Jesus Christ, so you are in Abraham’s family, and you will get everything that God promised to Abraham.
Through Christ, we get everything that God promised Abraham. Let’s see what God promised Abraham.
God promised Abraham land.
Genesis 12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.
God promised Abraham a great family, a blessed life (anointed to prosper), notoriety, and is a blessing to others.
Genesis 12:2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.
God promised Abraham a transferable blessing and recompense (make amends for loss or harm suffered).
Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
In Romans 4:13 it says, clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.
Through Jesus Christ, this is what God promised us. It’s not going to happen automatically just because we’re born-again. It requires faith to obtain these promises. So, believe these promises have been made available for you. Be in faith and expect land, a great family, a blessed life, notoriety, to be a blessing, a transferable blessing, and recompense. Once we believe, God made it His responsibility to make it come to pass.
#blessed #life #through #Christ
Psalms 34:8 NLT Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him!
Children have the tendency to automatically dislike food they’re not familiar with. As parents, it’s our duty to make them try the food before they say they don’t like it. Often, they’ll end up liking the food, but that would’ve never happened if they didn’t try it first.
It’s the same way when it comes to God’s ways. People have the tendency to automatically dislike doing things God’s way. Nine times out of ten, they haven’t tried it yet. They assume it will be too hard or restricting. They assume the benefits of God don’t outweigh our efforts.
In this verse, David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, instructs us to try/trust God and His ways so that we’ll see that He’s good. He not only guarantees that God is good, but he guarantees there’s joy on the other side of our efforts.
Don’t be like immature children refusing to trust God’s way of doing, being, and believing right. Do things God’s way and enjoy the benefits.
#benefits #trust #God
Proverbs 10:22 NIV The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.
Have you ever noticed people don’t criticize believers for being at peace or being healthy? They don’t have a problem when believers don’t have pain, sickness, or are at peace. In fact, they applaud it. But as soon as believers become noticeably wealthy, people have something to say.
They criticize the type of car they drive, the house they have, or how they spend their money. The same God who provides health to our bodies and peace in our lives, is the same God who provides wealth. It’s a part of our covenant. The only difference is they may have believed God for wealth and some of us didn’t.
Jesus died so that we ALL can have joy, peace, health, but also wealth. And contrary to what some people think, God isn’t instructing every believer to give all their excess money away to the poor or to missions. He wants His children to enjoy the abundant life Jesus died to provide, and that takes money (John 10:10). He wants us to pass on wealth to our grandchildren and be in a position to financially be a blessing to others (Prov. 13:22; Gen. 12:2). And if He instructs us to give all our excess away to the poor or to missions, do it with a cheerful heart, believing it will be given back to us in a multiplied manner (Luke 6:38).
Let’s stop criticizing others for having wealth or not doing what we feel they should do with the wealth. It’s included in our covenant. If you want it, believe God for it.
#health #wealth #abundance #Kingdom #living
Ecclesiastes 12:13 NLT That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone’s duty.
We’re living in a time where God is being mocked. People are disrespecting the Godhead. People are making a mockery of the sacrifice that Jesus made. They play with what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They do this because they don’t believe in the existence of God or they’re not experiencing immediate consequences for their actions.
As believers, our job is to continue to stand up for what’s right. Our job is to blatantly go against what the world is doing because we’re choosing to honor and respect God. They should notice we’re not attending happy hour, not joining in on gossip, and being positive when everyone else is complaining. If God tells us to say something to them, IN LOVE and WITH BOLDNESS, say it. Otherwise, let our honorable actions do the talking.
We may be labeled stiffs or holy rollers, but it’s more important to honor God. Don’t dishonor God to be accepted by people who dishonor Him. Be a light by honoring God in every situation and obey His commands.
#bring #honor #to #God #Lord #be #a #light
Satan is defeated. He can’t arbitrarily decide to put cancer on one person, make this other person poor, and break up another person’s family. He doesn’t have that kind of power.
The only power Satan has is the power of thoughts, ideas, and suggestion. He can’t make us do anything. He can only plant a thought or suggest something. If we act on his suggestions, we’ll destroy ourselves.
By accepting his suggestions, believers have also forfeited God’s promises. A couple may want a child. Although a child is promised in the word of God (Deut. 7:14), Satan will suggest the possibility of it not happening because of their age, medical conditions, or the thought that God is punishing them because one of them had an abortion. If that couple chooses to believe Satan’s suggestions, they could destroy the abundant life God set up for them. Satan will even make that couple think it wasn’t God’s will for them to have a child even though it’s clearly documented in God’s word (Deut. 7:14).
He does the same thing about owning a home, getting married, being healed, or starting a ministry. If it’s a promise from God, Satan will suggest all the reasons why it won’t happen. Our job is to magnify God’s word above his suggestions. The more of God’s word we get inside of us, the stronger our faith becomes (Rom. 10:17). The faith we have in God’s word will cause what we desire to manifest in our lives.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 NLT When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.
Satan is defeated. Jesus took all his power and gave it to believers (Matt. 28:18; Luke 10:19). He can no longer hurt us, take our lives, take our stuff, make us sick, or possess our bodies. He’s a shriveled up being.
The only thing Satan can do is what he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. He can only provide thoughts, ideas, and suggestions. If we accept and act on those thoughts and suggestions, he’s not destroying our lives. We’re destroying our own lives.
EXAMPLE:
A husband disagrees with his wife about something. Satan will suggest that he become loud and argumentative to make his point. Since he chose to argue, Satan will suggest to the wife that she argue her point in order to be heard. While arguing, a demonic idea to break something of his enters her mind. She acts on the thought and breaks it. He, already upset, has the demonic thought to hit her. He acts on that thought. She calls the police. He goes to jail. He loses his job and possibly destroyed his family.
We can’t blame the devil. He only put the thoughts, ideas, and suggestions in his mind. He had the free will to act or not on Satan’s suggestions. At the same time Satan was suggesting something, God was suggesting something too. He was telling the husband to let it go, be quiet, leave the house, and don’t hit her. He chose to ignore God and accept Satan’s suggestions which destroyed part of his life.
Learn to replace the influences of Satan with the influences of God’s word. That way, we won’t allow Satan’s agenda to come to pass in this world.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 NLT When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.
#magnify #God
1 Chronicles 29:16 NLT “O Lord our God, even this material we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your holy name comes from you! It all belongs to you!
Everything we have belongs to God. The money, the house, the car, even our bodies belong to God. Nothing is ours.
The moment we realize that nothing belongs to us, the more of a vessel we can become for God. We’ll easily give towards the Kingdom of God because the money we have doesn’t belong to us. We’ll give a person a ride to work because our car doesn’t belong to us. We’ll give Him our time because our time is a gift from God.
Don’t think our giving goes unnoticed. When we’re a willing vessel with all the things God has blessed us with, God obligated Himself to bless us with more. Luke 6:38 says, give, and we will receive. Our gift will return to us in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into our laps. The amount we give will determine the amount we get back. Ephesians 6:8 says, the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do.
Realize everything we have was given to us by God. He either gifted us with it or He’s given us the ability to get it. Be willing to give anything He requires for His glory.
#trust #God #and give #guaranteed #return
Ecclesiastes 2:26 NLT God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please Him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please Him. This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
When we please God, we get access to benefits such as, wisdom, knowledge, and joy. Wisdom and knowledge becomes useful when we don’t know what do. God’s wisdom and knowledge is downloaded in our natural mind to help in that situation.
Joy is a constant benefit when life gets challenging. Instead of wallowing in self-pity or becoming depressed, we can tap into our joy. We can think about all the wonderful things He’s done for us and all the wonderful things we can expect and receive joy.
The final benefit of pleasing God according to this scripture is wealth. Regardless of what some people think about believers having wealth, it’s a documented promise of God. The sinner’s wealth will be given to those who please God. How will this happen? Only God knows. We’re not responsible for knowing how it will happen. Our responsibility is to believe that the sinner’s wealth has been made available through Jesus.
Praise God for the benefits we receive for pleasing Him.
#benefits #please #honor #walk #with #God #Jesus #Christ #wealth #health #joy #peace
Philippians 2:6-7 NLT Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,
Some people think Jesus operated as God while He was here on earth. They think the reason He could perform all these miracles like stopping the storm, raising the dead, and healing the sick was because He was God. That’s not the case.
Jesus gave up ALL His divine privileges and operated like a human being. Meaning, He got tired, hungry, and He was tempted to sin just like us.
The primary reason He became human was to perfectly fulfill the Law of Moses and sacrifice Himself for our sins.
A second reason He became a human was to give us authority and show us how to use it. Luke 10:19 says, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. In Matthew 10:8 He tells us to heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. In John 14:12, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. So, all these miracles Jesus has done, we’ve been given this same ability.
When a problem presents itself in the form of demonic influences in a person, sickness, or even premature death, use your Jesus-given authority to provide a solution.
#power #authority #Christ #heal #cure #command
Graced To Do God's Will 