Monday, October 31, 2016

Are You Stretching Beyond What You Are Going Through In Order To Reach Someone Else For God?

Are you making it a point to reach somebody?   To reach means to stretch out in a specific direction in order to touch or to grasp someone or something.    It's time to reach out.   It time to stretch beyond our norm in order to try to touch someone with the word and the love of God.   

How many times have we missed the opportunity to reach someone.   Whether it be because we were overwhelmed by our own situations or whether we just failed to minister to their situation.   We have to remember that we are God's hands, feet, and mouthpiece in the earth.   He wants to use us in order to help others.    

This life is not about struggling and living a life of faith.   It is also about encouraging others and reflecting who God is in the earth.   The Bible tell us that God is love and we have to allow His love to not only flow to us but we have to let it flow through us into the lives of others.   

Remember, somebody needs you.  There are many people in the earth that I will never be able to reach but you can.   There are those whom God has chosen to put in your circle of influence.   Understand, how God has strategically designed our lives and placed people, places, and things in them.  God has a plan for everything He creates and does.   He has a plan for me and a plan for you.   We just have to yield to His plan and allow our lives to be used by Him.     

Somebody needs you.   Will you make it a point to reach somebody for God today?    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 
1 Corinthians 12:27
King James Version (KJV)
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Are You Trusting That God Has Your Back Even When You Feel Like You Are Falling?


Are you willing to let go and let God?   Let God be in control.   Let God lead you.   Let God strengthen you.    So often we feel as though we have to be in control.   As though we have to do things our way.   It's time to let go AND it's time to surrender all.   

In order to let go, you must first get to a place of trust.  Trusting God truly with every aspect of your life.   When you trust someone, you are willing to relinquish control.  When you were a child, did you ever play the game where you would have someone standing behind you and you fall back trusting that they will catch you?   That's how you have to be with God.  Even when you feel as though you are falling, you have to trust that He has your back and know that He is going to catch you and keep you.  

Think about how a person sets up a power of attorney.   A power of attorney is enables others to act on your behalf.   If we trust people enough to act on our behalf, how much more should we trust God?   Remember, God knows all and can do all things.  


SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
Psalm 18:2 
“The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”    

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Are You So Caught Up In The "Busyness" Of Life That You Fail To Give God Thanks?

How did you start your day?   Did you get up and tell God thank you?   Did you worship Him?   Did you give Him praise?   Or did you get up thinking about all the things "you" have to accomplish today.   All the commitments "you" made.    All the places "you" have to go and all the things "you" have to do.    If you got up with a "busy" mind on all the things you have to do, STOP and take a moment to tell God thank you.   

Thank Him for this brand new day that He has filled with His love, grace, and mercy just for you.   Thank Him for never leaving you and for never forsaking you.   Thank Him for making a way out of no way in your life.   Take time to thank Him in advance for going before you today and for making every crooked place straight.   Thank Him for loving you even when your actions proved to be unlovable.    Thank Him, worship Him, and give Him praise.

There is one thing we have need of in life and that is God.   Without Him we are nothing, can have nothing, and can do nothing.   So as you go about the busyness of day ... take moments throughout your day to just tell God thank you.   

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
Philippians 4:6-7
King James Version (KJV)
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Friday, October 28, 2016

Are You Understanding That Your Praise Will Strengthen You and Encourage Others? You Have To Praise God Right Where You Are!

It's not about where you have been and it's not about where you are going.   It's all about what you are doing right here and right now to reflect the presence of God.   Are you believing God in your present state?   Are you trusting Him right where you are right now?    Are you holding on to your faith?   Are you confessing His Word?   What are you doing right here right now in the midst of everything you are experiencing in life.  

It is so easy to get off track by thinking about what happened in the past or what you want to happen in the future.   We get so focused on what we have been through or what we want God to do that we fail to praise Him right where we are.    We have to make sure we are praising Him in the midst of all that we are going through.   

Understand, your praise will strengthen you and it will encourage others.    There may be someone in your circle of influence today that really needs to see that God is good and that He is gracious.   They need to see that they can trust Him no matter what they are going through.   They need to see God's light being reflected through your life.     Remember, its not always about what you have been through or where God is taking you.  Make an impact today and help strengthen someone else's faith by believing, trusting, and worshipping God right where you are.   

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
Philippians 4:12-13
King James Version (KJV)
12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Have You Released The Fear Of Failure and Made Up Your Mind To Glorify God No Matter What You Are Going Through In Life?

What are you glorifying in your life?   Are you glorifying God or are you glorifying your situation.   To glorify means to exalt, elevate, enhance, reveal, or make clearer.    What are you focusing in on more?   What are you talking about more?    Are you talking more about what you are going through or your God that you know will bring you through?  We have to make sure we are glorifying God no matter what we are going through in life.


We have to get to the point where it doesn't matter what we see or how we feel, we have to still rest our hope in God's promises.   We have to release the fear of failure.    Even when things don't work out our way, it doesn't mean we have failed.   It just means that God has a different plan and He is going to use whatever we are going through together for our good and for the good of others.   Understand, others will be strengthened and encouraged as we share our testimony of what we have been through and how God has brought us through.  


Take a moment to breathe.   Take a moment to glorify God.   Lift Him up and exalt Him.  Worship Him and praise Him.   Make sure your life and the light that is coming from your life is shining brightly for Him no matter what You are encountering in life.    Remember, we were created to worship God and to glorify Him.    He is the glory and the lifter of our heads.   So lift up your head and glorify the Father. 


SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
Psalm 3:3
But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Times Are Changing ... Are You In The Right Position For The Change? What Is Your Mindset?

What is it that "you" want to do?   Isn't that how we tend to look at life sometimes.   We look at what we want instead of seeking to do what God wants.   It's time for a shift to take place.  A shift in the way we think and in the way we act.    A shift is a slight change in position, direction, or tendency.   We need to begin to change our position, our direction, and the way we tend to do things if we are not considering what "God" wants first.

What is your mindset?   It all begins with our mindset.   What is it that your mind is "set" on doing?   One definition for set is to be hardened or stiffened.    When something is stiff, it is not easily bent or moved.    What we tend to do is set our mind on something and it becomes difficult to change it.   Having our mind set can be a good thing if our mind is set on God and the right things.   

Times are changing and we have to be in position for the change.   We have to make up in our mind that we are going to do what God wants us to do and not what we desire to do in our flesh.    If we are seeking self pleasure, we need to begin to seek to please God.    It's not too late to change.    It's not to late to shift positions.   Remember, a shift is a slight change in our position, direction, and  our tendency to do things a certain way.   

Commit to changing for God.   Commit to living your life to please Him.   After all, God was so committed to you that He sent His Son to die on the cross for you.    Understand the love that comes with commitment.    Love God more than the pleasures that appeal to your flesh.


SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
Galatians 1:10
King James Version (KJV)
 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Monday, October 24, 2016

Learning How To Release Your Hurt, Pain, Anxiety, and Issues of Life To God ...

What do you do when you don't know what to do?   What do you say when you don't know what to say?   Are you always feeling that you have to move and that you have to do something?   It's time to try doing what God said.   He said for us "to be still and to know that He is God".   


Being totally still is one of the hardest things to do.   It is our inherent nature to do something.   We tend to think that if we do nothing, something is going to get messed up.   However, there are times when our interference is exactly what messes things up.  


One thing we must settle in our heart and in our mind is that God is God alone.   He is all powerful and all knowing.   He doesn't need our assistance.   In essence, it is us who needs Him.   There is nothing we can do without Him.   However, with Him, nothing is impossible and we can do all things.   


Again, God told us in His Word to be still and to know that He is God.   To be still means to be quiet and not to move.   It means to let go and to rest in God.    To let go means to release something.   Learn how to release your hurt, pain, anxiety, and issues of life to God and know when you do that, He WILL take care of you.  

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
Exodus 14:14
King James Version (KJV)
The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Is God the MVP (Most Valuable Part) of Your Life or Are You Laying Him and His Word On The Sideline For Possible Future Use?


Have you realized that you need God "more" yet?   More than the people, the places, and the things.   God is not just someone or something that we can pick up and drop off.    We need His love, His power, His goodness, and His grace every minute of every day.   We have to stop laying God aside.    When you lay something aside, you lay it down for "possible" future use.    God should never be placed on the sideline of your life.  Your time with Him should never be just a possibility.   It should always be a necessity. Remember, when someone is on the sideline in a game, they are unable to be on the team and be a part of the game.   


God should always be the "MVP" (the Most Valuable Part) of your life.   His Word, His Will, and His Way should always take priority in what you say, do, and the way you go in life.     We have to remember that it is through God that we live, breathe, and have our being.   How is it that we so easily put His purpose and His plan on the sidelines of our lives.    When we sit back and look at the MVP in a game, we understand that that person played a integral role in the success of the game.   When something is integral, it is necessary to make something whole, complete, essential and fundamental.   God is a necessity our lives. 
 
We need God.   His role never changes.   He should never be in competition with any other part or person in your life.   He should always be the MVP.   In other words, He should always be the "Most Valuable Part" of your life.   We have to understand that our relationship with God is necessary to make us whole and complete.   For we are complete in Christ.   Without Him we can never truly experience wholeness.  Our time with God is essential and it is fundamental.   When something is fundamental, it is the core and it is absolutely necessary.   


SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

 Colossians 2:9-10
King James Version (KJV)
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

Friday, October 21, 2016

Are You Expecting God To Divinely Intervene In Your Situation Despite All The Distractions That Are Coming Up In Your Life?

What are you looking for?   Are you looking for God to show up and to show out in your situation?   What is your expectancy?   Are you expecting the worst to happen or are you expecting God to bring about a change?   Are you expecting Him to intervene?

To intervene means to come between something in order to prevent or alter the result or course of events.   Are you calling on God?   Are you pleading the blood of Jesus over your life and your family?   Are utilizing the  power that has been given to you through the name of Jesus?    When you commit to serving God, your life will become a target.   It becomes the enemy's goal to get you to give up and quit on God.   The enemy wants you to take your eyes off of God and to focus in on you and your situation.   You have to get to the point of knowing that the only way to make it through your situation is to stay focused on God and to trust Him to divinely intervene.    

It's time to stay focused on God despite the distractions that come up in life.   We have to look to Him, call on Him, plead the blood of Jesus over our lives and our situations, and we have to utilize the power that has been given to us through the name of Jesus.   

It's time to stop thinking negatively.   It's time to raise your expectation.   Expect God to show up!   Expect God to make a way!   Expect God to heal your body!   Expect God to give you peace!   Expect God to do what only He can do in and through your life!   EXPECT DIVINE INTERVENTION!  

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
Psalms 62:5
King James Version
“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.”      

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Have You Learned How To Stay In Faith In The Midst Of All The "Why" Questions In Life?

If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?   What would you change and why would you change it?   Do you believe that God knows what is best for You?   Do you believe that His plan is perfect even when we don't understand the "whys" in life?    Those situations where we ask the questions:   Why did our loved one die?   Why did I lose my home or my job?   Why am I all alone?  


We have to learn how to stay in faith in the midst of all the "why" questions that come up in life.  We have to trust that God's plan is perfect and that He is working everything in our life together for our good.   Then comes that question of how do we trust Him in the midst of everything else.   We have to know that this is where our faith begins.   Our faith begins with taking God at His Word and trusting that His Word is true.    Our faith can't be based on we see or what we have experienced.    Understand, faith is believing in what we cannot see and trusting that God will bring to pass those things that we have yet to experience or in some cases what we desire to experience again.  


So often we look at our lives and we think to ourselves what if this different or what if that was different.  Understand, all things are possible with God.    He is well able to take you from where you are in life and to bless you with all things that pertain to life and Godliness.   Trust Him to use the "whys" in your life for His glory.    Trust Him to work everything in your life together for your good.   Trust Him to use you and the things you have been through in life to help someone else get through in life.    Trust that your pain will be used to help someone else gain entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.   


SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
Mark 5:19
King James Version (KJV)
Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.


   


 



Wednesday, October 19, 2016

What Are You Doing "Next" When Things Are Not Going According To Your Plan?

What are you doing when things are not looking the way you wanted them to or expected them to look?   Are you staying in faith?   Are you standing on God's Word?   What are you doing next?   The word "next" means that which comes immediately following.   How is your follow-up?   When you follow-up, you build on something that was started earlier.    We have to get to the place where we are building on and strengthening our walk and our faith in God.  

One thing we must understanding is the beginning of a thing is not the end of it.   We have to stop quitting in the middle of the process.    Quitting is a behavior.  It is a way in which we conduct ourselves.   Behaviors can change, if we choose to change them.    We have to learn how to persevere through the process.   Processes can be quick and easy but they also can be more in depth and require more steps to complete.   We have to learn how to trust God through the process of life.   When we trust Him, we know that He is in control and we know that He will take care of us.  

What will be the "next" thing you do after you read this post.   Will you solidify God's Word in your heart?  Will you trust Him and stay in faith for what He has promised to do in your life?   Will you walk with Him and talk to Him?   Will you allow Him to show Himself strong to you, through you, and for you?   Will you lay down your pre-conceived notions and allow His Word to infiltrate your heart and mind so that you can be strong in Him?  

What you do "next" is up to you.


SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
James 1:6
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Are You Trusting God and Staying Rooted In His Word?


Sometimes we get so caught up in what we think is going to happen that we fail to trust God for what we need to happen.    It's time to TRUST GOD.  


The Bible says to trust the Lord with all thine heart and to lean not to our own understanding.   When we lean to our "own" understanding, we are yielding to our own emotions, our own attitudes, and our abilities.    Truly trusting God means we have to let God's Word overrule how we feel.   That means we have to let God's Word be final authority and sometimes that is hard to do but you have to make up your mind that His Word overrules your emotions.


Jeremiah 17 tells us that blessed is the man that puts his trust in the Lord.   Not only is that man blessed but He is planted.   When something is planted it becomes rooted and hard to move.    You have to get the point where you don't let anyone or anything uproot "your" trust in God.   You can't make others trust Him but you can stand on His Word, stay rooted in His Word, believe His Word, have faith in His Word, and TRUST HIS WORD to be at work in your life.  


SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
Jeremiah 17:7-8
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”

Where Is Your Comfort Zone? Have You Found Comfort In Sin or Is Your Comfort In God? Are You Quitting The Wrong Thing?

How hard is it for you to quit?   Sometimes it seems like we have it backwards.   We tend to quit on the things God is telling us to do that...