Stay calm during the storm

A few weeks ago I had to travel internationally. I was very excited about the trip since I had not been abroad much due to the current situation. I took a shuttle to the airport with three other passengers. On the way to the airport, we got a flat tire. That really put a damper on the trip. We were on the side of the road for about 45 minutes while the driver tried to replace the tire. We helped him but it was a bit challenging. My mind kept telling me that I was going to miss my flight. My spirit kept telling me to stay calm. This bad event was definitely a storm but the Lord wanted me to stay calm during that storm. My spirit was in agreement with the Holy Spirit but I had to keep my mind in check. I find the joy of the Lord in my heart. I quoted the Bible in my head and kept saying that the Lord had me in the palm of His hand. I kept saying that He would never leave me nor forsake me. I silenced the storm by speaking out for Jesus in my head. I spoke up for Him by repeating what He had to say about my circumstances. The peace that ensued was out of this world. My brother texted me and I didn’t mention what was going on because I didn’t want panic to escalate. God was keeping me calm and that was what really mattered.

When Jesus’ disciples were on a boat and there was a storm, Jesus kept on sleeping. He was not bothered by the storm one bit. His peace and His stillness are available today. Jesus can give us the peace we need in the middle of the worst stormy events of our lives. I know it sounds impossible at times. I know it seems to be too much to handle at times but the Lord of Lords can handle anything and He can provide the serenity we need no matter how big the storm is. When we were on the side of the road, the Lord softly whispered to me that I had to praise. I sang a few songs in my head and the joy increased. I found myself to be in the right place. It looked like I was going to miss my flight but at the same time, I was very content to just be there in the moment with the Lord. That is when I knew that everything was going to be alright because I was filled with peace and my mind wasn’t controlling me. The peace of the Lord is amazing and it can change our way of thinking and affect our moods in a very positive way. I chose to hold on to the peace of the Lord and tried to share that peace with the other passengers.

The tire was eventually changed and we got on our way. One of the passengers said she was going to miss her flight because now there was more traffic than before. The other two passengers, unfortunately, missed their flights. I got to the airport 20 minutes before they closed the check-in counter for my flight. There was a long line of people in front of me and I asked a gentleman who worked there to help me. He said he couldn’t and I felt panic rising up in me. I even thought to myself that I should just give up but the Spirit said “Don’t give up. Don’t you give up.” Five minutes later, a lady asked if anyone was on the 9:30 pm flight. I said that I was on that flight and she got me to the front of the line. When the Lord comes in, friend, He will get you to the front of the line if you trust Him and you stay calm. I could not have made it without the assistance of the Holy Spirit and the whole experience emphasized the importance of staying calm and trusting the Lord. You might be going through a storm now. You might be left on the side of the road and you might not know where your help will come from. It will come from the Lord. Stay in faith. Remain calm. Give that storm to the Lord and praise Him. God will help you. God will calm the storm. Stay encouraged! May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Isaiah 26:3; John 14:27; 1 Peter 5:7

You are justified

Yesterday I woke up to a beautiful message from the Lord. He whispered it softly to my heart. He said “You are justified.” I meditated on those words to get the meaning behind them. He explained that when we walk in faith, when we walk in love, when we walk in peace, when we bring joy, we are justified. Our faith is justified. Our love walk is justified. We have the right to pursue love, to walk in faith and to try to be at peace with everyone. Jesus, our Savior, is our justification. He justifies it all. We are not doing anything in vain. We are never wasting our time. We are never doing the wrong thing when we are doing what the Lord tells us to do in His Word. Today I want to relay this message to you and tell you that you are doing the right thing. You are advancing the kingdom of God every time you do God’s will. There is a major justification attached to all the good you are doing in this world so keep doing it. Keep being love, joy, peace and faith to this world that is hurting so badly.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”* One thing that I think is important to remember is that because we have faith, we are connected to God. Our faith is our entryway to a relationship with God. Without faith we can’t please God and without faith we can’t know God. It is not that God is mad at us if we don’t believe Him. It means that faith is the bridge between God and us and we are justified by that bridge. Faith is what allows us to have this life with God. Faith is the explanation for this relationship, this covenant. Faith makes it possible for us to communicate with God. Faith makes it all happen. Faith is the validation of our lives in Christ. You have the right to rejoice and to thank God for this great relationship that you have. You should also do your best to develop a bond with God. Your faith is your justification for the growth of your relationship with God. The enemy will try his best to convince you that you can’t talk to God, that you shouldn’t pray or that God is not listening to you. Those are lies. You are justified by your faith. You have access to the Father and God listens to you. 

God’s number one commandment to us is to love Him and to love others as ourselves. This great commandment is also a justification for our actions. We are encouraged to walk in love with everyone even with those that are hard to love. The other big part of this commandment is that if we are to love God, we are to follow Him and to abide by His Word. All the wonderful encouragement and recommendations in the Word of God are for us. “Seeking God’s kingdom” first should be our reality. We can do it and we should do it. Praying, praising the Lord, interceding for others, spreading love, spreading joy and making sure that people are blessed are all ways we can seek the kingdom of God and we are justified in all of them. I have been through seasons when I was a bit discouraged because I didn’t see the fruit of what I was doing. I wanted results. I wanted to see the positive effects of my actions but nothing was happening. I had the wrong mindset. It is not about seeing things develop in the natural. It’s about doing what we are justified to do and doing it in faith knowing it before seeing any of it.

Keep doing what you are doing for the Lord and for others, friend. You are justified. You are doing the right thing. You are bringing peace into this world and you are touching lives. Keep your eyes on Jesus and keep the Word of God in the middle of your heart. Work with the Spirit of God and keep pushing love into this world. It is people like you that make a difference every day and what you are doing to advance the kingdom of God doesn’t go unnoticed. Stay strong and keep going. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Romans 3:24-26; Romans 5:1*; 1 Corinthians 1:30

God’s first responders

I have been really into first responders shows on tv. It is not just because of my appreciation for the hard work that those people do in real life but I recently understood why I have a heightened interest in those shows. As Christians we are God’s first responders or at least we should be. A first responder is a professional trained to respond to crises that could be medical or environmental. A first responder is trained to respond to an emergency. As doers of the Word of God, we are trained. We are trained to love and care for others. We are trained to walk in faith and to be providers of hope. We are trained to walk in the power of the fruit of the Spirit. That training is crucial and if we don’t abide by the Word of God, we will fall short of that training and we will not know how to respond to all the situations around us. I want to be a first responder of the Lord. I want to be out in the field and help as many people as possible. The field is not necessarily a country far away. We have a field where we live. People need help everywhere. There are emergencies everywhere and all the time. Look around you and you will see people that need love, that need hope, that need comfort. You could be the responder that your neighbor needs or that a family member needs. Today I want to encourage you to keep getting trained by the Word of God and to look for opportunities to respond to someone’s emergency by being the person the Lord wants you to be.

When we get saved, the Spirit of God comes and dwells in us. We are blessed by His presence and we can be led by the Spirit if we yield to His guidance. I think that there is a need to learn more about the Holy Spirit and what He does in our lives. I have seen many people left to their own devices not knowing that the Spirit of Jesus was in them and not ever communicating with Him. Growth and maturity in the Spirit can take place when we are willing to be students of the Holy Spirit. When we put our trust in Him and we let our ego take a backseat, great things happen. What happens is that we become more like Jesus. The fruit of the Spirit can develop in us. It is that fruit that equips us with all the power we need  to face the harsh realities of life and to respond properly to emergencies. Love, faith, hope, peace and patience are all amazing tools that we have at our disposal. They give us what it takes to make a difference in this world. When we walk in the Spirit, there are no crises that we can’t face and nothing is insurmountable. We become God’s first responders and all we want to do is help. God is looking for people who are going to be in the forefront of the battles of faith and who are going to walk the walk and talk the talk and be who Jesus inspires them to be. Are you up for the challenge?

A first responder is not afraid to give a hand and to take on tough challenges. Why? Because he or she knows she can make a difference. See yourself as the first responder of the Lord that you are and know that you can make a difference. Not because of who you are but because of the One who lives in you. We are vessels of love and it is high time we started pouring the love of the Lord into the lives of people that surround us. Let’s respond to emergencies with Jesus. He should always be our first response and our first instinct. What would Jesus do? What would Jesus say? The Word gives us the answers. Love is the first gift we should hand out. Love is the first offering we should give to others. Love died for us so we could give love to the living and be willing witnesses to its power. There is power to heal, to restore, to mend and to make positive changes in love. I have noticed that first responders usually don’t discriminate or judge people. They treat anyone in the hospitals. They save anyone that needs saving and we can do the same thing even more because of the love of the Lord. I pray that you get to be the first responder God designed you to be. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Exodus 15:2; Proverbs 18:10; 2 Corinthians 12:9

Going down God’s memory lane

Dwelling on the past is not a good thing most of the time. It doesn’t help us move forward. However, there are times when we need to go down memory lane so we can keep going on our journey. There are times when we should go down God’s memory lane and look at what He has done in our lives. I used to forget about God’s blessings once they took place. I used to be in awe of His goodness and mercy but then I would go on my merry way and move on to the next blessing. I never really went back and thanked Him for what He had done. In most recent years, the Lord has shown me that it was very helpful to go back in time and see how He had come through. When you think about it, reading your Bible takes you back in time. We read stories that unfolded a long time ago. Now, one of the powerful aspects of those stories is that they inspire us today. What God did in the Bible He can still do today. His miracles are still relevant. His loving kindness still makes sense today. His hope is still alive. His peace and His joy are still available. Reading the Bible is going down God’s memory lane and giving strength to our faith. We need the Word of God today and every day. I want to invite you to go down God’s memory lane and see what He teaches in His Word and revisit His blessings in your life. They will give your faith a boost and they will exalt the Lord.

When I am facing a tough situation, my first instinct now is to thank the Lord that He will get me through it. During prayer I am often reminded of some of the past miracles and breakthroughs in my life. It helps a lot. God will do it again. He did it before and He will do it again. Nothing can stop His hand from blessing us and our faith can get us to a place where the blessings are coming down and situations get resolved. We have to maintain our faith and keep it strong. Those old memories of God’s intervention come in very handy. It doesn’t mean that God will do exactly the same thing He did in the past. He can do anything at any time so we can’t expect the same breakthroughs but we can expect Him to show up. We can expect blessings and we can expect help. God is extremely good at helping. He is the inventor of help. He created help. He gives it in the most unusual ways at times and we should have faith that He will do the impossible in our lives. Going down His memory lane is a great exercise, a great habit to have and a welcome boost to our faith.

Going down God’s memory lane reinforces our faith and it gives us more reasons to praise Him. We should always have a celebration attitude in our spiritual walk. It is the lack of praise and celebration attached with thanksgiving that kills our spiritual lives. I find that the more I thank the Lord, the closer I am to Him. The more I celebrate the Lord, the more His joy becomes my strength. Going days without praising the Lord or thanking Him is very detrimental to our faith. We wonder why things are not happening or moving in the right direction at times. We have to check our praise bank. Is it full or do we need to replenish it? Praise is a language of love directed to God. Some of the past blessings in my life fill me with so much gratitude that praise oozes out of my pores. Some of the accounts in the Bible set praise in motion in my heart. I spend some time reading the Word when I pray and I get so excited about the goodness of God. Praise Him for what He has done. Praise Him for what He is doing today and praise Him for what He will do tomorrow. Dwell on the good things of the Lord because they help your faith. Don’t dwell on the ordeals and the negative experiences. Dwell on Jesus. He will always get you through anything. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Numbers 6:24-26; Ephesians 1:3; James 1:17

Finding peace through the Word of God

Lean back and relax in the arms of the Lord. I know it’s easier said than done but it can be done. The Lord invites us to cast our cares upon Him and to rely on Him at all times. We can take a seat and enjoy His presence at the table of blessings and love He has laid in front of us. The truth is that the table is always there but our minds take us somewhere else from time to time. We go places where God is absent and where worry is everywhere. It is a battle of the mind and a chase for our hearts. The enemy is chasing after our hearts. God is always after our hearts ready to pour peace and love into them. I want to sit at the table of the Lord in peace and enjoy His amazing company. It is my deepest desire and it is becoming more and more of a reality.

 I relax in the Lord by reclining on His promises and He rocks me on the chair of serenity. Every word out of His mouth is like a lullaby that puts my fears to sleep. My goal is to not wake them up and to suppress them with the Word of God. Friend, the Word of God can help us relax in the arms of the Lord. His Word is all we need to to have a successful life in Him. It is where peace lives and where hope is dominant. His Word can renew our minds and give us the strength to keep going. His Word is the peace the world desperately needs. Today I want to encourage you to be readers, students and doers of the Word of God. You will be able to rest in the presence of God and you will receive all the desires of your heart.

Most of the time before I read the Bible I pray. I pray the Holy Spirit would open the eyes of my understanding and that I would get the revelation I need. I pray that I would take myself out of the equation and let God be my main denominator while I navigate through His Word. The Holy Spirit is there to assist us and to guide us through the mysteries of the Lord. He is the best counselor and the best helper. We don’t count on Him enough. He is a Person and He knows everything there is to know about God and He knows how to explain it to us. I love that we have the Spirit of Jesus in us and I talk to Him and communicate with Him every day. 

One thing He has been telling me is to dive into the Word with faith knowing that I will hear from Him and that His wisdom will strengthen my faith. It is amazing how eloquent and chatty He is. When I am well-rested, His messages flow beautifully like a river with no reservoirs that block it. The flow of the Spirit is encouraging and it transforms us. Our minds can be changed when we stay in the Word and we have a lot of peace because what we read was inspired by the Spirit of truth and where there is truth there is freedom. The freedom of the Lord brings peace.

When we read the Word of God intentionally and we know that transformation will come, we have to keep in mind that we have to be doers of the Word and not just listeners. Everything the Holy Spirit shows us when we read the Word can be applied into our lives and we can go from glory to glory as we abide by the Word and put it into action. The Spirit will remind us throughout the day about the Word. He is very gentle so His reminders can be faint but anything that softly pushes us toward Jesus and that motivates us to do what He says in His Word is from the Spirit. As a doer of the Word, we will walk in love. It is one of the central messages of the Word of God. Walking in love and walking in peace with others provide a lot of peace. We give peace and God gives us a big dose of peace. Walk like Jesus and you will never run out of blessings! 

His walk is outlined in His Word and it guarantees peace and joy and blessings from Heaven. Be more preoccupied with walking the walk than with gaining from the world. When we do God’s will we can think about how blessed we are going to be. It is very true but it shouldn’t be our focus. Jesus and His Word should be the focus. When we seek the kingdom first, everything else is added unto us. Relax in the arms of the Lord by staying in His Word and by being a doer of His Word. Keep walking and keep showing love. The peace you will have will be out of this world. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Psalm 4:8; Psalm 72:7; Romans 5:1

God is in control

“God is in control and He cannot fail.” This powerful declaration is what I want you to use all day. I want you to say it boldly when you are doing well and when worry is attacking you. You have nothing to worry about because you have the Lord. It is easier said than done at times but it is the ultimate truth. We get so used to worrying that we almost find it comforting. It doesn’t seem normal not to worry. We use the excuse that we are human after all. Yes, we are human and worry is part of our human DNA but greater is the One who lives in us than all the worries of the world. When we let worry dominate our thinking, we go back to our old ways. We are new creatures in Christ and as born again believers, we are blessed with the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. Now, we have to live our lives with the awareness of the Spirit in us and we need to let go of our old thinking patterns. We are encouraged to renew our minds. That is an ongoing process. We can’t be soft when it comes to our thinking. We should be alert and we should keep working on it. When we say that God is in control and He can never fail, we are pushing worry away and we are remodeling our thinking. There is not enough room for God and for worry in our heads. That is how we should look at the situation. One of the two will take up more space than the other. Let it be God. Let it be God all the time. We can win the battle of the mind when we constantly put God first and declare His majesty and power over everything.

God is in control. He knows exactly what He is doing. He can do all things. He has an amazing plan for all of us. His plan is for us to have life and to have it in abundance. Think about all the good things God has done for you. Think about the peace, the love, the joy and the faith He wants you to experience. Yes, you can have faith. Faith is one of the desires of God for your life. He wants you to walk in faith all the time. Faith pleases God. Faith connects you to God. Faith shows you God. Faith reminds you over and over that God is in control. Faith is one of your best friends. Hang out with faith. Spend a lot of time with Jesus and your faith will get stronger. Time spent with the Lord means time spent away from worry. There is this one praise song, there is this one prayer that can dissipate all fear and encourage you in the Lord. God is in control and you don’t have to try to figure everything out. He has the solution to all your problems. He has the perfect setup for your next miracle. He can move things around so you can find peace in the middle of confusion. His hand can reach you wherever you are. He is in control all the time and everywhere. There is more that He can do than you will ever imagine. Stretch your faith. Stretch your thinking. Declare with boldness that God can do all things. Declare with boldness that nothing can get in His way. Declare with boldness that God is going to make a way for you today. There is nothing to worry about!

God cannot fail. Do you know how many times I have failed in my life? Too many times to count. As a kid I used to fail Math tests from time to time and I was very discouraged. Those Math problems didn’t make sense to me. Those equations were too difficult to solve. God can solve all problems. God makes us win. He takes our failures and turns them into successes. God is a master at doing things right. When we give Him the pen, He writes beautiful paragraphs into our lives. When we give Him control, He makes everything perfect. All He asks is that you and I trust that He is in control and that His ways are higher than our ways. Worry doesn’t help. Worry doesn’t move the hand of God. Worry doesn’t get us closer to God. Worry clouds our judgment and it prevents us from hearing from God and from receiving from God. Attack your worries and fears with the Word of God. Be relentless. Keep speaking God’s sovereignty over your life. You have nothing to fear. God is in the house and He has closed the door so the enemy can’t get in. Believe Him. He is keeping you safe and He is pouring blessings into your life. Stay encouraged! May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Luke 12:25; Matthew 6:27; 1 John 4:4

The giver and the thief

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”* The enemy is a thief who only wants to steal, kill and destroy. That is what defines him. He doesn’t take a break from those cruel activities. He will never change and he will never stop. Now, we have the Lord who is the opposite. He gives life, He restores and He rebuilds. He will never change and He will never stop giving. He is the ultimate giver who can give us back what the thief has stolen and more. Jesus destroyed the works of the devil by dying on the cross and coming back to life. That power that nullified the enemy’s power is still alive today. We can tap into it with faith and we can thank God for it all the time. It doesn’t mean that the enemy can’t steal from us or that he can’t destroy things in our lives. He is relentless and he will try whatever he can. That is why the Bible tells us to be alert and to stay in faith. Faith is our protection and our safety net. Faith in Jesus guarantees that we get back what is taken. I have had a lot of things taken through the years just like anyone. Things happen. The enemy happens but so does Jesus. Jesus will give over and over again even when we don’t ask for anything. Let’s stick with the giver. Let’s not bow down to the thief in fear. With Jesus we are all set. We have nothing to worry about and nothing to fear.

Have you ever heard of a thief who keeps stealing from the same house? I would think that it is rare but it is standard for the enemy. He comes back all the time. He doesn’t want our house to be at peace. When we chase him out, he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t learn his lesson. He shows up again. He doesn’t always come after a great prayer session, a beautiful praise session or after a victory. He comes when we are at our lowest. When we are tired. When we have a lot going on. He takes advantage of our weaknesses and he inserts himself into our lives with more chaos. When the devil tried to tempt Jesus in the desert, it was at the end of His fast. It was at a time when He was hungry and tired. However, the Lord had what it took to face the enemy. He used the Word of God and the devil left Him. We have the same Word and we can use it when the enemy tries to steal our joy, our peace and our sanity. The Word of God will also put the enemy down and make him go away. Resist the devil and he will flee. The Bible is what allows us to resist the devil. Knowing it well is crucial because you never know when you are going to need to quote a scripture that will cripple the enemy.

As a kid I was scared of thieves. I was petrified by the idea of someone sneaking into my house and stealing from my family. I lived in fear with that thought for a few years and the thought never came to pass. It was just in my mind and it debilitated me for no reason. The enemy does that. He works on our minds and creates problems that don’t exist. Oftentimes fears are based on ideas that marinate in our heads but that never yield anything concrete. We can live in fear of many things that will only live inside our minds. The enemy wants to steal our peace and our minds are his battlefield. The Word of God declares that we can share the mind of Christ. Sharing His thoughts is the best way to live. He will drop His thoughts into your mind and into your spirit when you are attached to Him and you keep following Him despite everything. Remember that He is a giver and He will give you peace. He will give you joy. He will give you strength. He will give you comfort. He will give you laughter. He will give you smiles. He will give you bliss and He will give you a mountain of blessings. Don’t worry about the thief. Jesus is in the house and He is guarding you. Stay in faith. Resist the enemy with the power of the Word of God. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: John 10:10*; Acts 3:21; James 4:7

Cry out to God

Before I started writing this message, the Lord led me to read Psalm 22. In this Psalm, David is agonizing over his current situation. He feels like God has abandoned him. He feels alone and he sounds very defeated. He cries out to God because he knows that is the best thing to do. Note that despite the suffering and the desperation, David cries out to God and declares that God will hear him. He first has what I call a very human moment. He is down in the damps and he is discouraged. He talks about all the things that are going wrong in his life and he underlines his bad circumstances. People mock him. People insult his God and try to make him doubt that God will save him. However, David continues to profess that God is his strength. He continues to ask God to come to his rescue. He cries out to God with hope reminding God that He had done it before and He can do it again. You might be having a very human moment right now. You might have hit rock bottom. You might not be able to reach God because you feel like He is too far. Cry out to God! Be like David. Proclaim that God is still your strength. Rise above your feelings. Rise above the circumstances. Speak God’s truth over your situation. Cry out to God. He hears you and He will come to your rescue.

It is ok to have human moments. No one is born a superhero. No one can make it in this world without the help of the Lord contrary to popular belief. We are humans. He is God. He carries us and He helps us but we have to deal with our human feelings, emotions and limitations. We have to recognize that we need the Lord. He is our helper and our deliverer. David saw his limitations.  I can only imagine how bad he felt. Many of us have been there. Many of us have felt the agony that is caused by tough life events. There are many Davids among us. Now, the great news is that since David, Jesus came. Jesus is our strength. He bridged the gap between the Father and us. We, like David, can cry out to God but we have the most powerful intercessor, King Jesus. We ought to pray in the name of Jesus. We should remind ourselves that Jesus paid the price and He has united us with the Father. Our cries to God are never in vain and they are even more powerful because of Jesus. Friend, have your human moment but remember that Jesus is your Savior and there is always hope. Cry out to God and hope for His best!

Crying out to God implies being vulnerable and humbling ourselves. I used to try to do things on my own until I realized that God’s way was the best way. I often don’t understand Him. His ways are way higher than our ways and so are His thoughts but He always knows better and He does everything well. When you cry out to God, you cry out to the One who never fails. You are at your wits’ ends but the Lord is there to help you and to get you through anything. Cry out with the conviction that God is listening and He will not let you down. David understood the power of His testimony. He relates how God had saved Him. Add the power of your testimony to your cry out to God. Cry out, pray and then tell people about the goodness of God in your life. Sometimes you are the only person you should tell about God’s ability to save you so you can boost your faith. Praise the Lord. David praised the Lord even though he needed deliverance. That was a great demonstration of faith. Your cry to God should be accompanied with praise. Your cry should turn into a song of hope and reverence. God hears you, friend. Don’t give up. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will never leave you!

Suggested reading; Psalm 22; Psalm 111:1; Romans 5:2-7

What happens when you know the truth

The other day when I was praying, I kept hearing, “Hold on to the truth.” It was a gentle message that came to me a few times even after praying. The truth is so important. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. It also says that we will know the truth and the truth shall set us free. Jesus is the truth that sets us free. The more we know Him, the more we know the truth. How can we get to know Jesus? Like I often say, we can find Jesus in the Word of God. It is the first place we should look for Him. Knowing Him is not an impossible task. We ought to spend time in the Word and we should also get close to Him outside the Word. I love that the Word of God is the Word of truth and it is the most powerful written text. What I also am aware of is that we can’t leave the Word of God on the pages of the Bible. We have to live it out. We have to be doers of the Word and we have to apply the Word to our lives. We need to take Jesus out of the print and print Him into our lives so that every page of our existence has Jesus on it. The truth shouldn’t stay closed up in the Book. It has to come to life and our faith can make that happen. Today I want to encourage you to know the truth. Don’t just be familiar with it. Know it intimately. Know Jesus and you will stay grounded in the truth.

What happens when we know the truth? The Bible says we are set free because we come out into the light of truth. There is so much darkness around us but Jesus is the light that dissipates the darkness. When we know Jesus, we are enlightened. We can live better. We can act better. We can think better. We can love better. We can walk better. When we know the truth, we know how to live in Christ. I can’t believe I spent so many years in the dark before I knew the Lord. I have to confess that even after I got saved I wasn’t familiar with the truth. I wasn’t well-acquainted with Jesus. My mistake was that I knew Him through other people. I knew Him through sermons and messages but I didn’t have a connection with Him. The truth can only set us free if we engage with it and we interact with it all the time. Can we know the entire truth about everything? We can’t but we can get close to Jesus and know Him the best we can. If we draw close to Him, He will draw close to us. He will show us the truth in all things. His truth is supreme. His truth is more powerful than all the lies of the enemy. Jesus defeated the enemy. His truth defeated all the negativity of the enemy. Jesus brings freedom. He is freedom. Don’t let the lies of the enemy keep you in a jail of fear.

I was set free by the Lord. There is no doubt in my mind that He is my Savior. However, I have had to remain close to the truth. It is very easy to distance ourselves from the Lord. We get bogged down by life and we lose sight of God’s goodness when things go wrong. The good news is that the truth never changes. Jesus is always the same. We should remember that the truth doesn’t change. The truth is that Jesus came to save the captives free and to heal the broken-hearted. When we know that truth and we believe it wholeheartedly, we can walk with confidence and hope. When you know the truth, you don’t live in the prison of doubt. When you know the truth, you are aware of the Lord in you. You know that greater is the Lord that is in you than the devil that is in this world. When you know the truth, you don’t let negative thoughts get you down. You understand the authority of the name of Jesus and you rebuke bad thoughts and you reject failure. When you know the truth, you know that nothing is impossible with God and you are filled with joy. When you know the truth, peace is your friend and joy is your middle name. Know Jesus, know the truth. Put on the belt of truth wherever you go. With Jesus you are always free. Enjoy the freedom of His truth. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: John 8:32; John 14:6; Ephesians 6:14

10 nuggets of wisdom for your Saturday (Part 191)

Who is the giant in your life? Is it doubt? Is it worry? Let Jesus be the giant in your life. Let Him dominate all circumstances and He will take down anything that tries to be bigger than Him in your life.

Great things happen to those whose hope in the Lord. What are you expecting today? Expect peace that surpasses your understanding. Expect love that resurrected for you. Expect joy that is your strength. Expect God to bless you and carry you today!

Today your mind might be a battlefield. The battle of the mind can be intense. Overcome it with God’s Word and with the joy of the Lord. There is so much good in your life. Don’t let negative thoughts steal that away from you. You got this in Jesus’ name!💪🏻

When you wake up in the morning, the Lord is with you. When you spend the day rejoicing or dragging, suffering or healing, the Lord is with you. When you go to bed at night, the Lord is with you. All day long the Lord is with you. Don’t fear. Don’t worry. You are in great company all day long!

Don’t wait for miracles to manifest tomorrow. Manifest them today. Your faith makes a way. Your miracles are here today. Jesus paid the price so you can have a free pass and free access to breakthroughs and blessings. Stay in faith!

If the negative wind of change blows in your direction, turn away from it. Look away. Look to Jesus. He will change the course of time.

God can accomplish more in one minute than the devil can ruin in a lifetime. Keep trusting God. He will turn things around. Stay encouraged!

Don’t let the imbalance of this world topple your hopes. Don’t let the foolishness of this world rob you of wisdom. Don’t let the confusion of this world diminish your faith. Don’t let the enemy in this world make you believe that Jesus is defeated. Don’t let this world be bigger than the Lord in you!

It’s not hard for God to love you. He adores you. He loves you the way you are and He wants to bless you and help you be all you can be. You were fearfully and wonderfully made. You are exceptional in God’s eyes. Enjoy the exception that you are! Enjoy your life with the One who took time to create you. He will always love you!

Stand still and let God fight your battles. Give up control. Give God permission to take over. He will bless you more than you can bless yourself. He will win every battle and give you a victory that you couldn’t manage on your own. God can do it all. Trust Him!

Suggested reading: Hebrews 11:1; Ephesians 3:16-17; James 1:16