Graced To Do God's Will

Psalm 130:5 “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.”

There is hope in the Word of God. If we can’t seem to find hope anywhere else, we can find hope in the Word of God. 

It’s a choice for us to receive the hope found in the Word or not. That’s why the writer says, “in His word I DO hope.” We can read “with long life He will satisfy me (Psalm 91:16)” but, have we received that or do we have it settled in our minds the lie of “you never know when your time is coming” at the age of 40. Just FYI…long life is 120 years (Genesis 6:3). Do we truly believe that our children are delivered from the hands of the enemy (Proverbs 11:21) or are we constantly worried about our children’s future? 

Throughout the Bible, there is page after page of hope (do not fear, I am always with you, you shall prosper and be in good health) but at the end of the day, we have to receive it. Receive the hope that has been so graciously given to us by God. 

Hebrews 3:15 “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled

The Israelites refused to inherit their Promised Land because they thought it was too hard. They complained about the giants rather than trusting God to help them overcome the giants. 

What’s your promised land? Is it being a healthy size, having your degree, being debt free, or something else? Are you hesitant to conquer your Promised Land because of the difficulty and discipline it may require to attain it?

It’s time for us to surrender to God. His Spirit is available to us to lead and guide us, but we have to be willing to hear and obey. Remember that we have self-control, according to Galatians 5:22-23 (we have the Holy Spirit, therefore we have His fruits). We just have to develop it. And developing discipline, or self-control, can be uncomfortable, but the Holy Spirit will help us.

1 Corinthians 9: 24Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified

Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.

What is Solomon telling us in this verse? Unless the Lord is the initiator of our efforts, our efforts are in vain.

Someone has a business idea. Did the Lord give them that? If not, whether the business is successful or not, that business is in vain. Someone wants to be healed of a certain disease, therefore, they pray an extra hour, fast until dark, and speak in their heavenly language for an hour everyday to “get God to move.” Did God give them those instructions? If not, their efforts are in vain. Someone desires promotion within their company, therefore, they work longer hours and attend all the company’s functions to be noticed. Did the Lord prompt them to do that or was this an idea developed within themselves? 

The point is, no matter what efforts we put into something, whether it be for the Kingdom of God, our success, or the success of our families, God must be the initiator. Let God lead and direct our lives. If not, all our efforts are in vain. 

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Psalm 37:25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

We have a lifetime supply of God. We’ll leave God before He’ll ever consider leaving us. In fact, based on His Word, He’ll never consider leaving us.

A lot of the times, people get mad at and walk away from God or think God has left them based on a difficult situation. Whether we realize it or not, God has never left us nor will He ever leave us. Regardless of what we’ve done, where we’ve been, and what we believed, God is always present.

No matter how difficult our situation may be, God is right there with us, waiting on us to acknowledge His presence, so that He can strategically elevate us above that situation. It doesn’t matter if it’s a death in the family, a layoff, or just a tough situation, God is there.

We can’t get rid of Him. He’s here to stay. So receive Him and work with His plan to prosper your life.

Have you learned the secret to being content in every circumstance?

Rely on God’s strength.

He demonstrated how expansive and unconditional His love is for you (John 3:16). He promised He would never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Practically, you have to recite these scriptures continuously. Even when the situation overwhelms you and you find yourself crying out – confess the truth of those scriptures. Even when all your flesh wants to do is meditate on all of the negative thoughts, force yourself to audibly speak the scriptures.

And there will come the moment of clarity where you find yourself finally believing the Truth. That you can, in fact, do all things through Him Who continuously strengthens you. And then, when fear, doubt, and frustration attempt to take over again, you say to yourself, I’ve got this.

Philippians 4:11-13 “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

God’s got this.

Those were the three words my husband, Marvin (the one who provides most of the daily devotionals), said to my healthcare provider as he waited by himself in the emergency room following the car accident. He didn’t wait for the medical professionals to provide an outcome; he stood in faith in the midst of the unknown.

To stand in faith when trials arise, we have to feed our faith daily. So, read and re-read the Word of God, listen to those Word based sermons and worship songs, and your faith will move mountains.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

To read more about the accident, click the following link (no Facebook account needed): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10106518548179225&set=a.10100618670017355.2930794.23409184&type=3

Proverbs 3:3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man.

Believers often refer to favor. They want favor on their lives, favor on their children, and favor on their jobs. Favor is God using people somewhere to use their power, their ability, and their influence to help us.

Favor is great and it’s available for anyone who can have faith for it, but how about being the favor? Favor works through people. It’s God inspiring people to be a blessing to someone else. Instead of always looking for favor, how about being the favor?

We can be that person who takes a friend out to eat, be that person to pay for the groceries of someone we don’t know, or help someone get a job where we work. All it takes is us listening and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s promptings. Our flesh will tell us we don’t have the time or the money to be the favor for someone else, but He wouldn’t tell us to do something we couldn’t do.

Just remember, as we’re led to be the favor for someone else, God promised to reward us.

Ephesians 6:8 knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.

God desires good in the world. So much so until He has a promise of good being returned by Him, based on the good we do.

God didn’t limit the good we do only to the church or even to His Kingdom, but He desires goodness done in every arena in the world. Why is goodness so important to God? Because God is good (Mark 10:18).

Every time we spread goodness throughout the world, we spread God throughout the world. So give to that charity, volunteer at that shelter, help that friend who is behind on their bills, and spread God throughout the world.

Although Christmas is over, the goodness of God should continue throughout the year. 

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

These are simple lessons from the Word of God that will assist us in life.

Faithful in Prayer: There are a lot of circumstances in our lives and in this world that need to change. The only way things will change is through prayer.

Prayer is permission for God to get involved in mankind’s affairs. If it’s a circumstance that needs changing in our lives or in the world, prayer is the first thing we must do. Once we’ve prayed, we don’t need to pray about the situation again. We transition into thanksgiving because we know God heard us and since He heard us, we know we have what we asked (1 John 5:15).

Our faithfulness in prayer is based on our consistency. From mass shootings, to cancer in people’s bodies, to an increase in finances, the amount of things we can pray about is endless. Watching the news for an hour will keep us praying for a week.

The problem occurs when we get prayer-lazy because we’re content with our life and how our life is going and we’re not compassionate for others or the condition of the world. If we can extend our prayer life outside of ourselves and our immediate circle, the world around us would be a better place.

Continue to be faithful in prayer because it’s the only way God can get involved.

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

These are simple lessons from the Word of God that will assist us in life.

Patient in Affliction:
As we go through troubling times, our afflictions seem like they last forever. The pain won’t seem to go away, the chaos continues, and there’s one issue after the next.

It’s during these times we must have patience. Biblical patience is not inactivity as if we’re waiting on the signal light to change. Biblical patience is doing what we know to do until the situation changes for the good.

That means we’ll have to use our God-given authority to confess the Truth in God’s Word about the situation instead of feeding the negative situation with our speech (Prov. 18:21). We’ll have to find scriptures pertaining to that affliction and saturate our minds with the Word of God (Josh. 1:8). We’ll have to combat doubt by praising God knowing He’s already given us the victory over the circumstance (2 Cor. 2:14).

Just remember we go through our troubling times. We don’t stay there. So be patient in affliction

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

These are simple lessons from the Word of God that will assist us in life.

Joyful in Hope:
When we hope to receive something from God, that thing has not appeared in our lives yet. From the time we pray, to the time we receive our desire, there is a season of delay. During delay, doubt and frustration has a tendency to set in. At that point, we must recognize that the enemy is attempting to distract us and we must choose to be joyful.

We’re joyful because every Godly desire has been paid for by the blood of Jesus and we know regardless of how long it takes, our promise will come to pass. In every season of delay, there is a lesson from God. As we successfully complete that lesson, that lesson helps us to become better people through maturity (James 1:4).

So as you hope for your promise, make an intentional decision to have joy.

Romans 12:11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Unfortunately, a lot of us get to a place where we get used to God’s goodness. There is no longer any excitement after being delivered from a situation, and now we just expect to be blessed. As a result of this commonality with God’s goodness, we tend to lose our zeal or intensity for the things of God.

Think back to when we first got saved, when everything would excite us. We would give God praise for the smallest things such as, when we found a scripture directly related to the situation we were facing, or praise and worship Him based on how far He had brought us, and we valued the importance of reading God’s Word.

It may take some effort, but some of us need to reflect on the goodness of God and all He’s done for us. We need to stop going through the motions of life and walk in the exciting purpose He has for us. When we reflect and walk in our purpose, we can maintain our zeal regarding the things of God.

We get a new job that we believed God for, however, the job pays us less than we desired. We can thank God for our job or wonder why He didn’t completely answer our prayer. We get into a car crash. God spared our lives, however, we received a broken arm. We can rejoice that God spared our lives or wonder why He allowed us to receive a broken arm instead of coming out of the accident injury free. We’re in a successful relationship, however, our best friend is in a relationship where money is not an object and they frequently travel. We can continue to enjoy our relationship or slowly begin to resent the relationship we’re in.

The enemy has a way of minimizing the blessings we receive. In spite of all the joy we may initially feel when we receive our blessing, he’ll show us what we’re missing out on. Sound familiar? It’s the same trick he used against Eve. Out of all the trees in the Garden of Eden, Satan magnified the tree that was off-limits. Instead of being grateful for ALL God provided, she was enticed by the one thing she couldn’t have, and sinned against God.

Never get deceived into minimizing what God has done. Receive, accept, and be grateful for all God has done and for the blessings coming into your life.

Genesis 3:5 Satan says…”For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

If it takes faith (believing the sacrifice Jesus paid on our behalf) to have peace with Almighty God, how much more should faith be applied to have peace in other areas of our lives?

This is the time of year where the phrase “peace on earth and goodwill toward men” is frequently used. Unfortunately, peace is not automatic. Faith must be applied to receive peace.

Many of us would prefer additional peace in our homes, our marriages, at our jobs, and in our minds. Peace is God’s will for our lives (John 14:27). In order to have God’s version of peace, we must use our God-given authority to declare peace in those areas. Once declared, we can’t be moved by what we see. In the face of chaos, calamity, and delay, we must continue to believe and declare peace. By keeping the faith, peace will materialize in our lives.

Receive the God kind of peace and enjoy more of life.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

One definition of pride is a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements. The deceptive part of this definition is with the last three words “one’s own achievements.”

So many of us have been deceived into thinking we’ve accomplished goals and are successful based on our own efforts. We’ve had our friends, our family, but most importantly, God helping us along the way.

There is nothing we have that God didn’t graciously provide to us. We don’t deserve anything but a hellacious life and eternity in hell, however, God loved us enough to graciously send His Son to take our place.

The reason why pride is associated with destruction is because we’re magnifying our efforts above what God has done in our lives. We’re ignoring the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. Anytime we place our abilities above God, we fall into idolatry and eliminate grace, which is the same reason Lucifer got kicked out of heaven (Isaiah 14:12-15).

Eliminate pride from every area and receive what grace has provided.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

The older generation would often tell the younger generation to have some pride in their appearance or pride when performing a certain task. Is pride really what we want to instill in the next generation when the Word of God clearly says, pride comes before destruction?  

Pride is a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements. By instilling the true definition of pride into the next generation, we contaminate the wisdom of God. If someone would tell a person to have pride in their appearance, that person may believe they have to always appear “successful.” They may feel like they need to have the nicest clothes, car, house, etc. This mentality could lead a person into bondage to people and at the same time, maintain a reputation for themselves. This goes against the wisdom of God because we’ve been freed from bondage; and Jesus, our example, instructed us to not make a reputation for ourselves (Philippians 2:7; Galatians 5:1). 

If someone told us to have pride in our tasks, once again, we may place ourselves in bondage to people, feeling we have to perform up to their standards. Secondly, we position ourselves to compare our efforts with someone else which is unwise according to 2 Corinthians 10:12.

The older generation should tell the younger generation to have some dignity. Dignity is the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect. When we look our best and perform our best with the mentality of dignity, then we honor God. Remove pride because it’s the prerequisite of all sorts of issues in our lives. 

God wants to lead us to a place where we trust Him in every way. Everything we do should be approved by God. By having God’s approval in all our decisions, we eliminate risks. Risks have the potential for negative consequences. However, with God there are no negative consequences. Even if it appears negative, the end result is it works out for good.

Instead of quitting or starting a job, consult God to determine if that’s what’s best. Instead of investing a certain amount of money into a certain stock, consult God to see if that’s wise. Instead of getting married, seek God to see if that person is the one. Even consulting God on which street to drive to get to our destination will do us some good.

Eliminate the risk factor by consulting and trusting God in everything. Allow Him to guide and direct because when He’s in the driver’s seat, our destination is always prosperity. Seek, listen, and react.

Genesis 12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

Mark 11:22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.

When someone has a dream or goal they want to accomplish people, including unbelievers, may encourage that person to “have faith.” Other forms of encouragement may be “have faith in yourself” or “have faith in your dream.” These statements sound nice on the surface, but these statements are false or incomplete.

The only way we’re going to see our dreams and goals materialize is to have faith in God. Having faith in ourselves is good, but our talent, strength, and wisdom can only go so far. Having faith in our dream or goal sounds good, but our dreams or goals can change. The only One Whose wisdom and strength are limitless, Who remains the same, and Whose plan for our lives never changed, is God.

Let’s place our faith in the ONLY ONE who can make a difference. Let’s place our faith in God.

Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.

God is not in the habit of sharing His glory with anyone or anything. When something good happens in our lives, He wants and deserves the credit.

Some of us have the tendency to give glory to someone or something else. When people notice our skin cleared up, our first response should be glory to God not, “I began to drink more water.” When we have a better career opportunity, we should give glory to God not, magnify the fact that we have a Masters degree. Experience didn’t give us our promotion, God did it. Our credit score didn’t open the door for our house; God did.

Our credit score, experience, and degrees are tools that God can use to bless us but, glory shouldn’t be given to a tool. All the glory goes to God and nothing should take His place. 
Give glory to God.

God has success on His mind when thinking about us. However, He doesn’t want our success to be predicated on compromise.

When we do things that dishonor God to network with more influential people, that’s compromise. When we do deceitful things to increase our finances, especially during tax season, that’s compromise. When we choose to pay a bill instead of giving to God, that’s compromise.

We don’t need to do anything outside of the will of God to get ahead in life. God promised that HE will bless us and HE will make our names great. If we believe this promise and trust in His Word,  He will make us successful without compromising our beliefs, morals, or His Word.

Daniel 3:15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Psalms 119:11 “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”
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In the day of trouble, we might not always have time to pull out our Bibles or search through our Bible app to find a specific scripture dealing with the situation we’re facing. 

That’s why it’s so important to study the Word of God and have it hidden in our hearts or stored in our memory. We need to know that if we lose our jobs, it doesn’t matter because God is our provider according to Deuteronomy 2:7. We need to believe when we get a negative report from our doctors that in spite of their report, we are healed according to Isaiah 53:4-5. We need to believe no matter how far our children appeared to have strayed from the plan of God, our children will eventually be delivered according to Proverbs 11:27.

Get in the Word of God, find out what belongs to you, and store it in your heart. 

Psalms 119:37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way.
 
The television and internet are full of worthless things. Those things are designed to appeal to our flesh. Worthless things simply mean things that have no value. 

Our souls are composed of our mind, will, imagination, emotion, and intellect. When we look at dramatic, lustful, or chaotic things, we’re putting worthless things into our souls. So, instead of knowing scripture that will help us in our day of adversity, we know who did what to who and instead of having compassion for a group of individuals we saw in need on TV, we know which celebrity cheated on their spouse. 

This is not to bring condemnation on anyone regarding the shows they’re watching or what’s being researched. This is an opportunity for us to reevaluate what we’re putting into our souls and determine if it’s beneficial to our lives, the lives of others, or the Kingdom of God. 

The Word of God instructs us to love one another at all times. The main reason why we don’t love each other is because of fear. People are afraid to love.

People don’t want to position themselves to get hurt in some way, shape, or form. It’s understandable why people don’t want to get hurt, but the concept of love is bigger than ourselves. 

God is love (1 John 4:16). Every time we extend love to one another, we give God to someone. By not loving, we’re behaving selfishly. WE don’t want to put forth the effort, to take time out of OUR day, to extend love to someone else, so that WE won’t get hurt. That’s not the spirit of God. 

The spirit of God is extending love on all occasions. A sign of maturity can be seen if we can love one another and not expect anything in return. 

While we’re still in the spirit of giving, let’s continue to give love. 

John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Psalms 118:2 Let Israel now say, “His mercy endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron now say, “His mercy endures forever.” 4 Let those who fear the LORD now say, “His mercy endures forever.

God doesn’t want us to wait to speak about His love, grace, and mercy. He wants us to speak about it right now. Why now? Because people, who we don’t know that are listening, can benefit from our praise to God. If we wait, a person can miss out on an opportunity to learn about what God has done for us.

Once we truly believe God is responsible for every good and perfect gift, the Word of God instructs us to “say” something. It didn’t tell us to keep it to ourselves and it didn’t tell us to think about it. The Word instructs us to say something about the love, grace, and mercy of our God.

If God has done anything for you, right now and for the rest of your lives, say something.

Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ 

This scripture shows up often around the holidays encouraging people to give. It is more of a blessing to give than to receive. Although it’s more of a blessing to give than to receive, we still have to learn how to receive.

Receiving may not come easy to everyone. Several factors get in the way that prevent us from being good receivers. Some of those factors include, pride, fear, or obligation. Some have too much pride to take handouts from anyone. Some fear being in debt to someone else. Some don’t want to obligate themselves to give back to the person who gave to them. 

There’s one thing we must remember. It’s not the person who is giving to us. It’s God working through the person to give to us. If we don’t realize this, we’ll turn down blessings God’s attempting to give to us simply because it’s coming through a person. 

So, remove all the pride and fear and become better receivers. 

If someone, you didn’t really know said, “there’s just something I like about you.” They then proceeded to pay all your student loans, car note, and mortgage. We may respond by asking if there’s anything we could do for them as a token of our appreciation. The person only says, freely receive my gift to you. By the person declining any labor intensive offer from us should compel most of us to ask if there’s anything we could do again. 

This is what Jesus did for us. He paid ALL of our debts and He didn’t require any labor intensive chore from us. All He asks is that we believe that He paid all of our debts and receive the gifts He’s made available to us through His sacrifice. 

Some may say, “doesn’t God require obedience, tithing, prayer, and church attendance?” The answer to that question is no. If He required service for salvation that wouldn’t be considered The FREE gift of grace. God’s freely given goodness and grace should eventually compel us to obey, tithe, pray and attend church, but just know, it’s not a requirement for salvation. 

Thank God for His goodness and mercy He’s shown through Jesus. It can compel anyone to do better. 

Romans 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not byworks, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

Psalms 59:16 But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.

Anyone can praise God when things are going well in their lives.

Got a new job…Praise God!

Got married…Praise God!

Got a raise…Praise God!

But what about praising Him in the times of pressure? How often are we praising Him when things are not looking so good? 

Are we praising Him when our house gets foreclosed? Are we genuinely praising God when a loved one passes away? Are we praising God when things don’t seem like they’re getting better? 

We should. The same God who blessed us with good and prosperous things is the same God that can cause our seemingly negative situations to work out for our good.

So wherever you are in life. Give God the praise. 

We live in a world of the next best thing. We hear something big or exciting, but after awhile, that news gets old and we want to hear something bigger or different.

However, when it comes to God and all the wonderful things He’s done, we should never get tired of hearing of His goodness. There should be no such thing as “old testimonies.” 

Hearing of God’s goodness encourages us to believe for the miraculous. It will remind us of how good, merciful, and kind God is towards us. Sharing God’s goodness continues to allow His glory to spread all across the world. 

As we celebrate the day of thanks, think back on some old things God has done for you, share it with someone else, and tell God thank you. 

2 Corinthians 4:15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 

Jesus was our example of how we should operate in the earth using our God-given authority. When Jesus was resisting the devil using the Word of God in Matthew 4, He was showing us how to resist the devil. When Jesus spoke to and calmed the storm in Mark 4, He was teaching us how to use our words to speak to our negative situations. When God raised Lazarus from the dead, He was teaching us how to raise people from the dead.

Some may say, “I can’t do all that Jesus had done. Jesus could do the miraculous because He is the Son of God.” Well, according to John 14:12, we have no more excuses.

John 14:12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

The only thing stopping us from doing the miraculous in the earth is ourselves. We have our example (Jesus) showing us the way, our faith, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We’re a triple threat against opposition. Use your authority to make changes aligned with the Word of God.

God has given us authority to operate on the earth. One key area of authority we should master is the power of confession. Our confession has the ability to literally shape and enhance our world.

The story of Lazarus being raised from the dead is very familiar. Without touching him or placing anything on his body, Jesus used His words to raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43-44).

What some may not realize is, prior to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus confessed what was going to occur.

John 11:1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

Jesus confessed Lazarus’ sickness will not end in death. Knowing His authority and using the power of confession, Jesus had enough faith to raise Lazarus from the dead.

We have the same authority to operate like Jesus did on the earth (John 14:12). Confessing the Word of God over our situation will feed our faith and our faith will eventually change the situation.

Begin confessing the Word of God over your life, the lives of others, and the Kingdom of God.

Inspired by Apostle F. Price

Genesis 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

The world has placed a negative connotation around the concept of work. A lot of us complain about it and our ideal lifestyle is to become rich so we don’t have to work. We’ve been deceived into thinking work is a problem. Based on the scripture, work was originated by God.

We view work negatively because a lot of us are working outside of our purpose. God has given everyone an assignment here in the earth. Our assignment is attached to our gifts and talents. Some of us are called to be teachers, while others are called to be truck drivers.

Regardless of where we work, our additional assignment is to be a light at our work environment. What would the world look like if we had believers operating at their maximum potential, enjoying what they did, in the assigned area where God called them? It would be epic.

Let’s renew our minds around the concept of work. Work is God-ordained and it can be beneficial to the Kingdom of God and the world we live in.

Inspired by Pastor Bill Winston.

Matthew 8:13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! As you have believed, so will it be done for you.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

God can do some awesome and amazing things in our lives if we let Him. The key words in that sentence is “if we let Him.”

God is a lover and He’s given mankind free will, therefore, He’s not going to force His will or His blessings on our lives. The magnitude of the promises we receive from God is going to be according to our faith (Matthew 9:29). If we have faith for a multitude of God’s promises found in the Word of God, we’ll receive numerous promises; and if we have faith for the bare minimum of God’s promises, we’ll have just that. One is not better than the other. It’s up to us.

Regardless if we desire a multitude or the minimum, we should stand in faith for those promises. We stand in faith by acknowledging Jesus sacrificed Himself and made every promise available to the believer. After asking God for a certain promise, we thank God that Jesus has made it available to us.

We often have a tendency to make a blessing ourselves. We get married to a person we’re unsure of, buy houses we can’t afford, take jobs we shouldn’t have accepted, but want God to bless it. However, if we stand in faith, totally relying on the wisdom of God, we’ll receive every promise from God, at the right time, with no sorrow.

Trust God, stand in faith, and receive the promises of God.

Psalms 107:22 Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, And tell of His works with joyful singing.

It can be a sacrifice to give thanks to God. For instance, when we don’t feel like being thankful, we sacrifice the moodiness of our flesh to give thanks to God. When our life is not going the way we desired, we surrender our negative emotions, think on what God has done, and offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

The very breath we have in our lungs to give thanks is a reason to thank God. The fact that we’re not dead is a reason to thank God. The promise that God is always with us, guarantees to protect us, and continuously blesses us is a reason to thank God. What we’re thankful for is a direct result of a sacrifice. That sacrifice was made by Jesus. If we can’t think of anything else to be thankful for, thank God for Jesus.

We may not always feel like it and thanksgiving may not always seem warranted based on our current conditions, but if we really look closely at our lives, God deserves all of the praise, glory, honor, and thanks for what He’s done.

Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

There are some who attempt to over-complicate salvation. They feel like confessing with our mouths “Jesus is Lord” and believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead is not enough. They feel like it’s too simple.

Contrary to religious belief, we don’t have to ask for forgiveness before being saved, we don’t have to be baptized before being saved, we don’t have to be filled with the Holy Spirit before being saved, and we don’t have to be in a church to receive salvation. All those things are good, but it’s not a requirement of salvation. In context, Romans 10:9 and John 3:16 tells us all we have to do is confess and believe.

Complicated salvation pushes unbelievers away from the cross. Who wants to get saved when it’s a ten step process and it takes an hour? The grace of God makes salvation quick, easy, and free. Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord today and/or encourage others to make that same painless step as well.

Inspired by Pastor Tony Evans

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

1. “Everyone has sex before marriage.”
2. “I can’t forgive them.”
3. “God made me homosexual.”
4. “Marijuana is from the earth.”
5. “The Bible doesn’t say cursing is a sin.”

These statements are not to single out anyone or to bring condemnation on anyone, but some people use these statements to justify or suit their own desires.

Our flesh craves things contrary to the Word of God. That craving can be so intense until we’ll use scripture to justify our cravings or ignore the Word of God and label it archaic.

Times may have changed, but the Word of God remains the same. Instead of having the Word of God conform to our lives, we need to conform our lives to the Word of God. We also must want our lives to conform to God’s Word.

Conforming may not be easy, but God’s grace is all we need. To overcome the cravings of our flesh, we must remind ourselves we are the righteousness of God in Christ, believe God loves and has forgiven us regardless of what we have done or are doing, and receive His grace to overcome our flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Col. 2:13; 2 Cor. 12:9).

Resist the cravings and submit to God.

Hebrews 6:12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

As believers, we should be standing in faith for something. It could be a new car or a new job; it can be something for someone else, or something for the Kingdom of God. Regardless of what we’re standing in faith for, faith is always accompanied with patience.

In the Kingdom of God, patience is consistently doing what we know to do according God’s Word until our desires manifest.

Initially, we pray for our desires according to Mark 11:24 which states, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. At the time we pray, we are to believe that we’ve already received our desire. In between our prayer and the physical manifestation of our desire should be persistent patience.

Persistent patience is continuously focusing on the promise and not the delay. Satan will always throw darts of doubt in our minds regarding the delay. He’ll make us think we need to do something extra, like extended prayer or fasting, to get God to “move.” If he’s successful, he’ll have us focus on the delay so much until we’ll give up on our desires.

Persistent patience includes praise and thanking God for our desire, confessing that we’ve received our desire, and countering those darts of doubt with the Word of God. Once again, this doesn’t get God to speed up the manifestation of our desires, but this helps us from being anxious and impatient by keeping God’s promise in front of us.

Be patient, the manifestation is coming.

Acts 26:2 I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before you concerning all the things of which I am accused of the Jews:

God made our minds so powerful until we can change our disposition. He’s given us the ability to think ourselves happy.

Paul was imprisoned, surrounded by rats, roaches, and probably barely fed because he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the midst of that situation, he utilized his God-given ability to think himself happy.

We may be facing or will face unpleasant circumstances. Some of our circumstances seem downright awful. In the midst of that situation, we have the ability to think ourselves happy.

We think ourselves happy by meditating on the goodness and promises of God. It may be a trying situation, but thank God it’s not worse. We may be struggling financially, but praise God we have a place to stay and food to eat. We meditate on how God delivered us out of a terrible situation in the past, and how He’s already made a way for us to escape this current situation (1 Corinthians 10:13). Meditate on God’s saving power, His healing power, and His love towards us.

Thinking ourselves happy WILL have to be done continuously because we have an enemy who will bombard our minds with thoughts focused on our current situation and not the promises of God. So, remember Proverbs 23:7 which says for as he thinks within himself, so he is. We embody what we think. 

Malachi 3:6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

A lot of us have been so accustomed to people leaving us, turning their backs on us, and changing their minds about us until it can be difficult to believe there’s a person who can be continuously consistent. That’s what we have in God. God won’t change.

Having an understanding that God won’t change will assist in our complete trust in God. It’s easier to trust in a person when they’ve told us they’re not going to change and they have around 4000 years of faithfulness and millions of positive testimonies on their resume.

What God’s Word says about us and our lives is true and it won’t change. When God said He will never leave us nor forsake us in Hebrews 13:5, regardless of how far we’ve gone away from Him, His consistent presence won’t change. When God’s Word says nothing can separate us from His love in Romans 8:38, regardless of how many times we’ve missed the mark, His love won’t change. When God said, His plan is to prosper us in Jeremiah 29:11, no matter how much we think we’ve messed things up, His plan won’t change.

We might as well place our total trust in God because He won’t change and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Psalm 107:6 “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses.”‭‭

There are four additional instances in this chapter alone where it says, “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses” (v. 9, 13, 19, & 28). Do you think God is trying to tell us something?

In each case, mankind found themselves in trouble, however, when they cried out to the Lord, He delivered them from all of their distresses. God hasn’t changed. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever more (Malachi 3:6). He’s still willing and able to deliver us out of our distresses when we cry out to Him.

This is not a pitiful whimpering cry to God. This is a bold focused declaration to God, informing Him that we need Him. So, instead of trying to figure out the problem using our finite logic, cry out to God informing Him of His necessity in our lives. 

Everything we do or say contrary to the Word of God begins with a thought. Lust, greed, selfishness, and gossip all begin with a thought. If we get our thoughts together, our actions will follow.

Philippians 4:8 says, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.‭

The key to having our actions and words align with the Word of God is to control our thought life. Philippians 4:8 tells us how to think. If we think on things that are true, we won’t believe the lies. If we think on things that are pure, we won’t have impure thoughts that lead to lust. If we think on things that are of a good report, we won’t spread gossip and negativity.

It all starts with our thoughts. Think or meditate on the things God instructed us to think on and be a brighter light in the world and live a holier life unto God.