Every good gift

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning” James 1:17, KJV.

So many of us go throughout our entire life trying hard to make others happy, feeling a need to please, and never wanting to disappoint those we love. The reward may be their smile and gratitude, but the consequence is pure exhaustion.

God is the same way. Don’t try to work so hard to win the affection of a loving God that is already fully convinced of His love for you. Ease up on yourself and begin to enjoy the Lord, enjoy your life, and enjoy the relational treasures He has given you. They are rich blessings designed to enrich your life, not add sorrow to it.

Be of good cheer

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NLT)

Real Christians face real trials. If you are facing a real challenge in your life don’t think something is wrong with you or your salvation. Don’t think God has turned His back on you. He is with you and He is for you. 

"But be of good cheer” Jesus said, “I have overcome the world.” Take heart! Take courage! Believe! The Spirit of the living God lives within you and He will teach you how to overcome and how to walk victoriously. You can have peace that God has a plan. You can walk in joy despite your current circumstance. He will use everything you face to grow you, deepen you and strengthen your faith and trust in Him.

#forwardliving #hellofuture

Free to give and receive

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,” Isaiah 61:1, NIV

People with broken hearts will hurt you before you hurt them; reject you before you reject them; leave you before you leave them - All in attempt to protect their hearts from experiencing more pain. 

I’m so thankful God comes after us in our broken state. He’s not afraid of us hurting Him; He’s not intimidated; He heals our hearts, fills us with His love, and reassures us that we’re going to be ok. Then He sends us out to minister healing to others.

You can be healed and can be free to give and receive love. You don’t have to be a victim. You ARE victorious through Jesus. 

Courage

It takes courage
to tell the truth
to follow your heart
to do something alone
to make yourself vulnerable
to leave a longtime love
to trust again
to speak up
to wait on God’s best
to start something new
to admit your own ignorance
to believe things will change
to give expecting nothing in return
to be yourself

Often we find God saying throughout Scripture, “Be strong and courageous.” “Take heart.” “Take courage.” While negative situations come to deflate and discourage us, God gives us the necessary ingredient to face life’s challenges head on—courage. 

Even though you don’t express specifically what you need help with, He already knows. 

Let God give you the courage you need in order to do what you never thought you could do. 

Let Him give you the courage to succeed past your limitations, to face tomorrow, to enjoy life today, to face your fears, to change your world, to face your inner critic, and to embrace the truth of who you are in Him.

Be courageous!!

Relationship

Every real relationship with God begins with a quality decision to let Him into your heart and into your life. 

Your issues and problems don’t scare Him. Your fear and anxiety about everything in your life does not move Him. You are His and He is yours - and that's an everlasting promise... 

And from the moment He entered into your life, the Spirit of God rolled up His sleeves and went to work in changing you from the inside out. His ultimate goal is for you to look like Jesus on the inside and to behave like Jesus on the outside.

Get to know Him by reading His love letter to you—the Bible.
Get to know Him by spending time with Him in prayer, talking to Him as you would to a friend.
Get to know Him by continuing to let Him into every place in your heart and learning what He has to say about every issue of life.

Identity

How aware are you of your identity? If someone asked you who you are, how would you identify yourself? Are you identified by things you have done? By things others have said about you?

We all have made mistakes in the past, but we are not those mistakes....

Receive and abide

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” (Ephesians 2:4,5, NLT).

God saw greatness when He was forming you and a future so bright. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us His thoughts toward us are of peace, not of evil, to give us an expected end.

So.....Anytime the enemy tries to convince you that God hates you and has it in for you, your confidence is, “No, God’s thoughts toward me are of peace and not evil”. 

It is true!!! God is with you. 

He is with you when you feel stagnant. 

He is with you when you’ve just behaved out of character. 

He is with you when you feel down and unlovable. 

God is right there and He’s not going anywhere.  He is committed even when you aren’t. He is faithful even when you aren’t. Nothing can separate you from His love and nothing can separate you from His plans and purpose for your life.

Now, receive that love and abide in it

Pleasing

“…O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand” (Isaiah 64:8).

I’m sure you have experienced in your lifetime disappointment, heart brokenness, hurt, anger, resentment or rejection. 

Hurtful situations can cripple us to the point to where our walk is no longer the same. Where our views on everything and everyone is now negative. Whether it was a person or a situation, we find that the negative experience has left us marred. 

So how does God respond? He keeps us on His wheel and shapes us until we are pleasing in His eyes. God is fully aware of your marred heart and He wants to make you into a beautiful vessel that He can fully use. 

It’s a gradual process that you may not see with your physical eyes, but with every act of obedience and every decision to cooperate with God, you will find yourself becoming a vessel that is well-pleasing to God.

Trust

Always remember God hears your voice and He knows what you’re going through and He cares about every detail of your life. 

He can and will open great doors for you that have seemed impossible. He will open doors in His timing and will respond to your voice 

Trust in Him.

No limits

“But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 (KJV)

There are no boundaries, no borders, and no limits to what God can do in your life.  

Just when you think there is absolutely no way out, God comes through for you and makes a way out of no way; He comes in and turns your life and your situation completely around.  

Just when you thought that it was over for your relationships because too many hurtful things had been said and done, God comes in and makes it better than before.  God can repair what’s missing in your life, can bring dead situations to life again, and can do the impossible for you!  

Father,
All things are possible with You.  Nothing is impossible for You to work out, no problem is too big for You to fix, no heart is too hard for You to soften, no life is too far gone for You to resurrect.  I take the limitations off of you now, and I put my trust in Your ability to make a way out of no way for me.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

He is with you, always

The Lord is with us in all circumstances, no matter what each day brings. 

Whether your day is full of health or sickness, joy or sadness, comfort or pain, God’s promise remains for all who believe in Him as Savior: “I am with you.”

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.  For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.   Acts 18:9-11 (NIV)

Instant gratification

What happens when we give in to instant gratification? We give up what’s important for what’s immediate. We want what we want and we want it right now. We don’t want to wait. Waiting’s boring, it’s passive, it’s more fun to get things now.

What this is really all about, is waiting on God. A lot of times God wants us to wait for things, wait on Him because He has something better in store for us

Waiting causes us to trust in God and depend on Him. When we wait on God and His timing, it causes us not to do things on our own, but instead we get the blessing of seeing God at work, His will unfold, and seeing Him make things happen for us.

So what areas of your life do you need to do better at waiting? Where do you need to be more patient and just trust God in His timing?

Purity

Purity is about being clean in what we see, what we say, what we think and how we feel. These things ultimately determine how we act (what we do). It’s an internal state of being “clean” that produces positive outward actions. Purity is what keeps us knowing and doing what’s right.

It's as practical as not getting angry or frustrated or jealous of others, but being patient and happy for them. Or choosing not to swear/speak profane words when you hear others do it, but being clean in the things you say. Or it also could be on the inside not thinking bad things, but keeping your mind clean and only thinking about good things. Or even not looking at or watching things that you know you shouldn’t.

Only you know the areas of your life that you need to clean up a little bit or a lot...

When we can figure out how to live our lives with purity, then we’ll start to act the way God intended for us to act.

Temptation

All of us will be tempted at some point in our lives. We know that even Jesus was tempted. But, it becomes wrong when we give in to the temptation and do something we know isn’t right.

Temptation, always looks good at first. It could tempt us toward something we actually want to do, but in reality, it promises something that it can’t deliver.

When we give in to it, we buy into a lie. Temptation will lead you to do wrong. 

We need to learn to recognize when we’re being tempted to do something that we know isn’t right, and give it over to God. Only He can give us the strength to overcome.

He knows and He cares

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11

Way before you realize you have a need, God has already prearranged a provision for that need to be met. 

God knows what you’re going through and He cares. No matter what you have lost, you will see God’s Providence in your life. He will turn your deep sorrow into great joy. 

God desires to fill every valley, every emptiness, every hole that’s been carved in your heart. “No good thing will I withhold from you” says the Lord “I am your sun and I am your shield. 

Confidence

The truth is, you are stronger than you think you are and you know more than you realize. 

When you find yourself becoming unsure, let God give you peace and quiet assurance in your time alone with Him. 

You are who God said you are. You have what God said you have, and you can do everything God said you can do. 

Keep walking with Him and He will turn your uncertainty into confidence.

He loves you!!!

Pressure and decisions

Every decision you make is crucial to your next decision. They all tie in together in the end. 

If under pressure, what you may feel is right for the moment may in fact be a nightmare for your future; and may affect the rest of your life negatively. 

Slow down, pray, process, seek Godly counsel, receive the counsel, weigh the pros and cons, make sure it aligns with God's will over your life.... And then make the choice

It's important to put God first in all you do, so that your ways are directed properly.

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. http://bible.com/1/pro.16.25.kjv

Rooted and grounded

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” Colossians 2:6-7(NKJV).

We have roots that dig deep into our knowledge of God and who He is in our lives. 

It doesn’t matter what the enemy is TRYING to do, all that matters is what Jesus has ALREADY DONE on the cross! Let us not uproot and give up! We must hold on and become even more rooted and grounded in God’s love. We must plant our feet and be rock-solid believers. We must let His words permeate our heart and soul to the very core of who we are. When we do this, we will see that the enemy will not be able to win in our lives. 

Through Jesus Christ, we are victorious! We are overcomers! We are champions! God is greater than anything we will ever face in this life and with His help we can do all things!

Living by faith

“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:38, KJV)

God didn’t design living by faith to give you high blood pressure or to cause you panic attacks. Living by faith is not like a roller coaster that you just can’t wait to get off of.

Living by faith is like resting in a boat where it’s just you and God. He is doing the rowing and you are resting in His promises, resting in His Word, resting in His love as you let Him take you wherever He wants you to go.

The more you rest, the more He navigates you to victory. The more you entrust your entire well-being to God, the greater He can bless you and use you to be a great blessing.