What Is The Leading Force In Your Life? Is It God or Is It Your Emotions? Have Faith In God ...

What's leading you in life?   Are you being led by God's Word or are you allowing your emotions to lead you in life?    The thing about God's Word is that it is steadfast, unmovable, and unchanging.   Whereas, our emotions can fluctuate dependent on our situation.    We have to know how to "be still and know" that God is God.  

When you know that God is God, you know that He is all powerful.   You know that He is all knowing.   You know that He is well able.   In other words, you know that you know.    You know that you know that no matter what situation you are in at any given moment, God can deliver you.  

When you are led by something, you follow it.   You are allowing something or someone to be your guide.    You are under its influence and you are trusting it to bring you to a certain place.    Where is it that you are trying to get to in life?   What are you trusting, following, and allowing in your life as you walk out the journey that has been set before you?    Are you truly being led by God or are you making steps based on how you feel instead of what God has said?  

It's time to move forward with God.   It's time to trust Him totally with your life.   It's time to take steps of faith no matter how you feel.   It's time to hold on to God and to let Him and His Word be the leading force in your life.    Understand a force carries within it the power to influence, affect, and control your life.   Let God ALWAYS be the force that influences you, affects you, and that controls your thoughts and actions in life.   

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION Deuteronomy 13:4King James Version (KJV)
Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him.

Do You Realize That Worry, Doubt, and Fear Are Enemies To Your Faith? When Things Are Happening In Life, You Have To Choose To Still Walk In Faith ...

Are you stopping?   Are you waiting?   Are you trusting?   Are you believing?   Do you have faith?   Or are you worrying, running, doubting, and walking in fear?    There are many things that we can do but there are only some things that we need to CHOOSE to do.    

We need to choose to be still and to wait on God.   That means we have to stop doing things in our own strength and our own ability.   We have to believe that He is well able to do what He has already promised He will do.    We have to choose to wait on God.   That can be the hardest thing to do because we live in a "microwave" society.   A society that says we want it now and we want the process be done quick.    We also have to choose to trust and to believe God even when its hard or when it hurts.   You can't walk in faith if you don't truly trust and believe what God has said.   His Word is true and you have to stand on His Word no matter what situation is coming up against you in life.  

Worry, doubt and fear are always going to be enemies to your faith.   An enemy is your adversary and your opponent.   It is anything that fosters antagonistic activities against you.   When something antagonizes you, it provokes you to react.   The question is, how are you allowing the antagonizing situations in your your life to cause you to react?  Are your reacting in faith or are you reacting in fear?    Life happens!  To happen means to "take place".   So again, life happens and so we know things are taking place in our lives.   It may be that not everything in our lives is as we desire but if we know, trust, and believe in the Giver of Life, we know that everything in our lives is subject to change and we can choose to stop, wait, trust, believe, and have faith in God for that change to take place.  

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION

2 Corinthians 5:7

King James Version (KJV)

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

WORSHIP FOR TODAY ...

"I Have Decided"

Ministered By Elevation Worship 

"I Have Decided" - ELEVATION WORSHIP. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRb769P50IQ

What Is It In Your Life That You Are Truly Committed To? Are You Committed To God, People, Places, or Things?

God's love is indescribable.   It doesn't stop and it can't be altered or changed.  When something is indescribable, it is to extraordinary for description.   It can't even be described.    Just think about it, it can't be modified in any way.   So when God says He loves you, you have to know that there is nothing (no thing) that can change His mind and His heart concerning you.    He loves you through your mistakes and even through those times where you laid down His Word and His will to follow the appetites of your flesh.   That's love.   Love sees beyond and goes beyond the norm.   Love is true commitment.   

What is it in your life that you are committed to?    What Is It In Your Life That You Are Truly Committed To?   Are you committed to God?   Are you committed to your spouse?   Are you committed to your children, your family, your church, or your job?   What is it that you are truly totally committed to?   Whatever it is, that is the thing that you love.    Understand, when you commit to someone or something, you make a pledge, obligate yourself, and set yourself apart for it.  

We need to make sure we are committed to God first.   Beyond everything and everyone else, He needs to be the first point and level of commitment in each of our lives.   We have to understand that He loves us and He was so committed to us that He sacrificed His Son for us.   He is still committed to us.   Because of His love for us, He renews His mercy for us every day.    When you are committed to God, you weigh and balance everything else in your life based on who He is and what He has said for you to do.    The Bible says, GOD IS LOVE and we are to display who He is in the earth.   We should be vessels of love and commitment.  

Take time to check your love walk and your level of commitment.   Make sure you are being the vessel that God placed you in the earth to be.   Remember, you are on display for God.   Be sure to reflect who He is in the earth.   He is love.   So when others see you, let them see Him.   Let them see His love and His commitment coming through your life.  

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
John 15:9-11
King James Version (KJV)
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Life Will Bring Many Different Plans For Us To Follow, The Question Is ... Are You Following God's Plan For Your Life?

Are you following God?   Are you following His plan for your life?    A plan is a method of acting, doing, proceeding, and making things happen.    It is a specific project and definite purpose.    What we have to understand is that there are different plans, derived by different people, for different purposes.   We have plans that we have made up ourselves, the enemy has a plan for us, people make plans for us, and God has a plan for us.   God's plan is the ultimate plan.   In other words, His plan triumphs every other plan that has been derived concerning our lives.    What we have to do is learn how to follow His plan, so that we can be quick to walk in our purpose.

God said in His Word that He knows the plans that He has for us.   We just have to learn how to put our faith, hope, and trust in "God's plan".   When you have total trust in someone or something, you don't worry about how things are "looking", you have faith in knowing that everything is subject to change based on the plan that has put in place.    Think about baking a cake.   As you add the individual ingredients, the eggs, the milk, and the flour.   While you are going through the process of mixing the cake, it doesn't look like something that is light, fluffy, and good to eat but in the end, it is.    We have to stop looking at the process of life that we are going through and we have to keep our mind's eye on the end result God has promised.

In order to follow God, we must do our best to walk in obedience to His Word.   Although we are not perfect, we can strive for perfection.    Instead of walking in what we know to be wrong, we have to begin to follow what we know to be right.   It's time to lay down the plans that we have derived for our lives and follow the plan that God has set in place for our lives.   Let God be your guide and know that He is also your rearguard.

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
Proverbs 16:9 

King James Version 

A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

How Are You Responding To The Situations That Are Happening In Your Life?

What you do next is up to you.   How are you responding?   How are you responding to the good in your life and how are you responding to the bad?    To respond means to say or do something as a reaction to something that has been said or done. There are many ways we can respond.  The question is, are you responding in anger, in doubt, in fear, or in faith?   Are  you allowing your hurt to initiate your response or are you allowing your trust in God to lead your response?   What are you doing?   How are you handling the hurt, the pain, and the disappointment and how are you handling the victories?  

We have to learn how to let God lead our responses in life.   Even when we don't agree or understand the rationale behind what is going on.   Rationale is defined as the underlying reason for something.   We won't always know all the reasons why things are happening in our lives or in our families but God knows.   What we have to remember is there are some things that are beyond our control but not beyond God's control.    God is all knowing and He is all powerful and we have to trust that He will do what He said He would do.   He said that He would work everything together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  

We have to remember that even though we don't have control, we have a Father who is in control.   We have to allow our knowledge of who He is and what He has promised to do be the basis for how we respond to the situations in our lives.   We have to remember what He has said.   He said that He would never leave us nor forsake us.   He said that He knows the things we have need of and that He is faithful and just to provide us with those things.   He said that He is the Lord God that heals and He said that we are to trust Him, believe Him, and to wait on Him.  

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

I Peter 4:19

King James Version

Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator

Understanding God Wants Us To Have Success In Life But He Also Wants To Get The Glory For All That He Allows Us To Achieve ...

What are you doing with this life God has given you?  Are you wasting it away or are you using it for His glory.   One definition for waste is to destroy or to consume away gradually.    It also means to fail or to neglect to use for its intended purpose.    Are you allowing your life to be used for the purpose God intended?   Are you being a vessel of love?   Are you encouraging others and leading them by example?   What are "you" doing with the life God has given you.  

It's easy to make excuses about where we are and what we are doing.   It's easy to look at others and pick out what they are or are not doing.  But we have to start looking internally.   We have to analyze our own actions and ambitions.   An ambition is an earnest desire to achieve something and it is the willingness to strive in order to obtain it.    What is your ambition directed towards?   Are you striving to achieve so that you can receive the accolades of man or so that you can receive the rewards of God?    Make sure you are not losing focus.   Understand, God will allow us to have success in life but we have to always make sure He is getting the glory for all that He has allowed us to do and to achieve.  

Take a moment to step back and to reflect on your life.   Make sure it is in alignment with God's Word, His will, and His way.     Make sure you are not wasting what He has given you.   The enemy is always out to desensitize you in a way where He drives you away from God and the things of God gradually.   Don't get caught in the enemy's net where you live a life of compromise.    Make sure your life is always being use for God's intended purpose.  Be His vessel and do what He has called you to do.  

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 1 Peter 4:11
King James Version (KJV)
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Are You Understanding That A Hindrance Can't Stop You From Reaching Your Destination? Make Sure You Are Not Giving Up Along The Way ...

It's all about where you are going.   Have you ever been on a road trip and been delayed because you were stuck in traffic?   Yes, you were hindered.   Yes, you were delayed and in some case cases you may have been late according to "man's" clock but you got there.   You arrived.   You made it to your destination.  

That's life.   Sometimes on the road of life, we feel as though we are not getting to where we want to be but we have to trust and believe that God knows where we "need" to be at the exact time in life we need to be there.    He knows not only every situation we will ever encounter in life, He also knows every person we will ever encounter in life and there are many times along life's journey that we will either need someone else's encouragement or someone else will need ours.  

We have to get to the place of understanding that our lives are God's instruments.    The word instrument is defined as a tool or device used for a particular purpose; especially : a tool or device designed to do careful and exact work.  We have to know that God set us in place on purpose to fulfill His purpose.    We were created in His image and in His likeness so that others can see, feel, and receive His love here in the earth.   Our purpose is to display who He is in the earth.    If we never share God's love, the world will never feel it.  

Understand, even the hindrances in your life have a purpose.   It's hard to believe that there is a purpose for our pain but when you encounter someone who is going through and you are able to share your testimony on how God brought you through, you begin to understand the purpose behind your pain.    You have to always remember that your life is not about you.  So even when you encounter life's delays, be encouraged knowing that God is working everything in your life together for your good and for the good of others.   There may be someone you encounter in life during your time of delay that just needs a word of encouragement so that they can move forward as well.

When you are traveling on a bus to get from one place to another, there are times when the driver will stop along the way to pick up others so that they also can get to the final destination.   Use the times in your life where you feel like you are at a pit stop to make any necessary adjustments.  Get refreshed, get refueled, and encourage others along the way.    A hindrance can't stop you from reaching your destination so don't give up along the way.    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
I Thessalonians 5:11
Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

You Have To Know That What You See Is Not Necessarily What You Get ...

What is it that you believe?  To believe means to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something.   Do you believe that God is real?   Do you have confidence in the fact that His Word is true?   Are you totally relying on God and His Word or are you still trying to figure it all out on your own?  

What is it that you are saying?   If you believe that God is real and that His Word is true, then you will begin to understand the power of your words.   God spoke the world into existence.   You have to understand that the same power that created the world, resides on the inside of you.   So your words carry within them the power to create.   Are you speaking forth faith filled words that are creating atmosphere that is conducive to the victory God has already promised you or are you speaking words that are filled with fear and doubt that are conducive to what the enemy is wanting you to believe.  

You have to know that everything in this life is not as it "appears" to be.   What you see is not necessarily what you will get.   Understand the power of your words.   Understand the power of prayer and the importance of reiterating God's Word when we pray.     Things change.   Just think about it, as we grow older, our appearance changes.   You have to stop having a "this is it" mentality.   Where you think that where you are in life "is it".    Go with God and grow with God and watch what appeared to be change into what God said it would be.   You have to know that God is faithful.

Believe His Word ... Speak His Word ... and Watch His Word Change Your Life!

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Job 6:24-25a

King James Version (KJV)

Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

 How forcible are right words! 

WORSHIP FOR TODAY ... 

"Words"

Ministered By Hawk Nelson

REFERENCE / CITATION:   Hawk Nelson: Words (Official Lyric Video). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anVweXDcxhA

What Kind Of Thoughts Are You Breeding and Are You Casting Down Thoughts Of Negativity At Their Inception?

We can so easily become bound up in our thoughts. Thoughts can overwhelm us. Always remember, the battle starts in your mind. Learn how to cast down those things that come up in your mind that are not in line with God's Word, His will, or His way at the point of inception. The word inception means the beginning or starting point of a thing. Don't allow negative thoughts to breed.  When something breeds, it produces offspring.   In other words, it produces a result or similar affect.    If you continuously breed negative thoughts, at some point or another, you will become overtaken and overwhelmed by negativity.   

God said in His Word that He knows the thoughts that He has for us.   His thoughts are thoughts of hope, thoughts of peace, and thoughts of us having an expected end that denotes victory.    We have to see ourselves the way God sees us and we need to meditate on His thoughts towards us, so that they can eventually become our thoughts as well.    

When breeding we have to understand that there is a distinguishable difference between a mixed breed and a thoroughbred.    A thoroughbred is pure, unmixed, and is noted as such and set apart.    Whereas, a mixed breed is impure.    We have to understand this analogy in relation to our thoughts.   We can breed thoughts that are pure, unmixed, and set apart (or should we say holy) or we can have thoughts that are mixed with doubt and with fear.     Again, we have to learn how to cast down the mixed thoughts at the point of inception.     

Don't be bound by the way you think.   Instead, meditate on God's Word and allow it to infiltrate your thoughts so that you can change the way you think.

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Philippians 4:8

King James Version

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.

Are You Willing To Go All The Way With God? You Have To Trust Him Beyond What You Can See In The Natural Realm ...

How far are you willing to go for and with God?   Are you willing to go all the way or are you going to stop mid-way?   What are your going to allow to distract you or to cause you to stumble?    Will you be distracted by the ways of the world or how about the things that are coming up against you in this world?   The political views?   The bills?  Sickness or disease?  Is there anything in this life that you are allowing to pull you away from the plan and the purpose of God for your life?  

God wants you to go all the way with Him.   He wants you to trust Him, to believe Him, and to wait on Him.    The children of Israel believed God to a point.  Their point of belief was "to the point which they could see".   They didn't trust and believe God beyond what they could see in the natural.   It didn't matter how many miracles he had performed "for them" when He took them out of the land of Egypt.  They did not fully trust the Father.   They didn't trust in His promise of deliverance and in turn they continuously murmured and complained to Him and about Him.    They constantly walked in "faith failure".   The failure to trust, believe, and to have faith in God.  

Are you trusting God or are you murmuring and complaining about what you are going through?    God has promised to deliver you.   He has already said that He has a plan in place and His plan is to give you hope, a future, and an expected end.   Do you trust Him?   Do you trust that He will provide for every area of lack in your life.   God parted the Red Sea, rained down food from heaven, and brought water out of a rock for the children of Israel and yet they still failed to trust Him.   Will you be like the children of Israel or will you choose to have faith in God?     You remember what God has done so that You can have faith in what God said He would do.

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
Jeremiah 17:7-8

King James Version 

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord,
and whose hope the Lord is.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters,
and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,
and shall not see when heat cometh,
but her leaf shall be green;
and shall not be careful in the year of drought,
neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

WORSHIP FOR TODAY ... 

"I Will Trust In You"

Ministered By Lauren Daigle

REFERENCE/CITATION:   I will trust in you by Lauren Daigle w/lyrics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXMPNXXnCls

Are You Allowing Life To Knock You Down or Are You Still Standing Knowing That God Goes Before You and He Is Your Rearguard?

Are you still standing?   Are you still standing or are you being knocked down by the situations in your life?   The Bible tells us to "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might".   Understand, YOU ARE STRONG ENOUGH and GOD IS GOD ENOUGH to keep you from falling.  

It's time out for trying to figure things out and work things out in our own power and strength.   God never told us to do that.   He never said for us to walk this walk alone by ignoring His presence.   He never said for us to figure it out on our own but He did say that He is with us no matter where we go.   He said that He would never leave us nor forsake us.   He said that we are to be strong in Him.   He said that He would make a way of escape for us.

We have to trust what God said.   When we trust Him, we understand that He has our back.    In life we tend to look for people "to have our back".   But understand, when no one else is there, if you are following God, He is not only going before you, He is also your rearguard.    Know that if you put your trust in Him, He is well able to keep you from falling.  

Know that, OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL AND UNFAILING!   He is our He is our Healer, Deliverer, Peace, Source, and Supply.

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION

Psalm 116:8

King James Version (KJV)

For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

Are You Stuck In What "Could Have Been" or What You Think "Should Have Been" or Are You Moving Forward With God?

It's time to stop living in what "could have been" and what you think "should have been".    You have to understand that God knows all things.   He knows your beginning to your end and He has promised to work it ALL together for your good.    

So often we get stuck on what went wrong and even sometimes on what went right in our past that we can't see what God is doing in our present.    God knew everything that you would go through and He knows everything you will ever go through in life and He said that He has a plan for you.   You have to trust His plan.   You have to believe that God knows what He's doing.   You have to trust that His love, grace, and His mercy covers you.    

Some things that happen in our lives are by choice and some things are beyond our control.   You have to learn how to take control of those things that are a matter of choice and you have to know how to respond to those things that are beyond your control.   Don't be caught up in your mistakes.    Know what it means to repent.   True repentance means to ask God for forgiveness and to do an about-face.  Meaning after you have asked God to forgive you, you should be moving in the opposite direction and not dwelling in your sin.    When it comes to those things that are beyond your control, you have to know that God is with you, that He will never leave you nor forsake you, and that He will work it all together for your good.   

No matter what it is that is going on in your life, trust the One who gave you life.  Know that God said that His plan is for you to have hope, a future, and an expected end.   It's time to let go of the past and to move forward with God, expecting His plan to be perfected in your life.   

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 
Jeremiah 29:11
King James Version
 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” 

Are You Seeing Yourself The Way God Sees You? Know That You Have Been Forgiven and The Ultimate Sacrifice Was Made For You ...

Are you seeing your situation from God's view?   When God looks at you, He sees an overcomer.   He sees you as well able.   He sees the ultimate sacrifice that was made for you.   How do you see yourself?   Do you see yourself as an overcomer?   Do you see yourself as able to do and accomplish all that you put your hands to that is in line with God's Word and His will?   Do you see the sacrifice that God made on your behalf?   

Understand, it is not just about how God sees you.   It's also about how you see yourself.   Faith sees from God's point of view.   Fear does not.  

One of the greatest challenges in life is seeing ourselves the way God sees us.   We have to see ourselves as forgiven.   We have to see ourselves as healed.   We have to see ourselves as delivered.   Until we can see ourselves the way God sees us, we can never truly walk in the fullness of His love and the gift of life that He has given us.    God does not want us to walk in condemnation.   He walks us to walk in His grace and His forgiveness. 

KNOW THAT YOU ARE FORGIVEN TODAY!   Know that Jesus died so that you could live.   Know that God loves you beyond your mess.   Receive His love fully and completely.   Walk in the fullness of the life you have been given.    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
2 Corinthians 5:17“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” 

   

Are You Really Ready To Go All The Way With God?

Are you really ready?   Are you ready to go "all" the way with God?    Are you will to let go and to let God have total control of your life?    God is ready to use your life for His glory.  The question is are you ready to let Him be glorified in and through you?    

Are you ready to lay it all down?  Are you ready to release those things that you know are not in line with His Word and His will?   Are you ready to walk the walk and not just talk the talk?   Are you ready?  

The time now.   The set time is now.   In other words, the time that God has set in your life for His life, His love, and His blessings to flow freely through your life.   The question is, are you ready to move out the way so that God can have his way in and through your life so that His Word and His will can be done and seen in and through you?  

Don't be cause of your blessings not being seen because of disobedience and a lack of faith.   Have faith in God and walk in the Word that you know.   Be a reflection of the Father so that His love can reflect through you to the lives of others.  

SCRIPTURE MEDITATIONPsalm 17:15King James Version (KJV)15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

Are You Allowing Your Remembrance Of What God Has Done To Undergird Your Faith For What You Need God To Do?

Sometimes we can forget.   Sometimes we can get so focused on what we need God to do that we tend to forget what He has already done.    We forget the times where we didn't know which way to go and He delivered us.   The times where we didn't have the resources to take care of things and how He made a way.    The time where we were overwhelmed by the tragedy's of life and He gave us the peace that far exceeds our understanding.     We have to always remember what God has done so that it can undergird our faith for what we need God to do.    

God has NOT changed.    What He has done in your life, He will do again if necessary.    What He has done in someone else's life, He will do for you.   He is not limited in power and He is ever-present.    You have to know that you know that God is with you even when the situation seems to be going against you.    

Take time and meditate on the goodness of the Lord.   Meditate on His promises in His Word.   Meditate on the times He has delivered you.   Mediate on His goodness and His grace.   Meditate and know that YOUR GOD changes not.   Know that He will honor His Word in your life.   Your job is to walk in obedience, have faith, and to trust Him.    Not once did He tell us in His word to work things out on our own.   So don't try to come up with your own plan, just walk in obedience, wait, and trust that His promises and His plan will be perfected in your life.

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION  

Proverbs 3:5-6

King James Version (KJV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

WORSHIP FOR TODAY 

"I Will Trust In You"

Ministered By Lauren Daigle

REFERENCE / CITATION:   Lauren Daigle - Trust In You. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_aVFVveJNs

Are You Able To See Past What You Are Going Through In Order To Help Someone Else Get Through?

There are some people that you know God placed into your life for such a time as this.   To help you and to encourage you.   To listen to you and to steer you.    To be there for you and to strengthen you.   That's not everybody.   Sometimes people are so overwhelmed with what they are going through that they can't see to help someone else get through.   It's not easy to see past your pain but it is good to be able to.   Seeing past "your" pain allows you to shift the focus.  It allows you to pray for someone else and to encourage someone else.  We have to learn how to shift the focus off of what we are going through in order to help someone else get through.

Every test and every trial in your life has meaning and purpose.    When you go through things in your life, it is those experiences that will help strengthen you and prepare you to encourage someone else.   When we get the revelation that God is not a respecter of persons, we then understand that what He has done for one person, He will also do for another.   If He has healed one, His healing is available for you.   If He has provided for one, His provision is made ready for you.   If He has strengthened one, His strength is available for you.  It's not a question of whether or not He can do a thing ... it is a question of whether or not we walk in faith and obedience and whether we can believe, trust, and wait on Him to do it.  

Be like that person that God has placed in your life for such a time as this.   Be the strengthener, encourager, and blessing to someone else.   Refocus your attention.   Instead of allowing your thoughts to be consumed by what you are going through, take what you have been through and help someone else get through.   Understanding and knowing that God is well able to do what He has done before whether it be in your life or in the life of someone else.   He is not limited in power or ability.   Trust Him with "you" and believe Him for "someone else".   Understand, you have enough faith for you and for others.   Just begin to exercise it.  

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Acts 10:34

King James Version (KJV)

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

WORSHIP FOR TODAY ... 

"Give Me Faith"

Ministered By Elevation Church

REFERENCE/CITATION:   "Give Me Faith" - ELEVATION WORSHIP. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Voi3JM8ZA

Are You Allowing Where You Have Been To Dictate Where You Are Going With God?

It's not about where you have been.   Are you allowing where you have been to dictate where you are going or are you being led by God and trusting Him to take you to places you have never been in Him?    Don't be "stuck" in your past.    Isn't it interesting that one definition of stuck is "infatuated with".   When you are infatuated with something, you have a foolish or unreasoning passion for it.  Are you passionate about the people, places, and things associated with your past or are you passionate about God?   Infatuation can cause you to make choices and decisions based on your flesh instead of God's Word.   When you are infatuated, you are captivated.   When something captivates you, it holds you captive.

Are there things in your life that are holding you captive?   That are keeping you from making righteous choices.   The choices that you know are right and are in line with God's Word and His will?    We have to be and remain "holy captivated".    Captivated by the things of God with a continuous desire to please God in all that we do and say.    No, we will never be perfect but we can seek to be pleasing in God's sight.  

Don't allow anything in this world to divert your faith and keep you from following God.    When something is a diversion, it's sole purpose is to turn you aside and to change your course.  We have to understand that God has already paved out the road for us.   Don't be the person who is walking on the road of destiny that God has paved and sees a dirt path on the side of the road and decides to get off the road of destiny thinking that the path is a short cut.    God's road and His way are both clear but because the path is not clear, there are many things that can hinder you and entangle you along the way.    Stay on course.   Stay on track.   Don't be infatuated by your past.   Instead, be holy captivated by your God.  

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 
Philippians 3:13-14
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

WORSHIP FOR TODAY ... 

"Holy Captivated"

Ministered By Nicole C. Mullen

REFERENCE/CITATION:   Nicole C. Mullen - Holy Captivated. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7jfC9RT4vg

  

Are You Still Trying To Work Things Out On Your Own or Have You Learned How To Stop, Drop, and Pray?

Prayer works.   Don't be so distracted that you cannot pray.  We have to understand, life happens.    The word happens means to take place; come to pass; or to occur.   It doesn't mean to have control and to know it all.  Sometimes when things happen in our lives, it is far beyond our control.    But what we have to understand is, God is all seeing, all knowing, and well able to take care of us when things are happening to us in life.  

We have to know the purpose behind prayer.   We have to understand that God has given us a door of access to Him.   He wants us to call on Him, to come to Him, and to rest in Him.   He wants us to recognize our need for Him.   He never told us to walk this walk alone.   As a matter of fact, He told us that He would never leave us nor forsake us.    We have to stop trying to figure things out and work them out on our own.   Our Father sees all, knows all, and is well able to take care of it all (EVERYTHING THAT CONCERNS OUR LIVES).  

The instructions we have when we are in the midst of a fire are to stop, drop, and roll.   We have to understand, when we are in the midst of the fires of life, we have to stop, drop, AND PRAY.    That means stop what you are doing when you are trying to work it out on your own.   It means to let go of it.  The Bible says to cast your cares on God because He cares for you.   It means to pray in faith believing God HAS ALREADY worked it out on your behalf.    Remember ... PRAYER WORKS only if you pray.   How can you expect a result if you are so distracted and never take time to pray?   Walk in obedience and work the principles in God's Word and watch God's Word work for you.  

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Matthew 11:28-2 (KJV)28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

WORSHIP FOR TODAY ...

"I Surrender All"

Ministered By Mary Alessi

REFERENCE / CITATION - Mary Alessi - I Surrender All. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78fgvr5Ivac#t=78

  

Are You Allowing Life and The Things In Life To Cause You To Become Desensitized To Things Of God?

The Bible says if we are "willing and obedient" we shall eat the good of the land.   It says, blessed is the man who "trusteth" in the Lord and who "puts his hope" in Him.    It tells us to "commit" our way unto God so that He can establish our plans.    God is talking.   He is telling us what to do.   He is telling us to be willing.   He is telling us to be obedient.   He is telling us to trust in Him and to put our hope in Him.    He is telling us to commit to Him.   Are you listening?   Are you obeying?  Or are you worrying and doubting?   It's up to us.   It's a matter of our will.   We have to choose to obey, trust, have hope, and to commit to God.

God is always talking to us.   Whether it be through His Word, through people, or through our Spirit.  The question is, are we "really" listening?   The word really is defined as genuinely or truly.   So the question is, are we genuinely and truly listening to what God is telling us to do?   Not only that, do we truly believe His Word is true?   If we are listening to Him and if we truly believe in Him, we will do our best to try to obey Him.    

Think about when you go to train for a job.   Think about how you listen intently to what you are learning to do.    Think about how  you take notes and how you ask questions and how you sometimes get upset when you don't get it right.    Now ask yourself are you doing the same thing in life with God.    Are you listening to what He is telling you to do?    Are you learning more of Him and asking Him to give you a greater understanding concerning the things you are encountering in life?   Does it affect you when you mess up or have you become desensitized to sin?    When you are desensitized, you are less sensitive to the things of God.   You fail to recognize that you are God's temple and your life belongs to Him.   So you consistently allow your life to be used for a purpose other than God's plan.   Understand, God did not purpose us to sin.  We choose to sin.   

We have to learn how to be still and to discern the voice of God.   The greatest way to recognize His voice is to know His Word.   God will never tell us to do anything that is not in line with His Word.   His Word is His instruction book that He has given us.   It contains the guidelines and examples so that we can know who He is, how we are to live, what He will do for us, and what our final outcome will be if we follow Him and His Word.   

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

John 10:4
King James Version (KJV)
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice

WORSHIP FOR TODAY 

"I Will Follow"

Ministered By Chris Tomlin

REFERENCE/CITATION:   Chris Tomlin - I Will Follow. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ohvhmGSfxI

How Are You Handling The Unexpected In Life?

What is overtaking you?  To overtake means to come suddenly or unexpectedly.   What is coming into your life suddenly that is unexpected and taking you over and how are you handling it?   What are you being barraged by?   To be barraged means to be bombarded.  Are you being overtaken by the problems of this world or are you looking at those problems and knowing that God is with you and that He has already made a way of escape?   Your stance in life (what you are standing on in life) will be the determining factor on how you view what is going on in your life.   Your stance will determine whether you see through eyes of hope and expectation (even in the midst of pain and despair) or if you stand with your eyes closed in fear of failure.   

You have to keep your eyes open and stayed on God.   You have to trust and believe in what God said in Deuteronomy 28 when He said that if we are diligent and obedient, He will not only set us on high, He will also cause His blessings to overtake us.    We have to understand that we are not in darkness and we are not without hope.   For our hope and our expectation should always be in God.   

 

Don’t allow life and the problems that sometimes come with life allow you to lose hope.   Don’t be moved by the things that are coming at you.  Always remember, God is “with” you and nothing in life takes Him by surprise.   Know that God will keep you, shield you, protect you, and provide for you.   Keep your trust in Him at ALL times.   

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 
Psalm 56:3King James Version (KJV)What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

WORSHIP FOR TODAY ... 

"Whom Shall I Fear"

Ministered Chris Tomlin

REFERENCE / CITATION:  Chris Tomlin - Whom Shall I Fear [God of Angel Armies] [Lyrics]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOkImV2cJDg

What Are You Deeming As Acceptable In Your Life? It's Time To Arise and To Shine For God ...

What you want is not always what God wants for you.  What you desire is not always based on Godly desires.   You have to understand that everything is not acceptable to God.   When something is acceptable, it is capable or worthy of being accepted.   One definition of acceptable says that it means to be pleasing to the receiver.    Make sure you are judging the things you want in your life based on God's standard of acceptance and not your own.   Make sure You are seeking those things that will not necessarily appeal to your flesh but that would be pleasing to God.  

It's easy to get caught up in what we want, when we want it, and how we want it.   Our flesh cries out daily for things but we have to constantly subdue our flesh and seek after those things that are right, just, and pleasing to the Father.   We can't just want someone else's husband or wife and think that it's okay.   We can't just want to live a sinful lifestyle (doing things that we know are not right and not pleasing to God) and think that it's okay.   IT'S NOT!  

We have to cultivate Godly desires.   Our GREATEST want should be to please God.  When that is our GREATEST desire, we will seek after those things that are right, just, and pleasing in His sight and when we seek after those things, God will bless us with those things.  

It's time to ARISE and SHINE.   It's time to live life FULLY for the Father.   After all, He is the giver of life.   It is in Him that we live, breathe, and have our being.    What does it look like when you take the life that He has given and use it for everything He is against?    That's not giving Him thanks.   That's like given your child money to go buy food and clothing and they use it to go buy drugs and to party.    Would you be pleased if they took what you sacrificed to give them and used it in a way that is totally unacceptable to you?

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION

Romans 12:1

King James Version (KJV)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

WORSHIP FOR TODAY ... 

"To Be Pleasing You"

Ministered By Marantha Singers

REFERENCE / CITATION:   To Be Pleasing You - Maranatha Singers. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9O1GPUqn8M