Graced To Do God's Will

Luke 2:20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

In Luke 2:10-14, an angel told shepherds in a field that Christ our Savior was born. When the shepherds heard what the angel told them, they rejoiced and gave glory to God.

Let’s look at this naturally: nothing in the shepherds’ lives had changed. They weren’t saved from their sins, they didn’t become prosperous, and they didn’t become healed from all their ailments. However, they gave glory to God based on what they heard.

When we hear or read a promise in the Bible, we too can rejoice over the thing we heard or read. Nothing may have changed in the natural, but based on God’s Word, we can give glory to God. We can give glory to God that we are rich (2 Cor. 8:9), we’re healed (Isaiah 53:5), and we’re victorious in everything we do (1 Cor. 15:57).

Give glory to God for His Word because if He said it, it will come to pass.

Too often we wait on external situations to change before we change internally. For instance, we may desire new employment for a better financial situation, better living conditions, peace in our marriages, etc. Because of this desire for external change, internally, we may be moody, sad, anxious, or depressed.

Our internal change should be based on the One Who is always present in our lives. That’s God. With God, there should be an understanding that we have everything we need and desire and it’s a matter of time before our desires manifest. In the meantime, by faith, we can receive the joy, peace, and contentment He provides us in spite of not having our desires. Daily, we can confess we have joy, peace, and we’re content. It’s an ongoing process because Satan will dangle our desires in front of us making us feel like we can’t be happy unless our desires manifest. Eventually, we’ll get to a place where nothing may have externally changed, but internally, we’re joyful and at peace.

Don’t wait on things to change prior to receiving joy. Know that God is with us and He can provide joy in the meantime and He promised to give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4).

Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Proverbs 27:2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.

There’s nothing wrong with being good at something, looking great, or being successful in a certain field. The problem occurs when we boast about our successes without mentioning God.

In the age of social media, some of us have the tendency to boast about how much weight we lost, the cars we have, and/or the house we purchased. We may not say anything about how great we are in our posts, but internally we’re looking to boast about our accomplishments.

Once again, there’s nothing wrong with being pleased with our accomplishments, but give God glory for all that He’s done and let another person praise us and not we ourselves.

1 Corinthians 1:31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Ephesians 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Look at the demand on these scriptures. These scriptures can make even the most mature Christian want to look the other way. These scriptures command us to imitate God and walk in Christ-like love.

Imitating God means to use our God-given authority, be holy, and show unconditional love to all. If we look through the scriptures, Christ-like love opposes the flesh in every area of life. Jesus was a blessing to those who didn’t believe in Him. Jesus forgave those who abused Him. Jesus loved those who hated Him. All of this is expected of us.

God is not expecting us to do this using will power. He sent the Holy Spirit to assist us along the way. It’s a process. We may not be walking in unconditional love yet but, we can start off by being nice to people. We may not have forgiven everyone who has wronged us but, we can start off by forgiving one person at a time. Just say, “Holy Spirit, help me to _______.”

Instead of not doing any of what God said because it’s seemingly too difficult, allow the Holy Spirit to help and let’s start working our way towards this holy lifestyle.

Genesis 22:12 He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.

There are some people who don’t mind change and there are some who hate change. When it comes to God directing our lives, we need to be ready for change.

Abraham had it set in his mind that he was going to sacrifice Isaac unto God. Gratefully, at the last moment, God changed the type of sacrifice and put the ram in the bush. Look at Moses in Exodus 2. After Moses fled from Egypt, Moses went to Midian, got married and had a son, but God changed his course of life and had Moses go back to Egypt to set His people free. This change may have initially been uncomfortable, but it caused Moses to save the lives of millions.

We may have had it set in our minds to be in one profession or to marry a certain person, but God had other plans for our lives. Realize this, just like Abraham and Moses, the change God has for us will always work out for our good and for the good of others (Rom. 8:28). Also, Psalm 84:11 says, no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly which means, the change God is pushing us towards will be better than the status quo we’re trying to hold on to. So, don’t be resistant. Be ready for change.

Matthew 16:17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

During this time of year, some people declare this “cold and flu season”. Because of this proclamation, people tend to get flu shots and double up on the hand sanitizer to avoid getting sick. Did God say it’s “cold and flu season”? Is that in the Word? I don’t think so.

Some of us have more faith in the contagiousness of the sickness than the healing power of God. Here’s a thought. Instead of avoiding contact with people who are sick or be worried about getting sick, let’s release our faith to heal every person who crosses our paths. Instead of being worried about being infected with sickness, let’s operate in our God-given authority and infect someone with divine health. Let’s proclaim every person who shakes our hand doesn’t get us sick, but we get them well. Let’s believe nothing shall hurt us (Luke 10:19). All of this IS POSSIBLE.

No matter how many people who are sick around us, it doesn’t have to infect us. We can change our environment by laying our hands on the sick and they shall recover.

When we have children and look into their innocent eyes and create a bond with them, we make a vow within ourselves to do everything we can to make sure their lives are wonderful. There’s only one problem with that vow. Our children’s well-being, happiness, and safety are not our responsibility. At the end of the day, our children belong to God and that responsibility belongs to God.

Isaiah 54:13 “All your sons will be taught of the LORD; And the well-being of your sons will be great.

Our responsibility as earthly parents is to point our children to Father God. We’ll let them know God is our provider, God is our peace, God is our help, and God is our everything.

As new parents, we need to trust God to do His job, through us, with our children. This means being led by the Spirit in parenting. Sometimes we see our children in certain predicaments and fear attempts to creep in. Our response to fear has us worrying, not sleeping, and attempting to handle the situation without asking for God’s guidance. This shows a lack of trust in God.

We should trust God in every area of our lives including, raising our children through us.

Psalm 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat– for he grants sleep to those he loves.

A lot of us spend our nights planning the next day, wondering how we’re going to make it, how we’re going to get our business to excel, or how we can better manage our workload. This is pointless. When we do this, we limit the amount of sleep we need and more importantly, we eliminate God.

God grants and desires for us to get sweet sleep. He doesn’t want us up all night worrying about tomorrow (Matt. 6:34). That’s why He ensures us that He’ll perfect everything that concerns us (Psalm 138:3). When we’re worrying and planning our future without God’s guidance, we’re pushing God to the side and saying, “I love You, but I don’t trust You.”

Let’s be believers who truly place all our trust in God. Let’s give our cares to God (Psalm 55:22) and release our faith for sweet sleep every night.

Genesis 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

We’re commanded to be a blessing to others. We can be a blessing by doing what we can with what we have now.

It may be our ultimate goal to pay off someone’s mortgage or car note, but we may not be at that place financially yet. If we can’t pay off someone’s mortgage, help them pay their electricity bill. If that’s outside of the budget, help clean their house. We all have the ability to do something.

Also, we don’t have to know a person to be a blessing to a person. Another list to bless someone we don’t know includes, paying for a person’s gas, paying for a meal, picking up trash out of our neighbors’ yards, etc.

They may not thank us and some may look at us strangely, but we’re being a blessing and shining our lights in a darkened world and our acts of kindness may be the seed that turns a person’s life around for the better.

Ephesians 6:16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Have you ever been moody, anxious, facing bouts of depression, or felt emotionally unstable? That’s spiritual warfare. It’s an attack by Satan where he throws negative thoughts into our minds to make us feel some kind of way. Those thoughts could be related to where we are not in life, the issues at our jobs, or the negative things we’ve experienced in our marriage. If we’re not mindful, we’ll take out our sadness, anger, and frustration on someone else and the cycle will continue.

When those negative thoughts enter our minds, this is not the time to keep quiet and let those thoughts beat us up. We counter those thoughts with God-based speech. We declare we’re prosperous, we’re declare we’re healed, we declare our marriage is made whole, and we declare all our needs are met. Whatever negative thoughts enter our minds, we counter them by speaking the Word of God.

Ephesians 6:8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

When we do good for others or for the Kingdom of God, we can expect good to come to us if we let it.

When we’ve sown good in our lives, the time will come when good will be offered back to us. Like anything else in this world, we have the choice to receive or reject something. If we’re too proud, we’ll reject the good God is trying to offer us.

This good can come in the form of rest from our labors, a gift card, or a free meal. Pride will try to convince us we can’t accept the gift card or free meal, and there’s too much work that needs to be done to rest. If we’re not mindful of this pride-pitfall, we’ll eventually end up burnt out or feeling unappreciated in the long run, not realizing we’ve rejected our own rewards.

Don’t fall for these proud moments. Receive the good God has offered.

Luke 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

Reading the Bible is not something we do to earn brownie points with God. Studying, not reading, the Word of God is meant for our understanding. The Word of God gives us better understanding of Who Christ is for us. It gives us understanding of Who we are in Christ, and God’s purpose for our lives.

Since God is His Word according to John 1 and there’s no end to God, there’s infinite revelation in the Word of God. We can get new revelation from scriptures we’ve read since we were children. There’s no end to our understanding. The Word helps us in our daily lives. There’s nothing new under the sun and the Word gives us answers to all our problems.

Even if it’s one verse a day, start studying the Word and receive God’s wisdom, revelation, and His solutions.

Jeremiah 17:5 “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord.

As we can see, there’s no profit in trusting man. This includes political figures, religious leaders, our spouses, and even ourselves. If we’re trusting in flesh of any kind, we’ll never be truly satisfied.

We can’t look to a president as our hope, we can’t look to a minister to be our savior, and we shouldn’t trust ourselves to overcome any situation. Placing our trust in man, will leave us disappointed.

There’s a degree of trust we give to man in order to function in this world, but all our trust, hope, and confidence should be given to God. Give God your trust.

James 3:14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

When most people view marriage, they enter it with the mindset of what they can get out of the deal. They think about what their spouse can do for them and their happiness versus what they can do for their spouse and their spouse’s happiness.

This is a self-seeking mindset and according to this scripture it’s a demonic mindset. We’ll never be fulfilled if we go in any relationship thinking about what this relationship can do for us.

As believers, we should operate from the principle of sowing and reaping. Whatever we want out of our marriage or relationship is what we should be sowing into that relationship. If we want to be unconditionally loved, respected, and surprised with gifts, we should sow that into our spouse. When we sow positive things, we have a guarantee from God to reap a positive harvest (Galatians 6:7).

Let’s remove the demonic self-seeking thoughts from our minds and focus on being a blessing to our spouses.

In boxing, there is a champion and a challenger. The champion’s goal is to defend their title against the challenger. The challenger’s goal is to do whatever they can to dethrone the champion.

Regardless of what the champion goes through in the fight, they’re still the defending champions. They could get punched in the face, get knocked down, and have black eyes, but they’re still the champion. Even though they experience difficulties in the ring, they’re still the champions until they’re defeated.

What does this mean for us? God declared through the stripes of Jesus Christ, we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). In life, we may experience difficulties that attempt to threaten our health, but we’re healed. We may get a cold, break a bone, or be diagnosed with something, but we’re still healed. Even though our health is attacked, like the champion boxer, we’re still healed until we declare our defeat. We’re not oblivious or ignoring the attack on our health, but if God called us healed, who are we to declare otherwise? Whatever you’re facing, declare you’re healed.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

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

If we’re submitted to the will of God and we’re being led by His Spirit, God promised that our lives would move from one success to another. Everything in our lives may not be perfect, but we shouldn’t be in the same place we were a year ago.

Something should be better. We should have a better relationship with God, an increase in our finances, a more enjoyable career, a house, a spouse, a child, etc. Our lives should be more enjoyable as we get older.

If we’re not experiencing continuous successes, we need to evaluate our lives to determine if we’re truly submitted to God. Tap into God’s promises and experience a life that gets better with time.

Romans 13:7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

This scripture includes God.
We must acknowledge and give honor to God for everything He’s done.

How many of us acknowledge Him when we have a great idea? How many of us let our co-workers know God gave us that idea? How many of us inform our co-workers to seek God for a specific answer? It may not be a lot of us.

God desires glory, honor, and credit. It’s ungrateful and selfish to keep His praise to ourselves. So, for every point of understanding, every open door, give God credit. Because He’s God, give Him extra credit.

Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

Moses gave God all sorts of excuses as to why he couldn’t fulfill his purpose God had for him. Some of us give God excuses as to why we can’t fulfill His call in our lives. The root to every excuse is fear.

We’ll say it’s too difficult, it takes too much time, it requires too much effort, we don’t have the education or experience, or it’s impossible. What we’re really saying is we don’t want to spend all this time and effort on something for a chance it may fail. Is anything too hard for us when God is on our side? Nothing is impossible with God.

We’re told not to throw all our eggs in one basket but, that’s not true when it comes to God. When we throw all our trust, belief, and confidence into God’s basket, we’re guaranteed success.

As we begin this journey of 2018, don’t give God excuses. Let’s give Him our trust.

When we’re in our late 20’s, we begin to think about our purpose and how it’s going to be fulfilled. Some of us know our purpose and some of us don’t. Regardless of where we are, there’s a temptation to be anxious about fulfilling our purpose. We look at our current situation and know we’re not walking out or even on the pathway of our purpose. This can be frustrating.

When working towards our purpose, patience is necessary. We hear about all the success stories or read about people in the bible fulfilling their purpose and want to instantly be in our purpose. Some may be fulfilling their purpose now, but that’s not the case for everyone. It takes time for some.

Look at Joseph. God revealed Joseph’s purpose when he was 17. It wasn’t until he was 30 when he fulfilled his purpose. Jesus was 33 when He fulfilled His purpose. The point is there’s some maturing that needs to take place, some things we need to learn, and some things that need to line up in order for our purpose to be maximized.

So, be patient with purpose and believe where we are now is not always where we’re going to be.

Psalm 138:8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

The word gospel simply means good news. Jesus gives us a command to preach this specific gospel throughout the world. The fact that He uses the term “this gospel” lets us know there are other gospels out there in the world.

This gospel is the gospel of grace. This gospel lets us know that Jesus is the One who sacrificed Himself for us and made Himself to be our Savior. This gospel lets us know all of our sins are forgiven, we’re made righteous, and we’re forever loved based on His sacrifice.

There are other forms of good news in the world, but there’s nothing like this gospel. Receive and reap the benefits of this gospel.

Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, their eyes were opened. Today, some people may refer to this as “being awakened” or “woke.”

Unfortunately, still today, people are going against God-inspired norms of society, attempting to become wiser than God’s system. We will never be wiser than the system God created. People may say, don’t get married, it’s a trap; going to church is nothing but, a gimmick, or God isn’t real. Like Adam, some of us will eat (listen to) fruit thinking we’re expanding our minds, but all we’re getting is deceived by the great deceiver.

There’s nothing wrong with questioning some of society’s norms and ideas, but if society’s concepts parallels the Word of God in context, our best bet is to respect and work within those norms because those norms will benefit our future.

If someone tells us to consult God about a certain decision, some of us say we’ll use the sense God gave us to work our way through this situation. We think we’re being wise, but what we’re really saying is we’d rather use our logic and human wisdom instead of relying on God.

We were never meant to be led by our senses or how we feel. Our senses are inconsistent and unreliable. We’re to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Our senses say, don’t go on that cruise because the ship could sink meanwhile, the Holy Spirit is telling us to trust in God’s protection and enjoy the abundant life Jesus paid for. Our senses say, don’t get married to prevent ourselves from going through the hassle of being divorced if it doesn’t work meanwhile, the Holy Spirit is instructing us to honor God with our bodies and participate in God’s divine plan called marriage.

Senses are here to enhance, but not govern our lives. Let’s free ourselves from ourselves and trust the living God.

Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

Mark 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Some of us may be in bondage to a certain sin. We’ve tried our best to be delivered from that vice, but we find ourselves back in that situation again.

It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to help free us from our vice. The Holy Spirit will have us making tough decisions. For instance, if we’re addicted to pornography, He may have us turn off our cable altogether. That’s a tough decision because we would miss out on all the other non- pornographic TV shows, but it’s either deliverance or entertainment. The Holy Spirit may have us leave a social scene where we know everyone so that we can renew our minds with the Word of God. That’s a tough decision because we would have to leave our social circle to develop our relationship with God.

These tough decisions will come periodically in our lives, but remember, these decisions are here to help and not harm us.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, it’s important to look at all that Jesus has done for us.

Jesus created us and everything surrounding us (Colossians 1:16).

Jesus made us righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). We don’t have to work to be righteous. We’re righteous through Him.
Jesus made us holy (Hebrews 10:10). We don’t have to work to be holy. We’re holy through Him.
Jesus healed us (Isaiah 53:5). We’re not going to be healed. We’re already healed through Him.
Jesus has completed us (Colossians 2:10). A spouse, a family, or a good career doesn’t complete us. We’re complete in Him alone.

Jesus took our sins (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus freed us from the penalty of our sins (Romans 3:24). We don’t have to walk around feeling condemned. All our sins have been paid for by the blood of Jesus.

Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:14). Jesus is the Author and the Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). The faith it takes to believe the Word of God is orchestrated through Jesus.

Jesus intercedes for us (Romans 8:34). After all that Jesus has done for us, He’s still presently, interceding to the Father on our (the believer’s) behalf.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND THANK YOU JESUS

Ecclesiastes 10:20 Curse not the king, no not even in your thought; and curse not the rich in your bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which has wings shall tell the matter.

Our words have power (Prov. 18:21). With this powerful tool, we’re instructed to not curse the king. For most of us, we don’t have a king, but we do have a president. Whether you agree with their policies or not, we have a mandate to keep negative words away from their lives.

Why? Because whether we like them or not, they have been put in charge over the country where we reside. They make decisions that can affect our way of living. If we’re hoping they fail or die, what type of life do we expect to have? What type of love are we showing?

Let’s pray that they operate in the spirit of wisdom, pray that their decisions are Spirit led, and pray for peace in their lives. As believers, it’s the best thing we can do for our leaders.

Too many times we think we need to be on a platform or accomplish something no one has ever accomplished to say we’re being used by God. Doing great and mighty things for the Kingdom of God is important, but the little and seemingly insignificant things matter too.

1 Corinthians 12:15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

When we tell someone an encouraging Word, post something uplifting, or volunteer our time, we’re being used by God. It doesn’t matter if we’re famous or if we’re acknowledged for our service. All that matters is God is glorified and we’re letting our light shine in this darkened world.

Let’s not always look for recognition for our services. If God tells us to do something (big or small), do it to be a blessing for someone else.

Judgements:
Can you believe she’s pregnant again?
How stupid can you be to go to prison again?
You know he has a problem with pornography.

Some people have a tendency to judge and criticize others as if they’ve never done anything wrong in their lives. We fail to realize that we’re only one Jesus away from hell ourselves. If all our shortcomings could be displayed, we would hold our heads in shame. It’s because of Jesus that we’re saved, forgiven, and made the righteousness of God. Just because all of our sins aren’t on display, doesn’t give us the right to judge or criticize others.

Compassion, love, and wisdom are what we should be expressing to those who have missed the mark. Not judgement. Let them know they’re only one Jesus away from heaven, forgiveness, and a prosperous, abundant life. Pray that demonic influences are removed from their minds. Give them hope.

We’re looking and living good now, but never forget we too needed a Savior to save us from all of our sins.

Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

How do we know if we really believe the Word of God? We may say we believe the Word, but when the trials of life arrive, that’s when we truly find out what we believe.

Trials have a way of exposing our belief. If we respond to trials with worry, fear, panic, stress, or sadness, we should be honest with ourselves and say we believe more in the possibility of a negative outcome than the Word of God.

True evidence to show that we believe the Word of God in any situation is rest. Rest doesn’t mean inactivity. Rest is taking our hands off the situation and constantly reminding ourselves that through the blood of Jesus, this situation has already been worked out. It’s placing our belief in what Jesus has already done and not what we can do.

We may not know how or when it’s going to be worked out, but because the Word says it (healing, provision, deliverance, etc.) is already done, we believe it and move on. Rest by believing the Word of God over everything.

Hebrews 4:11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

Exodus 14:14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

“For your peace, let the Lord fight for you.” –Hezekiah Walker

For those who had an older brother or maybe an older sister in the same school, there was a type of peaceful confidence displayed. Those people knew that if anyone would tease them, they could tell their older sibling who would intimidate or fight the bully.

We have Almighty God on our side. Who or what can stand against Him? Trials, sickness and disease, a problematic marriage, and lack attempt to bully our lives. Instead of trying to fight these things ourselves, we need to tell our bully about our God. We need to let the Lord fight our battles.

It does us no good to face these situations alone because these problems are too big for us to solve, but they’re not too big for God to handle. Placing our trust in God’s abilities and knowing His love for us, will give us a peaceful confidence we need when these situations attack our lives. Let’s be still and let the Lord fight our battles.

Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

The difference between sanity and insanity is the presence or absence of peace. How we handle the difficulties we all face determines who we trust. We can attempt to handle these difficulties ourselves and be stressed, worried, and in fear, or we can give our situations to God.

When giving our situations to God, it doesn’t mean that stress or fear won’t attempt to invade our minds, but we can (by faith) apply the peace of God in our lives. When God’s peace is present, fear, stress or worry can’t stay. It’s an ongoing battle to maintain peace in the time of the storm, but it’s well worth the fight. God’s peace keeps us from having nervous breakdowns, diseases, gray hair, and more.

So whenever we go through spiritual warfare and trials, remember to apply God’s peace. It’s the only thing that will keep us joyful, sane, and focused on His plan for our lives.

The schemes of the devil are obvious to some, but deceptive to most. Today, this generation is claiming to be “woke” which means, they’re not being fooled anymore by the norms, rules, and regulations of society.

Unfortunately, this “woke” theology has infiltrated the minds of some believers. People are starting to believe God isn’t real based on the conditions of the world, the Bible is a book written by man, “religion” is a tool to enslave our minds, and we are our own gods. These deceptions are popular because it appeals to our logic.

No one questions where these ideas came from. Revelation 12:9 says, Satan is a deceiver and he deceives the whole world. Obviously, these thoughts, ideas, and suggestions that contradict the Word of God came from Satan. If we looked into the mindset of Satan, we would see he would suggest anything that would lead people astray. We shouldn’t be too surprised by this infiltration because in 1 Timothy 4:1 it says, in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.

There’s nothing wrong with obtaining knowledge from other sources outside of the Bible, but when this knowledge begins to affect our beliefs and the truth in God’s Word, we’re not being “enlightened” we’re being deceived. Be aware of the devil’s schemes because it could impact our eternity.

2 Corinthians 2:11 so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.

Hebrews 10:28-31 (The Message Translation) If the penalty for breaking the law of Moses is physical death, what do you think will happen if you turn on God’s Son, spit on the sacrifice that made you whole, and insult this most gracious Spirit? This is no light matter. God has warned us that he’ll hold us to account and make us pay. He was quite explicit: “Vengeance is mine, and I won’t overlook a thing” and “God will judge his people.” Nobody’s getting by with anything, believe me.

God desires everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). We are saved by confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:19). If we reject Jesus, Who is the payment for our sins, we are destined to eternal damnation.

In the Old Covenant, under the law of Moses, the penalty for breaking the law was physical death. The benefit of dying under the Old Covenant after breaking the law was a second chance. If these people believed the Messiah was coming prior to their death and they received Him once His sacrifice was available, they were saved. For those who reject Jesus and die under the New Covenant, there are no more chances (Hebrews 10:29). It’s eternity in a tortuous hell based on unbelief.

This is not meant to scare anyone to receive Jesus, but it’s the truth. Regardless of what’s being said in the world, popular theories, and new ideas, accept Jesus as Lord. It’s better to accept Him as Lord and be wrong than to not believe and spend eternity in hell. Receive Him.

This message is for those who can’t seem to “get it right.”
This message is for those who find themselves right back at the place they were delivered from.
This message is for those who feel like the moment has passed.
This message is for those who feel like they’ve done too much wrong.

Everybody’s got a blank page
A story they’re writing today
A wall that they’re climbing
You can carry the past on your shoulders
Or you can start over
Regrets, no matter what you’ve gone through
Jesus, He gave it all to save you
He carried the cross on His shoulders
So you can start over. –Flame

Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost (Luke 19:10). Once we’ve received Him, we are forgiven, holy, and made righteous. It doesn’t matter how far we’ve strayed, we’re His beloved. Even if we’ve received Him, but for the past 10 years we’ve been living like a hellion, we are still children of God. God has forgiven us and He doesn’t remember our sins (Hebrews 8:12). So, although we may remember everything we’ve done wrong, God doesn’t see anything except a righteous being that has done no wrong.

Don’t get discouraged because it seems like every time you try to live a holy life, something pulls you back the other way. Start over. Claim the victory over that vice. Don’t settle for less because it didn’t work last time. Start over. Declare prosperity in that area. Jesus did it all for us. We just have to receive EVERYTHING He’s made available for us.

Hebrews 8:12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

If we go to arboretums or see beautiful flowerbeds in front of homes, they don’t always look that way. Weekly, if not daily, someone is out in the flowerbeds performing maintenance clearing out ugly weeds that attempt to choke flowers and invade beautiful landscapes.

God provided a beautiful world for us; however, because sin is in the world, ugly schemes and attacks from the devil attempt to invade this world of ours. People are demonically influenced to drive a vehicle through a crowd, shoot at large gatherings, or provoke war. Like a person in a garden, believers have to perform maintenance. Using our God-given authority, we have to rebuke every influence or plan of the devil on a daily basis. A quick, “I cancel every demonically influenced plan today” will do it.

It’s our responsibility to continue the work of Jesus. His quest was to destroy the works of the devil and we should too. Begin to do maintenance and destroy the weeds in the world.

1 John 3:8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit–fruit that will last–and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

My one-year-old daughter enjoys eating. When she’s at the dinner table and she’s not getting food fast enough, she may start to whine. Understanding that whining is not acceptable in our house, my wife and I taught her to say “More Please.” We want her to use her words because she won’t receive anything by whining.

Some may think this style of parenting is harsh, but we’re only using the same principles that our Heavenly Father uses on us. When facing a difficult time in their lives or a pressing desire, some people go to God crying, whining, or complaining. God doesn’t respond to tears. God responds to faith.

When we boldly ask God for our needs or desires and know that we have our needs and desires met the moment we prayed, we can expect to receive our requests. It’s understandable to feel overwhelmed or pressured by the issues of life, but there’s no need to whine and cry about the situation. If we’re truly asking in faith, we’ll receive our needs and desires from God.

1 John 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

In the Old Covenant, our sins could only be covered annually through the sacrifice of animals. We still would have been held accountable for our sins and behavior at the end of our lives. This gave people great uncertainty because they never knew if their behavior was good enough to please God to the point of having a blessed afterlife.

Under the New Covenant, there was a great removal. The sacrifice of Jesus didn’t cover our sins. His sacrifice removed all our past, present, and future sins (Hebrews 9:26). This is great news for the New Covenant believer. Although we may sin, through the blood of Jesus, we’re not held accountable for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Praise God for Jesus. It’s He that makes us holy, righteous, and has removed all our sins. It’s not our behavior or “sin count” that keeps us out of heaven. It’s the rejection of that payment (Jesus) that keeps us out of heaven.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Sowing and reaping is a principle found throughout the Word of God. The concept is whatever we sow, that is what we’ll reap (good or bad).

If we know someone has a desire, we can sow a prayer for their desires. We can pray that they’ll get a new job, house, or car. When we’re in agreement with someone else for their needs or desires, it shall be done by God (Matt. 18:19).

When we act on the principle of sowing a prayer, we then set ourselves up to reap a harvest of a prayer on our behalf from someone else. Someone we know or don’t know can be praying that we receive our needs and desires. By knowingly or unknowingly having that agreement with someone else, we can expect to receive the promises of God in our lives.

Begin to sow a prayer because it can greatly benefit our lives.

The most forgotten people are those in prison. Unless we have a close friend or relative in prison, a lot of them are forgotten.

We forget there’s an enemy trying to destroy their lives too. We forget they face temptations that attempt to lead them astray. We forget they have needs and desires just like anyone else. We forget that some of them are in prison based on false accusations.

Yes, the majority of them committed a crime against society, but they need love and prayer too. As a believer, it’s not our job to judge or criticize the poor decisions of others. We are to continue to express love to all, preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and encourage those we encounter.

Let’s not forget those who are incarcerated. Say a quick prayer for their salvation, protection, and the renewal of their minds with the Word of God.

Hebrews 13:3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Emotional pain is a deception of comfort. If we’re in enough emotional pain, we get use to the feeling of sadness and depression, we like the attention we receive from others, and we don’t want to get out.

Staying in this sunken place can cause us to lose hope, not capitalize on the opportunities God provides, and minimize God’s blessings.

Regardless of the addictive feeling emotional pain can provide, it’s not God’s best and it’s not where we should be. We have to fight the attack of the enemy against our minds by enjoying life on purpose. Things may not look good, but we should still smile. Our funds may be low, but we can still enjoy our day. Everything may not be perfect, but we should choose joy.

Fight off the spirit of emotional pain and choose to enjoy each and every day.

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.