Category Archive

Psalm 27:10 When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.

Some of us had to grow up without a father or a mother. Some of us had mothers and fathers who weren’t good at their jobs. They may have put other people before us, disowned us, or abused us. Regardless of how our earthly parents were, God obligated Himself to take care of us.

If we need a strong father, He’ll be our strong father. If we need a nurturing mother, He’ll be a nurturing mother to us. If we need wise counsel, He’ll be our source of wisdom. If there’s anything we need or want, He’ll be our supplier. If we need someone to simply listen, He’ll be that too. Whatever we’re lacking in our lives, God will be that for us.

Don’t hold a grudge against your parents. Forgive them and allow God to be the success to their failures.

Romans 8:21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

The corruption of creation causes this world to have incurable viruses, inclement weather, plants that cause us to hallucinate if ingested, and UV rays from the sun that can damage our eyes and skin.

Some like to blame God for creating the world like this, but it’s not His fault. Because of sin, creation has been corrupted. Some say a “fallen world.” Corruption usually doesn’t occur all at once. Corruption is a slow process. Eventually, you’ll see the negative impacts of corruption.

The good news for believers is we have authority over creation (Gen. 1:26). This authority was taken from us because of sin, but Jesus got it back (Matt. 16:19). If creation around us appears to be corrupted, let’s use our God-given authority to align it with the Word of God.

Remember, corrupted creation is not God’s fault and like the undo button on a word document, use your God-given authority to undo corrupted creation.

There are so many people out there who are “seeking truth.” The Bible is clear, God’s Word is truth.

What some people are seeking is their truth or truth that suits them. That’s not truth. That’s their opinion. Everything within a person may tell them something is right, but if it’s not backed by the Word of God, it’s just a thought, opinion, or feeling.

Our role is to align our thoughts, beliefs, and opinions with the Word of God. If it’s not confirmed by the Word of God, it’s not the truth.

Psalm 119:160 The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life.

When we’re going through, go to God’s Word. The Word of God has enough power to do four things at once:
1. Encourage us.
2. Empower us.
3. Keep our attitudes positive.
4. Change our circumstances.

It doesn’t matter if the situation is dealing with our finances or overcoming depression, God’s Word can help. Find a promise in God’s Word that counters our problems, believe it, and expect your life to line up with God’s Word.

God’s Word is not a fairytale. It’s real and can change anything if we’re willing to believe it.

Romans 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God has something called all inclusive love. God loves us when we’re doing good and following His commandments and when we’re failing miserably and hadn’t picked up a bible. God loves us when we’re giving to the needy and He loves us when we’re as selfish as selfish can be. God loves us when we’re being a blessing and He loves us when we’re spiteful.

From one extreme to the other, God’s love stays the same. No matter how we feel about ourselves, God’s love is ever present. Some of us can’t even fathom this type of love, but it exists and it’s for any of us who are willing to receive it.

Receive this love and don’t let anyone else, including Satan, tell you differently.

Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

After reading this verse, some may conclude the reason they haven’t received a certain desire is because the desire wasn’t a good or good enough thing. That’s true for some desires, but not for all.

After waiting an extended period for a desire, the devil may pervert this scripture and deceive us into thinking that the desire wasn’t a good thing. We’ll stop believing for it but in actuality, the desire was something God truly wanted us to have.

Go to God to confirm if a desire you’re believing for is something He wants for us. If God approves our desire, through His Word or through peace, don’t let anything (including delay) stop you from receiving that desire. If there’s no peace with that desire, understand God has better.

Psalms 27:5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

It sounds nice to say when we get born-again, we’ll never experience anymore issues or trouble. But, that’s not true.

Notice, this scripture says, “in the time of trouble.” That means, there’s a time where trouble will enter our lives. No one likes trouble. It can be mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting. The good news is we’ll experience trouble, but trouble will not defeat us. The trouble will be big enough for us to notice, but through Christ, small enough for us to overcome.

No matter how “good” of a Christian you’ve been, trouble will come. Don’t get frustrated or be afraid. Face it. With God’s help and faith in His Word, we’ll overcome trouble every single time.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

All of us have needs and desires. Some of us want better marriages, obedient children, peace, or a better job. Regardless of what we want, that desire can become the focal point in our minds. We’ll think about it often and we’ll go through a million scenarios on how we can get it. If we’re not mindful that desire can become an idol. Instead of going after God, we’ll put all our energy towards getting the desire.

God’s Word says when we ask for the desire, believe that we received it, and put Him first, anything we need, or desire will be given to us (Mark 11:23-24; Matthew 6:33).

With that understanding, let’s put our focus on Jesus. Let’s celebrate His sacrifice. Let’s seek God and see what He wants us to do. Let’s be led by the Holy Spirit. Let’s go after the things of God and as we go after Him, our needs and desires will find us.

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

What’s stopping you from submitting your entire life to God? Do you feel like you won’t have enough fun? Is it too strict? You don’t want to let God or yourself down if you fail? Are you ashamed? Would you feel like a hypocrite? Or, you simply don’t feel like it?

Whatever the reason is, you didn’t get that from God. Those types of thoughts are demonically influenced. Satan will use any tactic that seems logical or emotional to keep us on the outside of submission. He knows the day we go all in for God, our lives will improve, the Kingdom of God will get stronger, and we’ll have more influence to lead others to Christ.

Don’t stay on the outside. Come on in. God’s not asking us to be perfect. He simply wants a willing participant to work through. If you fall off, get back up again. If it seems too difficult, extend grace to yourself and don’t live by the law. If you get distracted, refocus and get back in the game.

Submit your life to God and watch God do amazing things with you and for you.

1 Chronicles 16:15 Remember His covenant forever, the word He ordained for a thousand generations—16 the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.

For those of us who truly depend on God for everything, we may not recall all the things we’ve prayed for. With that in mind, it would be beneficial for us to make a list of things we’re standing in faith for. On that list we can have our car, new house, child, and anything else we desire. We make a list to thank God in advance for answering our prayers.

Don’t let anyone make you feel bad because you have a list. It’s not a wish list. It’s a faith list. Just because some people have a false sense of humility and don’t ask God for anything doesn’t mean we’re wrong for making a list. They’re the ones not taking full advantage of what God provided through THE ultimate sacrifice in Jesus.

That faith list can also come in handy when our desires manifest. We can transfer the desires from our faith list to our manifestation list. The manifestation list allows us to look back on all the prayers God has answered. During tough faith fights, it will encourage us to see how many promises God has provided. We can also show others our manifestations to encourage them to keep their faith in God.

Make a list to remember and motivate yourself and others.

Psalm 105:5 Remember the wonders He has done, His marvels, and the judgments He has pronounced,

Romans 8:34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

For us, Jesus was whipped, beaten, spat on, and crucified. For us, Jesus died. Because Jesus took our place, the punishment of sin was fulfilled (Isaiah 53:6). One would think that Jesus has done enough, and He can relax on the right side of the Father for eternity. But, He’s not done helping us out.

Jesus is interceding for us. Interceding means to intervene on behalf of another. He hasn’t interceded (past tense) and He didn’t intercede one time. Jesus is interceding (continuously). Every second of every day, Jesus is interceding to the Father on our behalf.

Every sin we commit, He’s letting the Father know His blood paid for that (Eph. 1:7). Although some of our actions are unrighteous, He lets the Father know our belief in His sacrifice makes us righteous (Rom. 3:22). Although we should be punished for some of the things we do, Jesus lets God know He already took the punishment for our foolishness (Rom. 3:24).

This is just another reason to be grateful for Jesus. He’s done so much for us already and He’s still acting on our behalf today. Let’s praise Jesus for what He’s done and what He’s doing right now. Praise Jesus!!!

Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

To get our prayers answered, God’s Word tells us to believe that we received our desires, when we pray, and we shall have them. There’s no need to pray for the same thing multiple times because in 1 John 5:14-15, it tells us He hears us. And since He heard us, we will eventually possess what we request.

From the time we pray, to the time we receive our desires, is usually a waiting period. During that period, we thank God that we believe that we received those desires. For instance, if we prayed for a car on Monday, on Tuesday we’ll say, “God, I thank You I believe I received my car.” No matter how long it takes, we believe that we received our car every day until it materializes. This goes for anything we desire that aligns with the Word of God.

Remember:
1. Ask God for the desire(s).
2. When you ask, believe that you received what you asked for.
3. Thank God we believe that we’ve received that desire until it manifests.

Follow these steps and get your prayers answered every single time.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

The devil wants to kill us, and everything associated with us. The good news is, he can’t destroy anything without our consent. We give him our consent through our words or actions contrary to the Word of God.

The devil places thoughts in our minds that go against the Word of God. If we don’t combat those thoughts with the Word of God, they will negatively impact our lives.

For instance, after seeing symptoms of a runny nose and a cough, a thought will come that we’re sick. Is that what God’s Word says about us? No! His Word says we’re healed (Isaiah 53:5). We have a choice. We can say, “I’m sick” or “I believe I’m healed.” The devil wants us to say we’re sick in order to destroy our health, but we need to resist Him by casting down every thought against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought to the obedience of Christ. In other words, we need to say what God says about us. The devil uses the same tactic to attack our finances, our marriage, our children, and anything else God blesses us with.

As soon as a contrary thought enters our minds, we need to open our mouths and declare the truth, which is in God’s Word. Resist Satan with the Word of God.

2 Corinthians 10:5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

Whether we know it or not, our faith is being applied to something. We’re either believing the Word of God or something else.

For instance, we can believe by His stripes we’re healed (Isaiah 53:5) or, we can believe the doctor who says we have an illness that will require us to take medication for the rest of our lives. We can believe nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37) or, we’ll always have a minimum wage job because of our limited experience or education. We can apply our faith in the truth that our children shall be delivered (Prov. 11:21) or, have faith that our children will be wayward for the rest of their lives.

What will you believe? Will you believe the Word of God or believe in earthly facts? I suggest believing in the Word of God which has the power to change facts and circumstances in our favor.

Genesis 15:6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Psalm 119:68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.

If we don’t know anything else, it must be settled in our minds that God is good.

He’s good to us. He’s good for us. He works out everything for the good (Romans 8:28). He’s just a good God. Unfortunately, some people like to blame Him for bad situations, but that’s not Him. That’s Satan attacking our lives. God is good.

People think because God can stop bad situations from happening, but He doesn’t, He’s not that good of a God. We must realize because of sin, we live in a fallen world and trouble will come (John 16:33). But the trouble that’s allowed can be for our good if handled correctly. Trouble can force us to turn to God, place our faith in His Word, and increase our patience. Like weights during exercise, trouble can strengthen our souls (which is a good thing).

Don’t allow anyone or any situation stop you from believing that God is good.

A lot of us go on YouTube or Google to figure out how to do something. Meanwhile, we neglect the One who can teach us all things.

Through God’s Spirit, we can learn anything we desire. We can learn how to fix our cars, create great recipes, or properly parent our children. Whatever we need to learn, we can learn through the Holy Spirit.

So, don’t be so quick to run to YouTube or Google to discover how to do something. Let the Holy Spirit teach you.

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

I will fear no evil. What is evil? Evil is the opposite of what God has promised. Evil is sickness, poverty, and premature natural death. Evil is strife and hatred. Evil is hurt, harm, or danger to us or to our family. Anything God didn’t approve for our lives is evil.

With all this evil swirling around us, God’s Word instructs us to not be afraid. We’re not to fear because God is with us and He’s greater than any evil that attempts to come our way.

So, we have a decision to make. Will we live in fear because of the evil surrounding us or will we remain in peace trusting that with God, evil will not prevail in any area of our lives? You choose.

Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Some of us allow our circumstances to define our day. If everything goes our way, we’d say we had a good day, but if we faced adversity we’d say our day was difficult.

The presence of adversity shouldn’t determine our viewpoint. Jesus already told us we would face trials, but in that same verse, He also told us to be cheerful (John 16:33).

Every day should be a good day for multiple reasons. If we look closely at our day, we’ll determine no matter how many obstacles we faced, there are more things that went right than wrong. We could have had only 4 hours of sleep, spilled coffee on our clothes, were late to work, dealt with a moody supervisor, got rear ended on the way home, and realized we forgot to defrost the chicken when we got home and still say we had a good day.

How???…. It’s a blessing to say we woke up and we have enough money for a luxury item like coffee. We’re employed, we have a car, and we weren’t seriously injured in that crash. It’s awesome to say we have a home and food in the refrigerator. We haven’t even mentioned other things like we can walk, talk, and breathe. Let’s not forget about spiritual things like God’s new mercies every morning, God’s promises, and God always being with us.

As we can see, God’s goodness outweighs the difficult every day. Don’t magnify the problem, identify the good and have a good day.

2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Some people think in order for prayer to work or to really praise God, you have to feel something. That something those people are trying to feel is nothing more than an emotional experience.

When we pray or praise God, we may get emotional at times, but that emotional feeling is not a prerequisite for God to hear us. God requires faith. There’s no feeling in faith. When we pray or praise in faith, we believe God heard us and we believe whatever He promised will come to pass. That’s it. We don’t have to cry or make ourselves emotional. We simply believe and act on what we believe.

Don’t try to make yourself feel something. Just pray and praise in faith knowing He hears us and will deliver on His promises.

Joel 2:12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” 13 So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.

There are so many people who think God is angry with them. He’s not. He loves us and He’s waiting on our return. It doesn’t matter if we’re angry with God or if we didn’t want to conform to His ways, He still loves us and is waiting on our return. It doesn’t matter if we’ve been gone for a week or for a decade, He’s waiting for our return with open arms.

There are people who feel ashamed or unworthy to be in the presence of God because of what they’ve done. That deceptive feeling is a trap to push us away from God. He’s still there and wants us to return to Him. Even if we pushed God away, He loves us enough not to force Himself on us. He’s simply going to love us from a distance and wait for our return.

Don’t fall for the enemy’s tricks. Return to God in whatever state you’re in, receive His love, and expect your life to drastically improve.

When things are tough, some believers tend to go deeper with God. We pray more, we read God’s Word more, and we may fast. As time progresses, God answers our prayers, and life gets better, some of us take our foot off the gas.

When it was rough, we prayed daily, but now we only pray a few times a week. When our marriage was at the point of divorce, we were in God’s Word often. Now, we read it a couple of times a week.

Let’s remain all in. Keep getting close to God despite what we’re facing. Don’t let the breakthrough cause you to lose your zeal. The fact that we experienced breakthrough is reason enough to keep getting close with God. Don’t stop. Keep growing in the knowledge of God.

2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Revelations 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

There are people who believe they’re doing what’s best for them, but everyone else can see that it’s not going to end well. That’s a deception. There are people who feel like a certain parenting style is what’s going to be best for their children, but the bible tells them otherwise. That’s a deception. There are people who think quitting their job to start a business is going to be profitable, but they haven’t checked with God. That’s a deception.

We shouldn’t do anything that doesn’t agree with the Word of God or disturbs our peace (Col. 3:15 AMP). Now, if we believe, with all sincerity, that God told us to do something that appears foolish, keep going. But if our actions are based on logic or feelings, the devil can use these things to deceive us.

Let’s evaluate our lives and the lives of those closest to us. If we’ve been operating from a place of deception, stop, and talk with God to see what’s best for your life and for the lives of those around us.

Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.

There are people close to us who engage in foolish, unwise, and ungodly behavior. We see how their poor decisions are negatively affecting their lives, but we don’t say anything.

We don’t say anything because we’re afraid we may lose a friend or appear judgmental. We’d rather keep the peace and let them suffer than tell them the truth. If they’re a good friend, they’ll know we’re coming from a place of love. And if we’re a good friend, who wants the best for them, we’ll be honest with them.

Do something to help somebody. Give them wise counsel, biblical advice, or prayer. If they don’t listen to our advice, that’s their choice. We can say within ourselves that we attempted to help. And as God leads us, be willing to help them again and again and again.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.

We may submit our lives to God, but there are daily demonic forces that are constantly trying to uproot our submission to God.

Those forces know what our flesh likes. It may be a flirtatious attractive woman who knows we’re married but doesn’t care. It may be a sale on a dress, but you and your husband agreed to not spend anymore money. It may be an old boyfriend or girlfriend who contacts you out of the blue when you feel lonely. Or, it may be an unruly coworker when you just told yourself you were going to be patient and kind.

Regardless of what tempts us, we must continue to stay submitted to God’s plan. That’s going to require us to say no, do nothing, or be by ourselves at times, but it’s for the best.

As we stay submitted to God, we’ll reap the benefits of our submission. It may not always be tangible. It may be stronger will power to say no, not being moved by our feelings, or being more disciplined.

Continue to stay submitted to God and don’t be distracted.

Belief and faith are similar, but not the same. Belief and faith are two sides of the same coin.

Belief vs. Faith Example

Belief: A person has food in front of them. They believe, with all sincerity, that if they eat the food, they won’t die of starvation. Daily, they believe that if they eat food, they won’t die of starvation. By the end of the month, if not earlier, they’re starving but still believing if they eat food, they won’t die of starvation. Eventually, that person dies of starvation. The food was there in front of them and they believed they wouldn’t have died of starvation if they would’ve eaten the food, but they died anyway.

Faith: Faith is a person believing they won’t die of starvation if they eat the food and acting on their belief by picking up the food and eating it.

We can genuinely believe God’s Word. We can believe He’s healed us, He protects us, and nothing is impossible with Him. However, we won’t see the results of our belief until we act on our belief.

We act on our belief through confession. For instance, when we’re faced with sickness, we believe by the stripes of Jesus, we’re healed (1 Pet. 2:24). We act on that belief by declaring, by His stripes we’re healed and ignoring the sickness. It’s the same response to any other situation. Find out what God’s Word says about that situation, believe God’s Word about that situation, act on that belief through confession until what we desire in God’s Word comes to pass.

Belief can only take us so far. It’s the acting on what we believe that turns our belief into faith.

By Apostle Fred Price

Romans 10:10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

2 Corinthians 4:13 But having the same spirit of faith according to that having been written: “I believed, therefore I have spoken,” we also believe and therefore speak,

Proverbs 2:7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

A simple definition of wisdom is, knowing what to do when we don’t know what to do.

For believers who choose to submit themselves to God, we have an endless supply of wisdom available for us. We access this wisdom by faith. When we don’t know what to do, we take this scripture and say, “Father, I thank You for the wisdom You’ve stored up for me in this situation and now, I receive the wisdom for ___________ (fill in the blank).” We confess this daily until we know what to do. At the same time, we’re allowing the Spirit of God to lead us. The Spirit may lead us to read a book regarding the situation, talk to a specific person, or research the topic on YouTube.

Regardless if it’s in business, parenting, or a major decision, by faith, the wisdom of God is available for us.

Numbers 7:3 And they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two of the leaders, and for each one an ox; and they presented them before the tabernacle. 4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 5 “Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the work of the tabernacle of meeting; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.”

Some people still have a problem with giving their tithes and offering to the church, and it’s understandable. They worked long hours to get this money and they don’t want to give it away to “some preacher.” Understand this, our tithes and offerings are given to the Lord and for the work of the Kingdom of God. It’s not meant to make the preachers rich. (Now, if we’re led to give to the man or woman of God, that’s fine, but the money is meant to advance the Kingdom of God.)

The Kingdom of God consists of ministries all across the world and it’s no different than any other business. Ministries need to pay the electricity, water, and gas bill. They need to pay property taxes and the mortgage. They need to pay for cameras, lights, technology, etc., to reach people everywhere and they need to pay the staff.

If we don’t give, how do we expect the Kingdom of God to advance? How can ministries advertise to reach the lost without any money? Sure, people can preach on corners, but they’re limited to the people in that neighborhood. We can reach a whole lot more through TV and technology, but that takes money.

So, don’t view it as giving your money away. Look at giving as investing in the advancement of the Kingdom of God with a guaranteed return (Malachi 3:10; Luke 6:38).

Pslam 147:1 Praise the Lord ! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.

A lot of us enjoyed praise and worship at church. They would sing our favorite songs that glorified God. It was a beautiful thing to see numerous people honoring God for the wonderful things He’s done.

Unfortunately with COVID-19, coming together to praise and worship God had to stop. The enemy has used this separation to stop some of our praise. The enemy realized some of us wouldn’t praise God unless we’re in a church setting.

That’s why we must initiate our own praise and worship to God. We can praise God before we start our work day at home. We can turn on our favorite worship song and sincerely praise God in the living room. As we perform tasks, we can praise God in our vehicles. Even before we go to bed, we can worship God.

The point is to be intentional about praise and worship. At this time, it’s no longer going to be given to us. We have to grow up and be responsible to make praise a priority. Praise turns our hearts back to Him and keeps us mindful of all that He’s done. Let’s praise and worship our God.

Proverbs 16:28 (CEV) Gossip is no good! It causes hard feelings and comes between friends.

We all have been guilty of spreading gossip. A friend or family member confides in us about a problematic situation and we go tell someone else. Not only do we tell someone else, we may give our opinion about the people involved.

Because our words have power, what we’re doing when we gossip is keeping that situation alive (Prov. 18:21). It’s like adding a log to the fire. Each person we tell, we’re fueling that negative situation. If we’re giving our opinion about the people involved, most of the time, it’s not favorable or true. We’ll say how terrible the person was or how foolish someone was. Again, with the power of our words, we’re speaking death over the people involved. And if what we’re saying doesn’t agree with God’s Word, it’s not true.

The best things we can do after hearing unfortunate news is keep it to ourselves and sincerely pray for the person and their situation. Let’s speak life in that situation and declare all is well with them and their household. As tempting as it is to tell someone else, nothing good comes when we tell another person’s business.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

As much as we want Him to, God doesn’t respond to our tears. He responds to bold faith.

He doesn’t sit in heaven, looking at us crying in our rooms, and say to Himself, “aww, let me give them what they’ve been crying about.” He responds to our faith. He’s not insensitive to what we’re facing, but God can only operate by what He’s bound by: His Word.

And in His Word, He tells us to come boldly to Him asking for what we desire. That’s the Word He’s bound by. If He starts making exceptions to this person who’s crying over there and this person who’s sad over there, it would devalue His Word.

God and His Word run together. You can’t have one without the other. If He tells us to come boldly, no matter how we feel at the time, we must get ourselves together and follow His instructions He set in place to get our prayers answered.

I get it, situations are tough, but to experience breakthrough, there needs to be less tears and bolder faith.

When God blesses us with things, it’s for our enjoyment, but it’s also for Kingdom use. Kingdom use is not solely associated with things at a church. Kingdom use is anything God desires to use to build His Kingdom.

Some of us have been blessed with a new house, but we don’t want people to come over because they may dirty it up. Or, God blessed us with a car, but we don’t want to pick someone up because we’re attempting to limit the miles driven on our car. First of all, that’s selfish. Secondly, what if fellowshipping in our house or them seeing our generosity to pick them up is the turning point for them to be fully submitted to God? Our actions could be the sign they needed to see to know God cares for them.

Is it wrong for God to ask us to do something for His Kingdom if He blessed us with means to do it? Absolutely not.

We are the builders of the Kingdom of God and we’re the only people who can accomplish the will of God in earth. So, don’t limit God’s reach by attempting to preserve the blessings He’s given us. God doesn’t have limited resources. Use the blessings God has given us to advance His Kingdom.

 2 Corinthians 9:11 (NLT) Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11 For through wisdom your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.

The fear (reverent regarding) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When we trust, lean on, and totally rely on God, wisdom will begin to download in our minds. When we act on this wisdom, it will help us live longer.

Wisdom, through the Holy Spirit, will tell us to go get a check up at the doctor’s office, stop eating so many sweets, start exercising, or drink more water. It’s been scientifically proven that these things help people live longer. Wisdom will also tell us to slow down while driving, turn right instead of left, or wait more minutes before leaving the house. This wisdom can possibly help us avoid a fatal collision.

As born-again believers, we have wisdom for EVERYTHING at our request (James 1:5). Why not maximize on this wisdom and enjoy a long prosperous life?

Psalm 112:5 Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.

When we give gifts and tips at a restaurant, it’s usually based on what they’ve done for us. If they’ve been nice to us, we’ll usually have no problem giving a person a good gift or a tip. However, if they’ve treated us poorly, we’re reluctant to give them a gift or a tip.

Let’s change our perspective. Let’s not base our giving on what they’ve done for us. Let’s base our giving on the leading of the Holy Spirit. When we allow God to lead us on who to give to and what to give, we’re setting ourselves up for success. As we can see, anytime we give, we’re investing in a guaranteed return. We’re investing in a piece of good coming to us.

Sure, we can keep our money by not giving, but what good will that do for us or others? Let’s keep God’s goodness flowing in our lives by giving to others.

Proverbs 23:4 Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease!

We’re living in a time where “hustling” is glorified. It’s a badge of honor for people to tell us that they don’t sleep because they’re grinding, hustling, or working extra hard to get money. As we can see, working ourselves to the bone to get rich is unwise.

Sleep, rest, and spending time with God and our families is very important. Money will come and go, but rest and time is something we can never get back.

Diligently working is biblical but overworking to get rich is not beneficial. Let’s consult God as we work. If He tells us to work late or get an extra job, that means He’s graced us to do it and everything will work for the good (Romans 8:28). However, if we’re overworking ourselves to get rich, we need to reevaluate our plans.

We can speak things into existence. Proverbs 18:21 says, death and life are in the power of the tongue and Mark 11:23 says, we shall have what we say. With all that known, by faith, we have the ability to declare what we want to see in our lives. We can speak a child into existence, command our finances to increase, speak divine healing in our bodies, declare a great marriage, etc.

Although we can speak things into existence, our corresponding actions must align with our faith-filled declarations. We can’t declare our youth is renewed like the eagle (Ps. 103:5), but only get 4 hours of sleep because we’re watching TV all night. We can’t command our blood pressure to go down and continue to eat a lot of salty foods and expect it to work. Our actions must align with our declaration.

God will give us corresponding actions to agree with our faith. He’ll tell us to stop watching so much news if we desire to be stress-free. He’ll tell us to start exercising more if we want to eliminate aches in our bodies.

We can declare things until our voice is gone, but if our actions don’t align with our speech, it’s unfruitful. Be sure your actions are agreeing with your faith.

James 2:17 (NIV) In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

1 Timothy 2:3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Salvation is THE greatest thing we can receive on earth however, it doesn’t stop there. Since life goes on after salvation and we have to overcome obstacles and receive all that God has promised there’s something else we must obtain.

We must obtain knowledge of the truth. What is truth? John 17:17 says, God’s Word is truth. Based on this definition we can restate this verse to say, this is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the Word of God.

Salvation is freely given, but knowledge of the Word of God takes effort. We obtain knowledge by consistently studying (not just reading) God’s Word, communing with God, and hearing God’s Word through bible-based teaching.

So, from now until the day we die, we should be obtaining more and more knowledge of the truth.

2 Timothy 1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

Faith is what we need to be successful in life. It’s not faith in ourselves or in our abilities, but faith in God’s Word.

When we consistently place our faith in God, people will take notice because faith can be seen. It can be seen because people of faith are usually doing the opposite from what the world is doing.

When everyone is freaking out over something, people of faith are calm. When everyone is selling their stocks because of a crash, people of faith are buying stocks (as God leads them). When everyone is sad about a diagnosis, people of faith are excited to see the healing that’s about to take place. When we continue to get victory after victory after victory, they’ll have no choice but to see our faith in God and hopefully want to place their faith in Him too.

So, let’s continue to build our faith in God so it can be seen by everyone.

Genesis 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Our Father used faith to create everything. He spoke things into existence by believing what He said. Through Jesus, we have that same ability. In the name of Jesus, we can speak God’s will in our lives. For simplicity, we can use our Father’s “Let there be” formula.

Let there be a great marriage between my spouse and I.
Let there be great management at my job.
Let there be divine health in my body.
Let there be a cure for coronavirus.
Let there be wealth and riches in my house.
Let there be ministers of the gospel to lead others to Christ.

We don’t have to use big fancy words to speak in faith. Just a quick “let there be” and an unwavering belief in what we said will work. Now, what will you declare?

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

1 Timothy 2:1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

We’ve been instructed to pray for all. No one’s left out of all. This means praying for people who love you as well as praying for people who hate you. This means praying for people you like and praying for people you don’t like. This means praying for your best friend and praying for your worst enemy.

It’s easy to pray for people that we love and who love us, but it takes maturity to pray for people who hurt and hate us. When praying for people who hurt or hate us, we pray for their salvation (1 Tim. 2:4). We pray that they come into the knowledge of God (Eph. 1:17). We pray that the goodness of God will lead to their repentance (Rom. 2:4). We pray that they’re transformed by the renewing of their mind (Rom. 12:2). We use our authority to stop demonic influences from operating in their lives (Luke 10:19).

Think of how great this world would be if people would overcome pride, selfishness, and hurt, and sincerely pray for all. Let’s continue to pray.

Psalm 144:4 (ISV) The human person is a mere empty breath; his days are like a fading shadow.

As we can see, time is very precious. Unfortunately, there far too many people wasting their time in dead-end relationships. Some people have spent a year, 3 years, or 10 years with someone they don’t even marry. We can’t get that time back.

To avoid wasting time, here are some “hot and fast” questions a person can potentially ask within the first 2 months of communicating.
WARNING: These questions are for fearless people who shouldn’t be concerned with pushing the other person away, but ensuring their time is not being wasted.

1. Do you have and want to continue to build a relationship with God?
2. What are your intentions for dating/communicating with me?
3. Do you want to get married?… when (after being in an exclusive relationship)?
4. Are you an effective, transparent communicator?
5. Do you have or want to have children?… how many?
6. What are your goals and aspirations?
7. What are your expectations of me?
8. Are you looking for an exclusive relationship?
9. Are you a faithful tither?
10. Are you financially literate (operate within a budget, working to pay off debts, managing impulses)?

These are just a few questions to help you get to know someone a lot faster. If their answers don’t align with your core values or plans, you should politely let them know it’s not going to work out. Don’t waste time with someone hoping they’re going to conform to your standards. Ask the questions to see if they fit.