Are You Allowing Your Emotions To Get The Best Of You or Are You Rooted and Grounded In Faith?

Are you building up your most holy faith?   Are you staying in the Word of God so that you can know the will of God.    So often in life, we move on how we feel instead of standing still on what we know.   Do you realize that we can let our emotions get the best of us?    Our emotions can be varied and they can be mixed.   The question is, what do we do with them?   We have to learn how to take control of them and bring them under the subjection of the Word of God and move forward in life based on what we know instead of how we feel. 

When we look at our feelings, we can be up one day and down another.   We can be afraid one day and fearless another.   We can be weary one day and strong another.   Our feelings and our emotions have so many directions they can go in at any given time but God’s Word is steadfast, immovable, and changes not.    

Our faith must be rooted and grounded in God’s Word.   We have to learn how to base our faith on what God has said and not what man is saying.   We have to know that God and His Word changes NOT.   What God has said, He will do.   We have to know that God loves us and He will take care of us.   After all, He allowed HIs Son to die on the cross for us.  Seeing that He did that, you can rest assured in the fact that He will cover you, keep you, and make a way for you.

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Romans 12:2

King James Version

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  

Are You Casting Your Care On God and Being Still While Knowing, Trusting, and Believing That He Is God and He Will Take Care Of You?

The question was asked, how do I get back to God?   How do I get back to where I am trusting Him, believing Him, and waiting on Him?   How to get back to God is usually not the problem.   Doing what you know to do is where the problem usually comes in.    

Life is filled with distractions.   Whether it be the busyness of the world or the stress of our situations, they both are designed to keep us from focusing on what matters most and that is God.   

God tells us in Psalm 46 to be still and know that He is God.   Being still is the hardest part for us because being still requires no movement or actions from us.    It’s hard to be still when you are being pushed and pressed against.   It’s hard to be still when your mind is consumed with worry and doubt.   It’s hard to be still when the only outcome you can imagine is a negative one. 

The first thing that we must do to get back to God is to make up in our mind that we are going to believe and trust Him.   We are going to believe and trust what He said when He said that He knows the things that we have need of and He is faithful and just to provide us with those things.   Understand, you have to believe God and you have to trust what He has said.   If you don’t believe Him and trust Him, you can’t have faith in Him.   

So today ... STEP ONE IN GETTING BACK TO GOD, cast down every thought and imagination that goes against the knowledge of who God is and what God will do and make up in your mind that you believe what He has said and be determined to trust Him.    Remember to read the Word so that you can remind yourself of who He is and what He has promised to do. 

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Psalm 46:10 

King James Version (KJV)

10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Have You Allowed Life and The Issues Of Life To Push Into A Place Of Self Preservation?

Have you seen or do you know people that started off for God and somehow got off track and ended up doing things in an of themselves?   Are you one of those people?   Those that  started off pursuing God and highlighting God in all that they were doing and somewhere, somehow, the focus changed and they began to focus on self and self preservation.    

One of the first questions that we must ask ourselves is “do we trust God”.    To trust God means our hope is in Him.   When you trust Him, you believe that He will honor His Word in your life.    Your hope is in Him and what He can do and not in what you can do for yourself. 

It’s time to get back on track.   If for some reason you have allowed life and the issues of life to push you into a place of self preservation, it’s time to get back to the place where you know and understand that there are some things you can’t do for yourself.   After all, it is only because of God we live, breathe, and have our being.   He is the very air we breathe.   He is the giver of life.   If He gives us life, we have to trust and believe that He knows what we need in life. 

With self preservation comes worry and doubt because you are trying to figure out how “you” are going to get things done.    Live your life in a way where you are constantly casting your cares on God and understand, He is well equipped and able to take care of you.  

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Proverbs 19:21 - [There are] many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand

Are You Trying To Open Doors For Yourself or Are You Allowing God To Open The Doors That No Man Can Close For You?

What is it that you need God to do for you that you keep trying to work out and do for yourself?   Are you trying to open up doors for yourself?  The Word says that God is the One who opens up doors that no man can close.   Are you trying to make a way for yourself?   The Word says that God will make a way in the wilderness and bring forth rivers in the desert.

What we tend to do in life is try to figure things out on our own.   We have to remember that God is with us.   We have to trust what He said when He said He will never leave us nor forsake us.   We have to believe that He is God and all things are possible with Him.   

The Bible tells us to lean not to our own understanding.   It tells us to acknowledge God in all of our ways.   It tells us that God is not a respecter of persons.   So what He has done for one, He will do for you too.    

So today let’s make up in our mind that we are moving forward with God.   Let’s let Him take the leading role.   Let’s stop trying to figure things out on our own.   Let’s trust God to do what He has already said in His Word.   In other words, let’s take God at His Word.    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Isaiah 43:19

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” 

What Do You Do When Life Doesn’t Work Out The Way You Expect It To?

Life doesn’t always work out the way you want it to or even expect it to.  The question is, what do you do when it doesn’t?   What do you do in your times of pain?   What do you do when your healing isn’t manifesting as fast as you want it to?   What do you do when life seems to be handing you lemons (as people say)?   What do you do when you don’t seem to have enough?   Are you turning to God or are you becoming frustrated and failing to walk in faith?

The journey of life takes us in many different directions.    Most of our directions are a matter of choice and we have to be honest, sometimes our choices are not in line with what is best for us.   Have you ever had times in your life where you made decisions based on your emotions at that given moment and then regretted the choice you made?   Sometimes that’s what we do.   We decide based on what our flesh is telling us at that given moment.    We have to stop making decisions based on how we feel.  We have to learn how to make good decisions based on what God said.   We have to remember our decisions not only affect our today, they also set us up for our tomorrow.    Our future is affected by our choices today. 

Take a moment to push pause.   Think about what God has done and what you need God to do.   Think about His goodness, His grace, His love, and His mercy.     Now make up in your mind that you are going to trust Him.   Decide today that you are going to do things God’s way.    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Psalm 40:1-4 

King James Version (KJV)

40 I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.

4 Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

Walking In Faith and Casting Down The Fear, The Worry, and The Doubt

What is it you want from God?   Is it provision?   Is it healing?   Is it peace?   Whatever it is, God is well able to give it to you.    Have you surrendered your life to God?   Have you cast your care on Him?   He told us to come to Him, to learn of Him, and to cast our care on Him.   We have to do what He said for us to do.   If not, we are going to continue to carry burdens that we were not built or meant to carry. 

Today is a new day.   Why not give your all to God?   Why not walk in faith and cast down the fear, the worry, and the doubt?   Why not walk in expectancy for what God has said that He would do for you?    If you are going the wrong way in life, why not do an about face and change the direction you have been going in?   Why not?   What is keeping you and holding you back from giving God your all?   

As you think on these things, think about what God has done for you.   He sacrificed His Son for you.    His love for you is unending.   His love is not conditional.   He has an unconditional love for YOU!    Open up your heart to Him and let Him in.   Let Him lead you, guide you, direct you, and make a way for you.   Let Him show you how much He cares for you.   You are not alone.   God is with you and He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you.    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Deuteronomy 31:6-8 

King James Version (KJV)

6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

8 And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, 

Are You Living Your Life In A Way That Encourages Others To Lean On, Trust In, and Believe God?

Have you ever looked at someone else’s life and been encouraged?  Have you looked at their walk and listened to their testimony and said that is what I want to do or even asked God to do that for you too?    Understand, that is how God wants your life to be.   He wants your life to be one that others can look at and draw strength from.   Strength to walk in faith and to move forward in life. 

God wants our lives to be living epistles.   Open books to be read by others.   He wants our tests to become testimonies that will encourage others to stand strong and to trust Him through the process.   He wants our words to be words of encouragement to others and not discouraging words about why things didn’t work out the way we wanted them to.   

We have to understand, nothing happens by chance in our lives.   God knows all and He sees all.   He directs our footsteps and He causes us to encounter others on our road called destiny.   So as we go through life, we not only need to be encouraged by others, we should be an encouragement to others as well.   

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Matthew 5:16 

King James Version (KJV)

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Are You Seeking Alternatives or Are You Resting In The Fact That God’s Grace Is Sufficient?

Do you realize that God’s grace is sufficient for your life?   Do you understand that God’s love is more than enough?   Do you understand that He is well able to meet every need you have or are you still seeking and searching for someone or something to do what only God has the power to do for you, in you, and through you.   

So often in life we seek alternatives.   An alternative is something that is available as another possibility.   When we say we need another possibility, we are not truly believing and trusting in the fact that God can do the impossible.   What we tend to do is live our lives based on what we can see instead of standing on what God has already said.    

We have to trust and believe that God’s grace is sufficient.   We have to trust and believe that He sees all, knows all, and can do all things.   We have to trust and believe that He is truly working everything in our lives together for our God.   We have to stay in faith and cast down everything in our hearts and minds that will cause us to walk in fear. 

God is faithful and He can be trusted.   What He has said, He will do.   When you live your life for Him, He will cause His Word to come to pass in your life.    So don’t seek alternatives while you are waiting on God.   Just be still and know that HE IS GOD!    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION

2 Corinthians 12:9 

King James Version (KJV)

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

What Words Are You Allowing To Impact and Influence Your Life?

What words are you taking to heart?   Are you living based on God’s Word or people’s words?   People have a lot to say.   They can say words to encourage you or they can say words that break you down.    What words are you allowing to impact your actions and your reactions. 

One of the things we must first understand is the fact that there is power in words.    God used words to create the world.   It is His Word that is comprised of His Words that we should be living by.   Words are powerful and we have to fully understand the impact we can make by just speaking God’s Word. 

So often in life we take people at that word.    We allow what people say to influence our actions and to cause us to react.   What a person says can make us happy or it can make us sad.   It can cause us to be calm but it can also bring about anxiety and feelings of anger.   Words influence us.   We just have to make sure we are being influenced in the right way.

Take a moment to think about what you have said to others today.    Have you spoken life to their lives?   Are you encouraging them or discouraging them?   Are you telling them they can do all things through Christ that strengthens them or are you leaving them to feel like they are a failure?   Are you telling them about the beauty they possess inside or are you looking at the outside and telling them how bad they are?    

God has given us the power to bring about change.   He wants us to pray and He wants us to speak life to our lives and the lives of others.   Will you do it?   Will you allow your mouth to be a tool that God uses to impact and to bring about a Godly change to those around you?

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Psalm 45:1 

King James Version (KJV)

45 My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

Are You Trusting God Through Your Process Of Pain?

Do you realize that healing is a process and sometimes when you are being healed, pain comes alongside of your healing?  Take a moment to think about when a person has surgery.   When a person has surgery, there is usually some type of incision made.   An incision is a cut that is made to your flesh.   It is a surface cut.   It is something that can be seen and in many cases it leaves a mark that tells the story about what you have been through.   

When a person goes through surgery, it is for their good.   There may be things taken out, like tumors or cysts.   There may be veins rerouted.   There may be things added like pacemakers or stents to help with the flow of blood or to help repair organs that have sustained damage in your body.   No matter what the purpose is for your surgery, it is suppose to be for your good.   

However, after surgery there may be a season of pain as your body heals.    But understand, just because you are experiencing pain, that doesn’t mean healing is not taking place.    With healing there is sometimes pain.   That is not just for surgical procedures that pertain to the flesh.   There is also a healing process that we go through in life. 

With life comes situations that we don’t always understand.   The situations we encounter in life will sometimes bring with them pain.   It may be that we lose someone.   It may be that we are sick in our bodies.   It may be that we are suffering because we don’t understand the situations we are encountering financially.   Whatever it is, God wants us healed and we have to understand that pain is sometimes part of the process that leads to our total healing and victory over our situation.  We have to just trust God through the pain while the process is taking place. 

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Psalm 147:3 

King James Version (KJV)

3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

Are You Pressing On Even When You Encounter The Unexpected?

What if things don’t go the way you planned them in your mind?   Will you give up and quit on God based on what you wanted or expected to happen or will you trust God to do what He said He would do when He said that He would take care of you?   We have to stop limiting God.   We tend to limit Him based on what “we see” happening in the world and in our lives.   We have to understand that faith sees beyond what is happening in the natural realm. 

God is all powerful and all knowing.   He’s not limited to doing things the way that we think they should be done.   We have to have faith and trust the fact that God knows what is best for us.  When we look at something, we look at the outward appearance of a thing and sometimes we don’t even know the purpose of it.   We tend to judge and come up with conclusions about our circumstances based on what we see and not what God said.   However, when God looks at a thing, He knows its purpose.    He knows how to work everything together for our good and His glory.   So understand, God knows your purpose for being here in the earth.   He sat you in place and He wants your life to be a tool that He uses to draw others to Him.   

Things don’t always work out the way we think they should but they do work out the way God knew that they would.    We have to know how to press on even when we encounter the unexpected.   We have to continue to move forward with God.   We have to know that each day that He gives us is filled with His love, mercy, and grace.   We can’t be stuck on what happened yesterday because each new day that we are given is filled with new opportunities and new blessings.   Trust God and no matter what you encounter today on your road called life, know that He is going to work it all together for your good.   

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Isaiah 46:9-10 

King James Version (KJV)

9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Are You Allowing Your Prayers To Reach Outside Of Your Household?

Are you judging people for where they are or are you praying for them to be where God wants them to be?    So often people judge another persons life without looking at their own lives.   They fail to recognize that they didn’t just get to the point of trusting, believing, and waiting on God overnight.   They didn’t just wake up saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost.  That’s not saying to agree with another persons lifestyle if they are wrong.   That’s saying pray for the person to get it right.   Pray that they not only hear God’s voice but pray that they obey it.   Pray that they have the knowledge to make the right decisions and the strength to do it.     

God is a good God and He is a faithful Father and friend.   He is loving, merciful, and kind.   He forgives us and we have to understand the fact that not everyone’s sin is the same.  Sin is just that, sin.    Sin comes in many forms but it is still sin.    So just as we pray for ourselves, we need to also make sure we are praying for others.   People tend to pray for themselves and once they are delivered, they then judge others.   Don’t allow your prayers to stop at just you and your household.    

We have to understand life happens.   We don’t know the full story of why others live and act the way they do but we do know the One who can help them.   God knows their story.   He knows everything about their past, present, and future.  So our job is to talk to God in prayer about those whom we know and love instead of gossiping to others about them.   As we talk to God in prayer, we have to trust Him to help bring healing and deliverance to the lives of those whom He has placed in our lives.   

Remember, miracles happen if you just believe.   So as you pray, believe not only for yourself but believe that those whom you pray for will be healed, strengthened, and delivered.     

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

James 5:16 

King James Version (KJV)

16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much

Are You Walking In Faith or Are You Allowing Fear To Take Over?

Are you sticking with it?   Are you sticking with what God has told you to do?   Are you walking in faith or are you in fear for what will happen next in your life?  God is a good God and things don’t always work out the way we expect them to in life.   Sometimes what we want  turns into what we need.   Sometimes what we need, we have to wait for but we have to remember, God knows what is best of us and when it is needed. 

Do you realize your test is not just for you?   Do you realize the lessons you learn in life are so that you can help someone else make it in life?  Sometimes as we are going through things in life, we think its all about us.   We don’t understand how our hurt and our pain can help someone else get through their hurt and their pain. 

Again, God is a good God and we have to trust Him.   We have to let our trust in Him go beyond our understanding.   We have to know that in this world we will have suffering and pain but there will come a time when our tears will be washed away and we will suffer no more.     

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Psalms 56:3-4

3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

What Are You Allowing To Be A Substitute Or An Alternative In Your Life?

What has you distracted right now?   What has taken your attention from God?   Look over your life and ask yourself what it is that has gotten you off track?  Are you going to let the world and the ways of the world take you over or are your going to take a stand for what is right and do what is right?   The choice is yours.   No one can make you do anything, you just have to choose to do the right thing.    

To choose means you have alternatives but understand, an alternative can be a substitute.    When something is a substitute, it acts or serves in the place of something else.   Are you allowing anything or anyone to take the place of God in your life?   Are you spending time with God worshipping and giving Him praise or are you taking time from Him and doing things the worlds way?  What about your family?  Are you allowing anyone or anything to take the place and time that your spouse and kids should have in your life? 

Remember, everything we do is a matter of choice and God has given us the free will to choose.    The question is, what are we choosing?   Are we choosing to appease our flesh or to please God?   Our choices matter and we must remember a life without guidance and direction is a life that will surely go astray.   If we have to guide and direct our children, surely we understand that we too need the guidance and direction of our Heavenly Father.    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Colossians 3:2 

King James Version (KJV)

2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Are You Allowing The Toxins Of The World To Mix Into Your Thoughts and Control Your Actions or Are You Filtering Your Life Through God’s Word?

How you live your life shows who and what you have respect for.   Are you living your life in a way that shows you love and respect God or are you doing what you want to do when you want to do it with no filter on your life?  In other words, are you living your life according to the flesh?  When we live our lives according to the flesh, we don’t respect God, we don’t respect others, and in most cases, we don’t respect ourselves.    

Living an unfiltered life is living a life where we have allowed the toxins of the world to mix into our thoughts and to become a part of our daily actions.  A toxin is something that is poisonous.   It is a bacteria that doesn’t show any symptoms until after a period of incubation.   So it is something that lies dormant in your life until it has had an o

pportunity to develop, grow, and multiply.   If we never do anything to filter our lives, the wrong thoughts and the wrong actions will continue to develop within us and they will multiply to the point where they take over the good thoughts and the good actions in our lives.    

We have to first understand what it means to filter something.   A filter is a device that is used to remove impurities or unwanted materials.   In life we need to be filtering our thoughts and our actions through and by God’s Word.   We need to allow what God has said to be the filter which tells us what is right and what is wrong.    If what we are thinking and doing is not in line with what God has determined to be right, we must begin to cast down those thoughts down and line our actions up with what God has said.   

Filtration is not an easy process but it is a necessary one.   Don’t allow the impurities of the world to cause you disrespect God, others, or yourself.   Make sure you put God’s Word in so that you will know what things you have to cast out.    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Proverbs 3 

King James Version (KJV)

3 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

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.

7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

It’s Day 2 Of The New Year, Are You Still Celebraing or Are You Allowing The Issues Of Life To Deflate Your Hope and Cause You To Feel Worried and Distressed?

It’s day 2 of the new year, are you still celebrating?   Are your hopes still high or are your hopes being deflated by the reality of what is coming against you in this world.   You have to understand, whether it is day 1, day 2, or day 364 of the year, God is still God.    God doesn’t stop being God because your hype and your celebration of entering a new year has stopped.   God is God every second of every day.   He said in His Word that He changes not.    

Where is your hope?   What is it that you are hoping for this year?  Are you hoping for new things or is your hope in God?  God is well able to give you the things you want and need in life but He wants your hope and your trust to be in Him.   He wants you to look to Him, call on Him, and to have your hope, faith, and trust in Him.   Is that you?  Do you have your hope, faith, AND trust in God? 

At the beginning of every new year, many people set “their” plans in motion.   They set timetables and make agendas concerning their lives but what everyone has to understand is the fact that sometimes plans change.   Sometimes things don’t work out the exact way that “we” plan them to.   We have to always remember, no matter how things in our lives are coming together, God is with us.  He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.   As we do our best to live our lives for Him, He is going to work everything together in our lives for our good and His glory.     So if things in your life seem to not be working the way you have planned, just remember to trust God’s plan.   Don’t give up and don’t quit.   Remain in faith and know that your Heavenly Father is working everything in your life together for your good.   

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

1 Corinthians 2:9

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”