Sharing Jesus with others

Every day we have an opportunity to show up and show God to the world. Every day we can be the best that we can be and represent the Lord the best way we know how. Every day we can go into God’s direction or we can choose our own way. Every day we can shine the light of the Lord or we can dim it by being more like the world. We have a choice every day. We have choices to make all day long. We take sides all day long. We can side with the Lord or side with the world. We can be on team Jesus or we can be on the world team. Our reaction to life matters. Our actions matter. They are a reflection of who we decide to side with. I have been working on making sure that I stay on the Lord’s side. I have been more aware of my actions, my reactions and my interactions. Are my actions showing that God is my Savior or am I acting like an unsaved individual? 

Am I reacting to life with faith, hope and love or do I get easily discouraged and give in to doubt and worry? Am I interacting with others showing them love or do I display hate and selfishness in my daily interactions? I want to show Jesus to the world. I want to be on the winning team and keep walking in the promises of the Lord. Life can be tough. You never know what’s going to happen but the Lord “happens” every day no matter what we are facing. When we choose to be on the Lord’s side and we walk in love despite the adversity, we always win. Love will always prevail. Jesus will always prevail. We ought to give Jesus and love to people in our lives. They are craving hope. They are craving grace and mercy. We are the ones who can distribute hope and hand out love. We are the imitators of Christ that people want to interact with. Let’s build ourselves up in the Lord so we can give hope to the world. Let’s choose Jesus all day long so we can be His light of love, peace and joy all day long.

“I choose Jesus” is a statement I make several times a day. I have to say it to myself when doubt arises and when difficulties come my way. Negative thoughts like to get in the way of that statement and they tell me that I make the wrong choice. They say that Jesus can’t help me or that I should give in to fear and hate. It is easier to hate others than to love them. When someone is mean to us, we tend to want to dislike them. I have seen it in my classroom when kids misbehave and are constantly disruptive. My flesh wants me to yell and get mad. I choose Jesus. I refuse to let the enemy get the best of me. The light of the Lord is more important than the acts of my flesh.

 I remind myself that I am here to portray love and to give Jesus to everyone including those obnoxious kids. I have found that the Lord’s love always reaches those kids. God always has the upper hand when I give in to His love. Some of the worst behaved kids need Jesus the most. They don’t need me to lecture them. They need to hear what God’s love has to say to them. I don’t preach to them and I don’t mention God. My actions speak louder than my words and my interactions with them make a big difference when I follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. Being Jesus to others sounds like a tall order but that is what we are here for. When we have that mindset, we help change minds and we set great things into motion. Like they say, you and I might be the “only Bible” some people will ever get to read. Let’s be sure we give them the right translation void of our own interpretation.

I spend time in prayer not just for myself. I praise and worship the Lord not just for myself. I build myself spiritually, not just for myself. I do it all because I know it will make a difference in the way I approach others. We can’t spend time with God on a daily basis and or be impacted by His presence. We can’t have a relationship with the Lord and not see our relationships with the world change in a positive way. We can’t receive love from the Lord and not give it away to the world. We receive from God so we can give God to others. Our blessings are meant to be shared with others. Our prayers are meant to also be about others. When we pray, God speaks and He doesn’t just speak about us. He speaks about what we can do for His kingdom. He talks about ways we can love others and ways we can help others.

 He is not a selfish God and He demonstrates His selflessness. He wants you and me to listen to what His love has to say. He loves everyone and He wants us to love everyone. He wants you and me to pray for the world. Every moment we spend one on one with the Lord is a precious time we can share with the world. I glean so much during prayer time and I do my best to give what I receive to others. When we choose Jesus and we side with Him, we choose to go into the world and share the good news of the Gospel. We don’t have to preach with Bible verses. We can preach with love and patience. Let’s give Jesus to the world and put away our own agenda. We are here to serve the Lord and serving Him happens when we walk in faith, we walk in love and we walk with others helping them and giving them hope. Let’s give Jesus to others all the time. It is the best way we can spend our time. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Timothy 1:8; 1 Peter 3:16-17

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Above the clouds

When I was flying back from the west coast last week, I kept looking at the clouds below us. There were beautiful clouds that formed a white carpet. The plane was in the bright sun and I enjoyed the warm light coming through. I loved being above the clouds and I enjoyed the scenery very much. I was closer to the sun. I was where everything was nice and bright. It made me think that I would like to stay above the clouds all the time and stare at the white peaceful carpet.  I am not talking about physically staying above the clouds but spiritually and emotionally. Being above the clouds is being where the Son is always shining. The Lord is above the clouds. He sits on His throne where there is always love, peace and joy. I want to stay where the Lord is. Above the clouds is my dwelling place. The place where hope is always shining. When we remain in the Lord, we remain above the clouds. There could be storms and heavy rain but we will rise above them and stay where there is sun, warmth and hope. Above the clouds is an abundance of hope. It is such a wonderful place to be and with faith we can stay there.

I have had a hard time staying above the clouds but I am learning how to remain in the Lord in every season. I am learning that my circumstances don’t have to dictate what season I am in. They don’t have to choose the weather of my life. Jesus chose where I should be and I am in agreement with Him. With Him the sun is always shining. It is such a hard concept to embrace when it is pouring in our lives but it is His reality and my goal is to make His reality mine every day. He never ceases to amaze me and I am grateful for His love and care. He loves us all so much that He can keep us above the clouds. It is not too hard for Him. Absolutely nothing is impossible to Him and that goes for the way we can react to life. He can help us react to life with a smile on our face and with hope in our hearts. He can give us the Sun when the world is presenting a dismal and gloomy image. The Lord can make us sit in heavenly places with Him where all is better.

As we were descending and getting ready to land, we encountered some bad turbulence. Turbulence is never good but it was particularly bad. I refused to panic. I decided to stay above  the clouds and claim that we were safe and that there was nothing to worry about. Sometimes we have to make ourselves stay above the clouds even when it is obvious we are going down. Going down doesn’t mean we are going to crash. It means that life is being capricious as it always will be but we can’t lose sight of the Lord. We can’t lose sight of the Son. In this life we will have trials and tribulations but we need to keep heart because the Lord has conquered the world. In this life there will be turbulence but we need to hang tight because the Lord has conquered the turbulence and He is keeping us where the sun is shining and blessings are all around. It rained when we landed but I thank the Lord for my life above the clouds. That is where it is and where it will remain in Jesus’ name. Stay strong with the Lord and stay above the clouds. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: John 14:27; John 16:33; 1 John 5:4

When you still believe

The world, life, the enemy and your mind will give you many reasons to stop believing in God. They will whisper lies after lies based on how things look. They will tell you a story that doesn’t take the Lord into consideration. They will say there is no God to save you. They will say that God had stopped caring. They will show you the suffering that is prevalent in the world and make you question God. There is a congregation that aims at hurting your faith and making you lose hope. That congregation mostly made of the usual suspects I previously mentioned should be dealt with. We can’t ignore them and hope our faith will stand strong or hope our faith will come back if it is gone. When you still believe despite the murmurs and the screams of the negative congregation, you are resisting the devil. When you resist him, he will flee. He will come back but your faith and your strong hope will send him packing every time. Still believe. Stand strong. Hush the negative voices and listen to the congregation from Heaven. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Listen to the Word of God. Listen to the hope of the world. Keep believing. Defy the odds with your faith. Keep pushing and keep resisting. When you still believe, you stand tall and you can see that you will make it in spite of your circumstances.

When you still believe, you are creating a foundation that becomes stronger and stronger over time. When you still believe, you are doing the right thing. When you still believe, you are giving yourself a chance to soar over the attacks of the enemy. The attacks will be there but you won’t care. You will still fly over the darts of the enemy and you will keep your eyes on the promised destination. When you still believe, you see Jesus as the giant of hope that He is. When you still believe, you praise and worship even when it hurts. When you still believe, you don’t spend time staring at the problems in your life. You spend time telling the problems in your life about the One who saved your life. When you still believe, you allow the resurrection power of the Lord to flow into your life. You allow power from Heaven to come and change your circumstances. When you still believe, you rise above the darkness and you walk in the valley of death with the confidence that God is with you and He won’t leave you. When you still believe, you are on the right side of the story. You are on the positive side where hope lives and God is all you see.  You understand that there are bumps on the road but those bumps don’t define your path. The path is clear. The path is clear for blessings to appear and you know that they will come. You still believe because Jesus is the best reason in every season of your life!

When you still believe, you irritate the enemy and you please God with your faith. You develop muscles of faith that can bench very heavy weights that life will throw your way. Your faith is not in vain. Your faith is not a waste. You still believe and you are building yourself up so you can be an even stronger beacon of hope for people in your life. You still believe and you still give hope. Keep trusting the Lord. Keep hoping and knowing that things will change and God is in charge. Don’t forget that every step you take is directed by the Lord. Keep walking. With faith you are going in the right direction.  When you still believe, you give God the green light to intercede on your behalf and do the impossible. When you still believe, you don’t hear the negative congregation too well but your ears are wide open to the hope of the Lord. Keep believing, friend. You are doing the right thing! May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Ephesians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Timothy 4:10

Do not lose heart

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”* It is so easy to lose hope and to get discouraged. When everything is not going my way, my mind tells me to throw in the towel and I want to take steps back in my faith walk. However, the Holy Spirit always intervenes and tells me not to lose heart. He tells me that today’s afflictions don’t compare to tomorrow’s joy. He tells me that despite the afflictions there is a lot of joy present today. He tells me that I need to take my eyes off of my problems and start staring at Jesus again.

 He tells me that what is to come is so much better and greater than anything I have experienced. He is full of encouragement and full of confidence. I love how confident in the good and the positive He is. He has no fear and He has no doubt about a better tomorrow. He is the best One to listen to in times of trouble and I pay attention to His words. Now, in His Word, we can find tons of encouragement. If you are going through a bad patch today, read the verses that I used to open my message. Read them over and over again. Meditate on them. Incorporate them into your thinking. Develop your faith in what they are telling you. They are words from the Holy Spirit that are meant to lift up your spirit and give you a boost.

God is always there to make you smile and to remove the frown from your face. He doesn’t believe in losing battles and He doesn’t believe in losing hope. You and I always have great things to look forward to even if today looks bleak and dismal. We have faith. Faith is a different pair of eyes. Faith is a different way to approach life. Faith is God’s truth conflicting with the world’s reality and you know what? Faith wins. God wins. You are on the winning team. Things are going to get better. Don’t get discouraged. Spend time with the best Encourager. Spend time in His Word and spend time in prayer. 

Spend time listening to the words that will change your day and that will reveal a better future. Discouragement tries to sing a sad song about our future. Discouragement has a bad refrain that is hard to get rid of but when discouragement comes, we can change the tune and play faith music. We can listen to the lyrics of the Word of God and dance to the rhythm of hope. Stay in the Lord. Stay close to His heart. Keep seeking His face. When you do, your spirit is renewed every day and it doesn’t matter what takes place during your day.

Your current suffering is transient. It might feel like it’s been going on for a while and it could have been with you for a while but there is hope. The Lord wants you to have hope. Just because you have been facing trials for a long time doesn’t mean that God can’t put a stop to them in no time. He can do the impossible. Your case is not a lost case. Think about the One who is telling you not to lose heart. He knows what He is talking about and He knows how to help you. He is going to help you. He is going to bless you. He is going to turn things around. Do not lose heart. Help is on the way. God will get in the way of what’s in your way. Hold on to hope. Hold on to Him. This is not the end. Good things are coming. 

Good things are in the oven for you and soon you will enjoy the delicious blessings that are waiting for you. You are preparing for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison like the Word of God says. Isn’t that encouraging? There are glorious moments coming your way. Not just when you go to be with the Lord. They will come and take place in your life. Keep believing. Keep trusting. Keep going. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Psalm 56:3; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18*; Galatians 3:26-27

Masterpieces of beautiful colors

I went to the Yale museum with colleagues a few weeks ago. I loved some of the paintings. I am always impressed by how artists can paint. They have a gift that I certainly don’t have. I love how they blend colors together and how they create masterpieces that are pleasant to the eyes. It makes me think about how God sees us as His masterpieces. He took His time when He created us. He painted beautifully and blended amazing colors together. His brush was perfect. His color scheme was perfect. His vision of us was perfect and according to Him, the result is perfect. I understand that it is not easy for us to see ourselves as masterpieces. Some would argue that it is arrogant of us to think we are God’s masterpieces. However, that is what He calls us and how He sees us. 

God is the painter, His love is the muse and we are the perfect creation. God painted you and me and He didn’t make mistakes. He didn’t make a single mistake. He didn’t look at us and said He needed to redo His work. He didn’t throw us away and started over. We are not drafts. We are the final product and we need to embrace the work of the Master. God says you are fearfully and wonderfully made. His talent made you beautiful. Do not let anyone convince you that you are a rough draft or that  you are not good enough. Do not let the world’s standards of beauty define you. You are the way the Lord made you and that is beautiful. His standards are the best standards. His standards are the truth. You are an amazing creation. Enjoy how the Lord made you. Discover how the Lord made you.

We try to change our appearance so we can be “more attractive.” What we need to do is explore how God created us. We need to ask Him to show us the beauty within and the beauty that is all over us. We need to ask Him to open our eyes to the colors of love that were used to create us. There are blends of unique tones and unique shades that make us who we are. We are blessed. We are favored and we are highly loved. Love was the main color that made us. Love was in every stroke of the brush of life that God used. Love is the essence of our creation. God loved you before you were born.

 God created you before you came into this world. He knew who you would be and what you would be like. God was intentional when He made you and His intentions were pure, holy and good. You are not a mistake. You were planned and designed to be the way you are. You are a child of God. Tap into that truth. Look at the portrait and stare at the love that is present in every corner of the frame of your life. You are a masterpiece of God. Thank Him for creating you. Thank Him for not making a mistake. Thank Him for loving you!

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”* As masterpieces of God, we were created to do good. We were created to do the work of the Lord. We were created to walk in love and to carry our cross. We were created to be blessings. We are blessed so we can bless others. We are loved so we can love others. We are made in the image of Christ so we can shine His light into the world. We are not masterpieces meant to stay on a shelf and gather dust. We are masterpieces that need to go places. We ought to show our true colors to the world so the world can learn about love and be blessed by the colors of hope that are in us.

 We have the colors that can paint the world around us and make it a better place. We have the colors that can turn a gray and gloomy day into a day of bliss and joy. We were painted so that the world would be a better place each time our colors are displayed for all to see. Friend, display the beautiful colors of love and hope that God used to make you. You are a masterpiece that brings joy and that brings peace. Keep coloring your world with the love of Christ. Enjoy the way the Lord made you and show Him off to the world. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you.

Suggested reading: Jeremiah 1:4-5; Psalm 119: 73-74; Ephesians 2:10*

The fruit of long-suffering

“Long suffering” is having or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people. It is part of the fruit of the Spirit. It is on the same branch as the fruit of patience. God is patient with each one of us and He calls us to be patient with others. He also invites us to be patient during trials and tribulations. We tend to fret and panic and lose hope when tribulations strike. The Lord is there to help us stay strong, stay patient and be filled with hope. God is the God of long suffering and He has given us this amazing attribute that we ought to tap into. Today I want to encourage you to be patient through affliction and to be patient with others. Patience is a fruit that can easily grow sour but you and I can be bearers of the ever sweet fruit of patience. When we stay in the Lord and we remain in His love, long suffering is a way of life. We can all adopt that lifestyle and stick with it. The world pushes us to want everything instantly but God is all about patience and waiting. Let’s wait. Let’s be patient. Let’s walk in love with everyone. Let’s cultivate the fruit of the Spirit. Long suffering is primordial. It allows us to be more like Christ. 

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” * God is not slow. I have to remind myself that what I perceive as slowness is often a blessing in disguise. Sometimes I want to rush God and then I find out there are many reasons why He is “slow” to answer my prayers. It is not that He cannot go as fast as I wish He did. He sees everything. He knows the whole picture. He knows what the steps are and there is a maturity process in most situations. That is why He goes slowly with me so I can keep up with the blessings and learn in the meantime. There are often lessons attached to His process and it is good to take our time and learn them. God has been so patient with me. I don’t know of anyone who can be that patient. He is never angry and He never loses His cool. He waits and waits and doesn’t lose hope. He knows that I will come around and He knows how to make it happen. Our patient God is amazing. Our long suffering God is divine in all His ways. He gave us the fruit of long suffering because it is how our lives can taste deliciously wonderful. We have wonderful lives. Not always based on world standards but based on God’s standards. Patience is one of His standards. 

Our lives in Christ are exciting. Every day as we pray and praise the Lord, we get a step closer to being more like Him. We are meant to be imitators of Christ who bring the good news of the Gospel to others and who walk in love every day. Love is patient. Love is slow to anger. Love is long suffering. We can’t walk in love and be impatient. Every time we lose our temper or we get mad at someone, we squash the fruit of the Spirit a little bit. We can repent and keep walking which is such a great gift. Long suffering is the descriptor that each believer should highlight in his or her character. This world needs love. This world needs long-sufferers who will take the time to spread love and to assist others on their journeys. We are those long-sufferers. We are blessed to have the fruit of the Spirit so let’s cultivate it and let’s feed it to others. May we stay strong in the Lord and be patient with ourselves and with others. May we remain patient even when things are going wrong. God has given us the ability to wait and to be long-sufferers under pressure. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Romans 5:3-4; Ephesians 4:2; 2 Peter 3:9*

Say so

If Jesus is your Savior, say so. Say it with your words and say it with your attitude. Say it with your life. Say it with your habits. Say it with your actions. There is so much we can say with how we approach life and how we live. Some of us plainly say that Jesus is our Lord. Some of us hesitate to say it every day. We have moments when saying it is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Then there are other times when saying it is very hard. We believe it but our actions say otherwise. Saying that Jesus is our Lord should be a daily declaration in our lives. We mean well. We want to say it with what we do and what we confess but the challenges of life change our speech. We fall into the trap of declaring defeat or declaring doubt. Life has a way of changing what we say. Life can be tough but our Lord is tougher. When the going gets tough, what we say with our lives should reflect the power of the Lord that is with us. We can speak of the Lord all the time. We can speak of His majesty and love through bad times and through good times. Today I am here to encourage you to say that Jesus is your Savior even when the enemy is wreaking havoc. Say it with your attitude. Say it with the way you react to the enemy’s attacks.

When I get up, I spend quality time with the Lord with praise and thanksgiving. It is one of the best times of the day and I make sure that I replicate it throughout the day. I speak Jesus into my day. I say that He is my King and my Savior. I speak faith. I confess the best things possible. I declare that His love prevails and that I was set free by His sacrifice on Calvary. I speak about His salvation and I fill my mind and my heart with hope and with joy. The start of my day is a powerful start and I am thankful to the Lord for it. It is when I step out of my prayer time that I have to watch what I do and what I say carefully. The goal is to keep saying and declaring that the Lord is my Savior despite what happens during the day. I love the Lord and I know I am nothing without Him so I say that to myself a lot. It helps me. It helps me let my actions speak loudly. I stand by my confession and I act accordingly. I try my best to react with faith. That is how I say that Jesus is my Savior. My mind pressures me at times and I need to prove that I believe without the shadow of doubt that Jesus will see me through the day. He is my Savior and I say so by standing in faith. I stand on His promises. I make it loud and clear by refusing to give up and refusing to fold. Friend, the enemy wants you to get discouraged and to declare that Jesus lost. He didn’t lose and He will never lose. Put that truth behind your faith and put action to your faith!

Jesus is your Savior all the time. Say so all the time. Don’t slip into the temptation to let doubt speak for you. You are more than a conqueror and you are an overcomer through the Lord your God. Act in faith. Speak in faith. Walk in faith. Take steps of faith every day. Don’t walk on the sidewalk of worry. Go to the main road. Stay on the main road of faith. Walk with the swagger of hope. Walk with your head up and your hopes up. Declare that the Lord is your refuge and your protector. Keep going. Keep believing. Keep saying that Jesus came to save you and you are saved indeed. Put all your trust in the Lord. Remain in Him and let Him remain in you. That is a great way to say that He is your Savior. Say so every day. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: John 15:7; John 15:10; 1 John 2:24

Keep expecting great things

Keep expecting from God. Keep expecting great things. Keep expecting the impossible. Keep expecting the incredible. Expand your faith. Expand your expectation bucket. Let God fill it up with great things that are out of this world. You are believing and trusting a God who is out of this world and who created the world. He can do much more than the eye can see. He is beyond your wildest imagination and He is a creator of huge dreams. Keep dreaming. Keep hoping in the Lord. Let Him take your small expectations and turn them into dreams that defy the imagination. God has plans for you and His plans are bigger than your agenda for your life. The enemy has his own agenda but don’t let his plans scare you. God is with you and His promises never fail. Keep expecting breakthroughs and wonders. The God of great wonders has many extraordinary things in store for you. Stay in His store where all is possible. Shop around with faith and take hold of your beautiful destiny.

Keep expecting miracles. Miracles didn’t die after Jesus ascended to Heaven. Jesus is with you every day. He is the God who never leaves. He is the God of miracles who never leaves. I wrote about this before. Jesus was not able to perform many miracles in His home town because not many people believed. Today Jesus can perform great miracles in your life. Believe that He can. Trust that His miracles are following you because Jesus is always with you. Stir up your faith and seek God’s face. His face is radiant and smiling with love and joy. His face is reassuring and His face is shining upon you. His miracles radiate in His love. He can do the impossible and when you keep seeking His face, His ability to do the impossible becomes a reality for you. Meditate on what God can do and He will show you that He can do more than the human mind can fathom. Share His mind. Share the mind of Christ by spending time in His Word and by praying. You will hear the impossible when you pray and God will make it possible for you. A lot of it has to do with your level of faith. God can increase your faith. Work with His Spirit. Surrender your thinking and He will renew your mind. Expect mind-blowing experiences with God. Great things can happen anytime with Him. He is with you all the time and His wonderful working power is available all the time.

Expect blessings be expected solutions. Life can be very hard. The enemy doesn’t take a break from assailing us in whichever way he can. However, we can be blessed in the middle of a bad break. Jesus also doesn’t stop from blessing us. Bad things happening doesn’t mean that we can’t be blessed. The Lord is an expert at blessing us despite our bad circumstances. Ask Him for a breakthrough. Ask Him for a blessing. Ask Him for a solution to your problem. Ask Him for an answer and expect big. Expect a big breakthrough. Expect a big blessing. Things can be very bad right now but with your faith expecting the best, everything will turn around. Don’t worry and don’t give up. Expect the opposite of what the negative thoughts are telling you. The God of miracles is working in your life and He adores you. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Deuteronomy 10:21; Luke 18:27; Acts 3:16

Affordable living

Do you ever think about what you can’t afford? Do you ever say to yourself, “I wish I could afford this and that?” Do you ever think you can’t afford a good living? You can afford a life of triumphs, victory, peace and overcoming. Jesus paid the price so you could afford a priceless life. He paid the price for a life where love wins, peace abounds and blessings are always present. Jesus conquered death on the cross. Jesus made it affordable for you to have an amazing life. Life in Christ is a life of hope and joy. You can afford that life at no cost. The Lord provided salvation and it is the best life you could have. Salvation is for here and now. It is not for later when you go and be with the Lord. The eternal life that was purchased at a high price is available today. You are living your best life now through Christ. You might say, “So how come I am facing so much opposition? How come I have so many trials and tribulations?”

Jesus said that in this life we would have trials and tribulations but we should be of good cheer because He has conquered the world. His life of salvation juxtaposed itself over the trials and the tribulations. Your daily trials and troubles don’t take away from the work that was done on the cross. You are still saved and you are still blessed. It is during those tough times that you need to hold on to the promise of a great life. Your life in Christ doesn’t take a break when the going gets tough. You can still claim victory. You can still claim blessings. You can still claim that you have an amazing life in Christ. You are highly blessed and highly favored. Don’t let today’s trials steal your peace and your joy. They will try. They will make you think that you are cursed or that you have a bad life. The battle is in your thinking. The battle is in your heart. When life wages war on the inside, be sure to speak victory and to speak Jesus over everything. That is when you experience victory on the inside and it shows on the outside.

Keep working on maintaining peace on the inside. Keep praying. Keep praising. Don’t give up. Jesus won. Your victory is here. Those thoughts of defeat and those bad circumstances won’t get the best of you unless you let them take away your faith. The promises of the Lord still stand so stand in faith. Faith is not easy but it is achievable in the worst conditions because during your worst times, Jesus is still your best bet. Rely on Him. Proclaim that you can afford peace. Proclaim that you can afford joy. You don’t have to pay for any of it. Jesus will always foot the bill. The only sacrifice you need to make is the sacrifice of praise. Praise can seem like a sacrifice when it is hard to praise God because of your difficulties. However, you have the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Start praising the Lord even if you don’t feel like it and you will see the beautiful life you have thanks to Christ.  He is the best part of your life. He is your life. He is the affordable life you have and He is not going to make you pay for anything.

Don’t let anyone and anything make you think that you can’t afford a good life. You have Jesus. You have all you need. His love is out of this world and it makes your life a living Heaven. Through thick and thin, Jesus is with you. He does life with you and He blesses you. You are highly loved and highly valued by the King of Kings. Thank Him for the life He gave you. This life is permanent. This life is full of amazing possibilities and great opportunities will always roll in. Stand your ground. Stay strong in your faith. Enjoy life in Christ every day. You can afford the peace that surpasses all understanding and the joy that is your strength. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: John 1:4; John 14:6; 1 John 5:20

The God who can turn it around

When I first got saved, I believed in the unbelievable. I had a strong childlike faith. I was young and I believed God could do anything. I expected miracles. Jesus saving my life was the biggest miracle of all. I never knew such a wonderful thing could happen so when it did, I was filled with a lot of hope. My life changed significantly for the best. I had something I had never had before. Hope was something new to me and it was amazing. I remember holding on to the scripture about our faith moving mountains. I thought it was the most powerful statement I had ever heard.

 I kept picturing mountains of difficulties being moved out of my life. I can still picture those mountains in my head. They looked massive but God was bigger. My God was huge. He was above anything that existed including mountains. No one and nothing I was familiar with could move mountains. My understanding was that God could move them. Then I realized that my mountains were not moving. The trials and tribulations in my life sat there like an oversized mount Everett. I couldn’t understand it. What was I doing wrong? What was God doing wrong? Were the mountains actually too big for my God?

My faith and my hope decreased. That mustard seed of faith became a speck of faith. It was invisible to my spiritual eyes. I was lost. I couldn’t see above the mountains. The mountains were unmovable. What had happened to my God? It took me a while to get to the point where my faith got strong enough. I was doing something wrong. My faith in God could move mountains and I had to focus on building it up. The mountains in my life were there to help me get my faith stronger. It took me years to come to that conclusion. God was not weak. God was still able to do the impossible. I just let my circumstances blind me to the truth of the power of God. I had to pump up that seed of faith and make it bigger.

 I expected God to do all the work. He expected me to have faith and to maintain my faith no matter what. He showed me that He could turn around the worst situations. I experienced losses, failures and bad breaks. However, I had the God who could turn anything around. He was the God of the breakthrough, the God of miracles, the God who can do anything. I kept believing. I kept trusting that the mountains would be removed. The enemy kept telling me that those mountains were too high. The Holy Spirit kept telling me that no mountain was too high for my God. The enemy presented all situations as irreversible circumstances. God kept telling me He could turn anything around. I kept listening to the Lord. I kept going. He kept delivering.

Friend, the God who can turn it around is your God. Your mountains are not an obstacle to Him. The dilemma and the problems you are facing are not too difficult for Him. He can take your situation and make it something amazing. He can make a path in the middle of the wilderness and turn your dry season into a rainy forest of blessings. Give Him your circumstances. Expect Him to turn things around. Expect Him to remove those mountains. 

Expect Him to do it easily. It could take some time but God is always on time. He will turn around the things that your mind says are irreversible. He is an expert at that. No matter what you are facing today, God can turn it around. Remember that every day. Miracles still take place. Mountains are still being moved. Good things are still here today. Your God is still on the throne and He is still in charge of you. Stay strong. Stay in faith. God will turn it around. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Matthew 17:20-21; Matthew 21:2; Mark 11:23