When our eyes are on Jesus

When I was praying yesterday morning, the Lord made a powerful comment. He said deep down inside, “Your eyes are on your problem.” He pointed out that I had been staring at my problem for too long and because I was focusing on it, I wasn’t seeing Him as clearly. It was as if I was zeroing in on the negativity instead of fixing my eyes on the One who can do all things. His reminder stopped me. It shook me and it put me back on the right path. I had not really paid attention to what I was concerned about. I knew something seemed off and I was a bit distant from the Lord. My focus was the issue. My focus was hurting me more than I had realized. 

When we stare at something, when we intensely look at something, we engage in it with other senses. We often engage with our hearing. For instance when we look at someone, we often listen to them. We engage with our hearing. I was looking at my problem and I was listening to what it was telling me. It was telling me that financially things were going to fall apart. It was telling me lies that I listened to even though I knew the truth. Our minds can take us down the wrong path and then it is like a slipping slope and we head to the bottom of the valley. The Lord is the best comforter there is and His words blessed me.

What are you staring at the most? What are you giving your undivided attention to? Are you looking at your problems too much? Are you letting them speak to you and get under your skin? Our minds are powerful instruments of peace or chaos. They can steer us in the direction of faith or take us down the road of fear. When we stare at Jesus and we don’t stop looking at Him, everything else fades away. Our spiritual eyesight is focusing on the truth. We don’t care about the trials and the tribulations as much. Our problems don’t change God. God changes our problems.

 Focus on the issue will not solve the problem. It will amplify it and give it the power to dominate our thoughts, our words and ultimately our lives. Jesus should be the common denominator in all areas of our lives. He should be the One we relate to, talk to, trust and rely on. When we add Him into all the equations of life, we get great results. There is always a positive outcome. Today I want to encourage you to take your eyes off of your problem. Don’t ignore it but let it be in the background. Let God be in the forefront of your mind. Focus on His love. Focus on His goodness. He is the One who truly matters and the One who can change every matter of life.

Take the time to see what you are meditating on the most. If Jesus is not the focal point, make a change. Hit your negative thoughts with praise. Make Jesus the center of your attention by praising Him. Have a praise session. Have a Jesus session. Distract your mind with the right thoughts. Distract your mind with the right song. Sing. Praise. Speak over your life. Speak Jesus over your situation. That helped me tremendously yesterday. I spoke Jesus. I engaged with another sense. I stared at Him and I spoke about Him. I made my voice louder than the fear by proclaiming that Jesus is King and He will always reign. I lifted Him up and He brought the negative thoughts down. 

Let’s stare at Jesus. Let’s keep our eyes on the Son of God. Let’s make a habit to revert to Him when the enemy is trying to bombard us with despair and worry. Jesus won all the battles. He even won the ones we have not faced yet. We can always count on Him. We can always win through Him. When our eyes are on the problem, all our senses get messed up. When our eyes are on Jesus, hope, love, peace and joy influence all our senses. We see the powerful truth that will never change. We see that Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading:  Isaiah 26:3; Jeremiah 29:13; Hebrews 12:2-3

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To God be all the glory

My life has been a testimony to God’s glory. When I look back I can clearly see the times when the Lord has intervened in my life. The encounters with the Lord have been many. There are the daily encounters during prayer and at various times during the day. There are the encounters that take my breath away and that make me feel like I hate stepped into another dimension. I remember in October 2019 on a Saturday morning, I was transported into the arena of God’s glory. I started praising the Lord like I usually do in the morning but I sensed something different. Before I knew it I was face down on the floor crying and rejoicing at the same time. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so strong that all I could do was cry and stay on the ground. I was in reverence before the Lord and I was convinced that being on my knees was not enough.

During that praise time, I had to be as close to the floor as possible because His majestic presence was so prevalent in my bedroom. I remember saying “If only people knew” many times. If only people knew how awesome and glorious the Lord is was what I am hinting at. The truth is that God is awesome and glorious all the time. We might not see it. We might not feel it but it is always true. I don’t think that we can experience a high level of God’s glory every day but we can see how His glory is impacting our lives even in the small things. God is always glorious so He deserves our praise all the time. I want to challenge you to praise the Lord more this week. I am inviting you to set up some time to worship Him more than before and to give Him the glory.

“To God be all the glory” is what we read in a lot of passages in the Bible and what we find in a number of Christian songs. Are our lives singing that same refrain? Are our actions giving God the glory? I wonder about that often when it comes to how much glory I give the Lord. I know that life gets busy and praising and worshipping the Lord can be put on the back burner but I also know that it is the wrong way to approach life. Praise and worship should be inserted into our lives. They should be planned or spontaneous but letting days go by without praise is not honoring God. We think that a little prayer here and there will be enough. It is not enough. It can be a harsh reality but it is God’s reality.

We can’t skip prayer and we can’t skip praise. It’s not like praise and prayer will line up nicely in our lives when we prioritize other things. We should be active worshippers of the Lord. If you want your actions and your deeds to praise the Lord, I suggest you start with singing. Have a devoted time to praise the Lord with singing. Singing is just one way we can give God the glory but it is a great start. Give God the glory with praise sessions. Sing out loud or sing in your heart but given the amount of praise in the Bible, you and I should be more actively praising the Lord.

When we praise the Lord, we tell Him basically that He is more important than anyone else or anything else that is going on in our lives. We take the time to focus on Him and to lift Him up. We acknowledge that He is glorious and we exalt Him. David knew how to praise the Lord in an amazing way. He is a great motivator to all of us. I read Psalms on a regular basis and they inspire me to praise more. One of God’s messages to us is “Do not worry. Praise Me instead.” I love that message and I apply it as often as I can. Praise is the opposite of worry. When you praise the Lord, you indicate that God is in control. You recognize His power in your life and you get a strong sense of security.

Praise is what we need all the time. It gives our faith a boost and it truly declares, “To God be all the glory.” He deserves our praise. Let’s praise Him more. Let’s praise Him more than we worry. Let’s do whatever we do to the glory of God. Let’s praise Him through our lives. There are so many ways we can give God the glory. Find the ways that work best for you and turn them into habits. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!
Suggested reading: Psalm 19:1; Romans 4:20; 1 Corinthians 10:31

Hope in Jesus

I talk about hope a lot because God is a God of hope. I didn’t know that when the God I was familiar with was a God of religion and restrictions. I was always under the impression that hope was limited to a few privileged believers in God. Isn’t that sad? Some of the doctrines I subscribed to were very dismissive and void of hope. They focused on being pious and on getting rewards from God based on what I did right. Every time I made a mistake, I felt guilty and unworthy. There was no real hope for redemption or for salvation to tell you the truth. I completely misunderstood what God was all about and I had no hope. I didn’t believe that things could get better in my life. I did my best to please God but hope was never something I experienced. This all changed once I got in touch with the real God.

I got in touch with God by entering into His gates through Jesus. Jesus became my doorway to God, my doorway to Heaven and my doorway to the truth. One of the first things that stood out about Jesus was how much hope He gave me. The more I got to know Him, the more I was filled with hope. First, there was hope for salvation. I became aware of His salvation and of His role in the whole process. He had died on the cross for my sins and I could receive salvation through Him. He was the guardian of all good things and hope was part of them. When you encounter Jesus, you can’t help but become hopeful. Life takes on a new meaning. You are in the presence of hope and it changes your perspective and your outlook on life.

If you are looking for hope today, remember that it is still alive and well and you can always find hope in Jesus. Don’t look at your hopeless circumstances. Change your focus and look at Jesus. Spend time reading about Him and talking to Him. He will give you hope. You will discover that He is the hope of the world and that with Him everything is possible. With Him, life is not a series of failures and defeats. With Him, life is a series of challenges that get resolved and defeats that get defeated. Yes, Jesus will defeat your defeats. Isn’t that amazing? He will turn your worst situations into blessings and rivers of hope will flow through your life.

There is nothing that the Lord can’t change and nothing He can’t fix. When you have Jesus, you have the best chance to make it. He is a situation changer. He is a hope giver and His hope is never in vain. He doesn’t fake His hope and His promises. He keeps His promises and one of them is to give you hope to get through anything in life. You have the Savior of the world in you and with you and hope is never going to leave you. You might lose sight of it. You might forget about it. You might not believe in it but it doesn’t mean that hope is not there. It is always there and it always fulfills its purpose. Hope’s purpose is to confirm God’s goodness and it is a great witness to His faithfulness.

When you hope in Jesus, you hope in love, life-changing power and endless possibilities. You never know what God can do in your life when you have His hope in you. He can stretch possibilities and multiply blessings. He can reverse the course of your life and put you on a path where peace and joy will be strewn all over the place. God’s path for your life is paved with hope. Every step of the way you should believe there is hope. Every step of the way you should keep in mind that things are not the way they look but they are the way the Lord says they are. Faith will help you walk through the worst valleys and climb the highest mountains. The King of hope will carry you through everything and you will be able to overcome the most difficult circumstances.

Jesus is the hope you need today and you will never be disappointed when you fix your eyes on Him and you refuse to succumb to the world’s problems. Problems will never go away but neither will Jesus and if you have Jesus, you have all you need. If you have Jesus, you have all you need. Keep your hopes up. Keep your hopes in Jesus. Keep walking and trusting and you will never go astray. Hope is a blessing that will always walk by your side. Stay strong. Stay encouraged and stay hopeful. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!
Suggested reading: Psalm 16:9; Jeremiah 17:7; Romans 5:5

Winning the battle of the mind

What we listen to ends up creating a framework in our minds. The more we listen to the same things, the more of a hold they have on our thinking. If we listen to negative banter all the time, we will develop a negative mindset. Negative banter comes in the form of what we actually hear out loud and in the form of the thoughts that pop into our heads. This is why we have to guard our minds and be careful what we let in. I learned that I had been too passive when it came to my thinking and it ultimately affected my belief system. I believed in God but my mind had holes in it. Holes that allowed negative thinking to seep in and to plug in the missing parts with negative parts. We have to be a lot more active in our heads. Thank God, the Lord gives us weapons to use against negative thinking. He knows the importance of what we hear and what we let grow in our minds. He clearly says in His Word that we should renew our minds. I know His encouragement is extremely crucial. God loves our faith. If our faith is tampered with and it is lacking substance, it is not solid and it is not the kind of faith that is pleasing to God. He wants us to have blind faith or total faith in Him. That kind of faith comes from hearing the message of the Bible over and over again and trusting it. We ought to make it a part of our thinking and it has to be engrained in us. The number one tool against negative thinking is positive listening. Positive listening based in the Lord. When we listen to the Word of God and we meditate on it, we go through the process of positive listening. It is active listening. Listening here is not just hearing and forgetting about what we hear. Positive active listening is listening to the Word of God, dwelling on it and giving it a chance to become a part of us. Then the Word invades our belief system and it stays inside of us.

Today I want to encourage you to watch what you listen to and make sure that the Word of God is a priority in your life. Friend, it will help you fight the negative thoughts the enemy wants you to dive into. He desires for you to drown in his oven of mental confusion. He is the king of overthinking and he uses that technique to weaken our faith and to isolate us from God. Overthinking doesn’t find constructive solutions and it keeps us in a mental jail that has no way out. Overthinking creates horrible realities that did not exist in the first place. Overthinking gives us faith in the negative and it sows deep seeds of doubt in us. It takes advantage of the fragile state of mind it promotes and uses that fertile soil of doubt for more doubt to grow. If you are battling overthinking now, distract yourself. Get out of that mindset by imposing another mindset on top of it. That mindset should be the mindset of the Lord. Get into the Word. Read encouraging passages that you have highlighted. Tear down the obsessive thinking by injecting the light of the Lord. God’s Word is a powerful light that can remove negativity. Be resilient. Keep going into the Word. Dig deep and find the strength you need. It is there for you. God will give you the power to overcome what is eating you inside. Trust Him. He will do that for you. He has what it takes. It is in His Word and it can destroy the strongholds of the enemy. The Word of God is so amazing and so strong. Stick with it and you will see a big change in your thinking. It will happen for you.

The Holy Spirit is a great ally. He will assist you in your fight against negative thinking. He will remind you of the love of the Lord and how much He takes care of you. This battle is already won. Now, you can get over the bad thinking. Get into partnership with the Spirit of God and arm yourself with His Word. Ask Him to guide you on this journey to a more positive way of thinking. The Holy Spirit always magnifies Jesus and that is a great way to conquer negative thinking. Stay focused on Jesus. Let your adoration of His majesty be a daily occurrence. Worship and praise Him more. Friend, it does work! It makes a huge difference in your mind. Praises are the gates of Heaven showing up at the threshold of your mind willing to come in and to transform you. I love getting lost in praise and worship. I come out of those beautiful sessions altered. My mind is more positive and my faith is intensified. However, I have to keep doing it. One praise session a week is not enough. Negativity doesn’t take a break so we shouldn’t take a break either. Let’s be active worshippers who listen to the Word of God as much as possible. Let’s work with the Spirit of God. Let’s be receptive to His guidance and let’s stay close to Jesus. We will win the battle of the mind when we fill our minds with the Lord. We can do this! We can win the battle of the mind in the name of Jesus! May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!
Suggested reading: Romans 12:12; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 1 Peter 1:13

God’s light

When I got eye surgery, my life completely changed. I went from having to wear contacts or glasses all the time to be being able to see all the time without any assistance. It was like night and day. I never thought that I could ever see that clearly without glasses. It was as if I had stepped into a new dimension. Everything looked so real and so true. It is hard to explain but what I can say is that it was one of the best moments of my life in terms of transformation. However, the best moment of my life, hands down, was when I got saved. It was a similar experience but on a much higher level. I went from being spiritually blind to being able to see the light. I had lived in darkness for a while. I had had glimpses of hope and glimpses of who the Lord was all about but those glimpses didn’t compare to the real thing. They were nice previews that gave me a reason to pursue Jesus. Those insights into who the Lord was were like contacts and lenses that allowed me to see the truth for a short time. When I got saved, the light became permanent and I was able to see what I had been missing my whole life. The light of the Lord is such a powerful tool in our lives and we should never underestimate it. We should cherish God’s light and His truth and keep walking in it with our spiritual eyes wide open.

The Word of God is a lamp into our feet. His Word is the lamp that can guide us into all things. We can never stay in the dark when we follow the lamp of the Lord. We should actually spend a lot of time in His Word so we can be enlightened and filled with wisdom. The amount of darkness that is in the world is huge and we need to work against so many principalities and powers. The power to counteract those evil forces is only found in the Lord and His Word gives us instructions on how to stay in His light and how to avoid the traps of darkness. When I read the Word of God, it is like a light is turned on and I can see into some of the mysteries of God. This happens when I read and study the Word prayerfully. When I get in sync with the Spirit of God, His Word comes alive and I dive into the wonderful world of our Savior. I love spending time in the Word especially when the world is so chaotic. I find peace and I find joy when I am in the Word. I strongly encourage you to make it a habit to turn on the light of the Lord and to stay under the rays of His great love. His light will refresh you and invigorate you. It will open your eyes and it will close the doors to the darkness that tries to mislead you. God’s light is the truth that you need to be set free so embrace His light, embrace His Word.

When someone turns on a light, darkness scatters. Some people would say that darkness disappears and I love that idea as well. God, the light, can make your darkness disappear when you turn on His light. Your enemies, your fears and your doubts will scatter when you turn on the light of the Lord. How do you turn it on? Like I mentioned earlier, the Word of God is the light you need and being familiar with it is crucial. Making sure that the Word of God has an important part in your life is extremely helpful. Jesus brings light and He is the light so daily communion with Him also allows you to turn on the light that will always set you free. Jesus will not only give you insights into who He is and how He made you but He will teach you how to live a fulfilling life in Him. He is the light that keeps on giving more light so don’t expect Him to ever be extinguished in your life. He is always on. You might have to adjust how you connect with Him but He is always on and always ready to shine in your life. He is like that permanent contact lens that enables you to see clearly at all times. Jesus will help you deal with all forms of spiritual blindness so stick to Him and stay close to Him. He is the best light you will ever find. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!
Suggested reading:Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 6:23; 2 Peter 1:19

Amazing God

On Saturday night when I was praying, I kept talking about how amazing God was. I made a list of all the amazing things He does all the time and all the wonderful traits He has. I thanked God for His amazing ways. I said “Thank You Lord for Your amazing love, Your amazing peace, Your amazing joy.” I thanked Him for being amazing at everything He does and for sharing His amazing grace with all of us. I spent time focusing on our amazing God and no one else and nothing else. I think we don’t do that often. We talk about what we need more than we talk about the One who can give us all we need. We ought to talk more about His amazing presence and His amazing faithfulness. God is amazing in all His ways. He is not like any human beings. He is not like any event or any place we know. He is above it all. He is more amazing than historical events and facts. He is more amazing than humans’ biggest achievements. He is in a category of His own and He should be celebrated for being amazing and good. He is an incredible Lord and today I want to encourage you to celebrate how amazing God is.

God has amazing love for all of us. When we look at the definition of the word amazing, we find that it is something or someone that causes great surprise or wonder. God is the God of all wonders. He is wonderful in everything and He causes us to marvel at His greatness. Do you ever find yourself in wonder and in awe before God? If it doesn’t happen often, I invite you to discover the wonders of God. You can find them in His Word and you can locate them in your life. God is amazing at making our lives good even when things don’t look good. We need to take the time to look at our lives and see the amazing things that the Lord has placed in us and around us. Our amazing God has put some amazing attributes in us through the alliance between His Spirit and our spirits. When we give in to the Holy Spirit, amazing traits show up and we become imitators of the Lord. It is truly an amazing experience that can be a daily occurrence.

God has amazing peace and amazing joy for all of us. Peace and joy are two things that many of us pursue. We can have peace and joy through the world or we can have them through the Lord. I will always opt for the Lord’s amazing peace and love. Why are they amazing? They are amazing because they depend on God and not on our circumstances. God gives us peace and joy regardless of what is going on in our lives. He is the One who is going on in our lives and His presence alone trumps the misery and the pain that trials and tribulations can bring. God has amazing peace for you today, friend. His peace is much bigger than the strongest darts of the enemy. The fiery attacks of the enemy are not match for God’s amazing peace and joy. Start meditating on that truth. There is amazing peace for you that is invincible. No one can conquer the Lord and that makes Him amazing. Nothing can trample the Lord and that makes Him amazing. Nothing can prevail against the Lord and that makes Him amazing. You have an amazing Lord. Tell Him how amazing He is to you. Say it to yourself. Build a fortress of confidence in you of how amazing God is. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!
Suggested reading: Nehemiah 1:5; Psalm 68:35; Romans 8:28

God can do it

A few weeks ago I was talking to my boss about all the things I had to accomplish that day. She told me she would help me and take care one of my errands. She said “I can do it for you.” I was shocked and I politely turned down the offer. The errand had nothing to do with work. I really appreciated her help and it made me think about how when we turn to God with our list of errands and things we have to take care of He tells us “I can do it for you.” He can do all things and nothing is too big for Him. This message has been recurring in my writing because it is crucial for the body of Christ. We need to understand that whatever we need, God can do it for us. He knows best. He always knows what is best for us. Our goal is to get on the same page and to accept that what God is telling us we need is truly what we should embrace. A lot of what God desires for us can be found in His Word. Other things can be discovered through a precious relationship with the Spirit of Jesus. The Lord can give us dreams based on His Word and on what should take place in our lives. Once He puts the dreams in our hearts, He also tells us that He can do it for us. He can always do it but at times we miss that message. We get the dream but we don’t hear the promise that goes with it or we don’t trust in the provision behind the dream. God would never give us a dream without backing it up with His ability to make the dream come true. Today I want to encourage you to find out what God wants for you and to believe that He can do it. Declare it every day. Tell your mind and your spirit that whatever God promises, He can do it for you. Believe that no hurdles are too big for God and He can do the impossible for you.

When you get up in the morning and you are in prayer, remind yourself that the Lord is telling you “I can do it for you.” Whatever is going to come your way that day is not intimidating to God. If obstacles arise, God still says that He can get you out of your problems and you will overcome the obstacles. Let His powerfully declaration be the promise that stays with you all day. Life will tell you all sorts of things that go against what the Lord says. The enemy will lie to you and tell you that you can’t make it and that you will drown in your problems. That is not true. You always have Someone who tells you that He can do it for you. When you are faced with a laundry lists of things that need to be taken care of, give the list to the Lord. Put everything in His hands. Let Him give you a hand. Give it to Him in prayer. Give it to Him with the hands of faith. He will gladly take it off your hands. Show Him that you can’t make it without Him. Tell Him how you depend on Him and you know that He is almighty and nothing is too difficult for Him. Look ahead with hope. Look ahead without the heaviness of fear. Look ahead with faith in God. Enjoy the now with hope as well. What you need to accomplish today will get done in the name of Jesus.

If you are not convinced that you will be able to deal with the problems that will crawl into your life this week, don’t panic. You know what to do and you know what to say. You know that God can do it. Now it’s time you put that truth into practice. Prepare yourself by warming up your heart with the promise of the Lord. The more you run it through your mind and let it drop into your heart, the more confidence you will have in God’s power. He is so powerful. Do we think about that enough? He needs to be big in us. We need to remind ourselves that greater is the One who is in us than the devil that is in this world. Jesus in you is greater. Jesus in you is better. Jesus in you can do all things. It’s not your ability. It’s His. It’s His power and it is His promise. Rest assured that He keeps His word. He can do it for you, friend. He won’t let you down. God can do everything you think can’t be done. Everything that the world presents to you as impossible is not a challenge for your Lord. Keep that in mind. You will need that encouragement more than once. Trust God. He will always deliver. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!
Suggested reading: Genesis 18:14; Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2

How to get a strong spirit

How do you get a strong spirit? Feed your spirit. Feed your spirit first thing in the morning. Feed your spirit throughout the day. Your spirit needs as much nourishment as your body does if nothing more. Why more? Because you ought to let your spirit dominate your body. Your spirit, the new creation in Christ should prevail over your flesh. You have the potential to be a firecracker for God and that potential is found in how much you feed your spirit. The Lord has given us tools, feeding tools we should be using all day. Some of those major tools are the Word of God, prayer, praise and worship, gratitude, love, acts of service and joy. You might have a customized set of tools but the ones I mentioned will all do the job and they are very powerful. 

Every day you should check and see how many feedings you give your spirit. Check and see if you are using some tools more than others. Learn how you interact with them and be sure to indulge in them. First thing first. Morning feeding is crucial. What do you give your spirit when you first wake up? Do you feed it social media? Do you give it a portion of overthinking? Do you let negative thoughts drop down into your spirit? Your first feeding should be aggressive. It should be solid food. Solid food that is going to sustain you for a while. Hit your spirit with power first thing in the morning. Fill up with the good stuff. Fill up with power. I suggest entering the day with praise. Start the day praising and worshiping the Lord. Start the day on a very positive note. Start the day with Jesus. Make Him your focus.

 

Jesus should always come first and when you make Him your meditation first thing in the morning, you are giving your spirit what it truly needs. Your spirit needs Jesus all the time. Your spirit needs to maintain its relationship with the Holy Spirit and when you adore and worship, you are tapping into the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God will also point at Jesus. The Spirit of God will always give you solid food from Heaven when you praise the Lord. Let the praises take you into prayer mode. Prayer is a great way to feed your spirit. During prayer, you can hear the Lord and you can talk to the Lord. Jesus prayed to the Father all the time so we should pray to God all the time. Prayer builds up your spiritual muscles and it helps your spirit grow. Your spirit can learn so much during prayer time. 

Feed your spirit words. Speak up. Say what the Lord says about you and about your life. Let your spirit hear words of encouragement and words of faith. It is very important that you feed your spirit positivity. You need a big helping of positivity for the day. Stay positivity throughout the day. You can accomplish that by speaking. Don’t let negative thoughts control your actions. Control your actions by speaking words of peace, love, faith, victory in Jesus and joy. The Lord says that His joy is your strength. Get the joy of the Lord activated in your life. It can come from praise, from fellowship with the Holy Spirit and from the Word of God. 

Feed the Word of God to your spirit. This feeding process will help you grow and get stronger in the Lord. The Word is the manna from Heaven that will allow you to have a strong foundation for your faith. The Word will enlighten your spirit and give you the chance to walk in the truth. The Word will fill you up with all the goodness from Heaven. It will bless you over and over again. A good session in the Word will make you full. Get full! Enjoy the Word every day. Enjoy the feeding tools every day. Start your day with them and give your spirit spiritual meals all day long. Stay full. Feed your spirit power! May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: John 4:24; John 16:13; Galatians 5:16

The apple of God’s eye

God loves you and He adores you. You are the object of His affection and of His powerful love. No one and nothing can ever take that away from you. Be sure to line up your thinking with that truth. Meditate on it every day. Spend time recognizing that you are loved and that you are God’s favorite. We are all God’s favorites and yet He makes it an individual and unique experience. God loves you more than you will ever know but you can know a lot about His love. Pursue His love. Pursue who He is and you will learn more about this ardent and strong love He has for you. He gave His Son for you. He did the impossible for you. He changed the course of history for you. He hung on a cross for you. He died for your sins and for your infirmities. He conquered death for you. He came back from the dead for you. He gave you resurrection power. He sent His Spirit to be with you and to stay in you. He made blessings available to you and they are still here for you. God loves you and you are the apple of His eye. Think about how He sees you. When He looks at you, He sees only you. That is how He makes His love so specific and so individualized. As this new week begins, remember that you are the apple of God’s eye. Remember that He sees you and He loves you. He is going to continue to cherish you and to bless you. God’s love is going to remain with you all week long. God’s love is going to get you through the week. God’s love is going to protect you and shield you. Praise the Lord for His everlasting love for you. His love will never ever change!

When you love someone, you are ready and willing to do anything for him or for her. God’s love will do anything for you. Anything that is in sync with His will. There are thousands of promises in God’s Word and they are all operated by His love if you will. God’s love is the power behind His promises. God’s love is the fuel for all miracles and blessings. God’s love is the reason you are here and the reason why you are going to make it and to succeed in this life. God’s love for you is all set. It is up to you to accept it, to embrace it and to get to know it. You might need to spend some time unlearning some of the things you were taught about God. You are going to need to read His Word and ask His Spirit to reveal God’s love to you. His love is hard to fathom and yet it is very available and it is there for you any time. God’s love has been knocking at the door of your heart for a very long time. When you accepted Jesus as your Savior, you welcomed His love into your life. Now you might need to go back to welcoming His love and to host His love in your life. Let His love be in everything you do, everything you think about and everything you talk about. Host His love and you will experience a transformation that you didn’t think was possible. Give God a chance to show you that His love for you is unparalleled, genuine, beautiful and rich.

You are the apple of God’s eye. You mean everything to Him. When I first found out that God loved me in an amazing way, it threw me off. He took all my misconceptions about God and threw them all out the window. I kept looking out that window for a while trying to hang on to all the false ideas about God but His love got the best of me. Once you experience His true love, you can’t settle for less. What I learned was that God’s love could move mountains. It moved the mountains of shame, the mountains of low self-esteem and the mountains of despair that had been sitting in my life. His love gave me hope and it still gives me hope every day. I have learned that I live thanks to His love and everything I experience will be fine because His love will always come to my rescue and it will always back me up. I have also seen how God’s love tracks me and finds me even when I get lost or I go astray. I can’t thank the Lord enough for His love. If you don’t know what to be thankful for or what to praise the Lord about, thank Him for His eternal love. Thank Him because you are the apple of His eye. He loves you so much so you don’t have to worry about anything. If you are going through a difficult time now, hang on to God’s love. His love will set you free and it will deliver you from whatever is trying to destroy you. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Isaiah 54:10;  John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-11

It’s never too late with God

Every time I read the story of Lazarus, I am amazed. I am amazed at God’s goodness and love. I am amazed at His compassion and at His power. I am amazed at how moved He is and how He brings peace like no one else. Lazarus was dead. According to human principles and laws of nature, he was dead. When Jesus got to Judea where Lazarus was, his family was crying saying that Jesus had arrived too late. Jesus was touched and moved but He did not agree with them. He didn’t agree with the world and its laws. The world knew death in this situation and Jesus saw a miracle waiting to happen. Jesus wept. He loved Lazarus and His sisters. He felt for them and He displayed a very compassionate side that surprised me the first time I read about it. God does care about everyone. He joined them in their sadness but He didn’t cry because this was the end of the story. He displayed empathy and compassion for all mankind in that instance. Jesus had a different ending for Lazarus and He didn’t let death stop Him from writing the story of his life. Lazarus had been dead for four days. Four days! Anyone would think that it was the end and nothing could be done. Anyone could think that it was too late, that Jesus had arrived too late. I can only imagine the disappointment in Lazarus’ sisters and the confusion. Jesus had a different point of view. His perspective and His vision of things defied all understanding and challenged the world. It is never too late with God and Jesus demonstrated that God had the final say. 

Lazarus died of sickness and after four days you can expect his body to be decomposed. Jesus said that this sickness would not end in death. God was going to get the glory out of this desperate situation. Nothing could stop Jesus and He had so much faith that He didn’t go and see Lazarus for another two days. He had heard that he was sick but He didn’t rush to go visit him. That says a lot. It shows that He thinks in a way that is not the world’s way. The world would say “Hurry up. He is dying.” Jesus said “He will not die.” By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead like I said before. Three key elements took place. First Jesus said he was going to wake up Lazarus from his sleep. This key element points out that the Lord had a very different interpretation of the event. We see death and He sees opportunities or a different scenario. The second element was His compassion. Love moved Him. Love led Him to act and to do the impossible. It is the power of love that can change dead situations into miracles. The third element was Jesus commanding Lazarus to wake up. That miracle was a validation that He was God. Lazarus woke up and everyone was amazed and couldn’t believe it. 

When you think that it is too late, think about what Jesus did in the story of Lazarus. Think of the three key elements. First look at the situation through God’s eyes. Pray that He shares His interpretation of the situation. Secondly believe in the power of love and trust that God is moved by your situation. Trust that He is on your side and that He is going to do something for you. Last but not least, know that nothing can stop Jesus and if it takes a miracle to reverse your situation, God can perform it. He will command your blessings to wake up and He will get you out of that tomb of despair and sorrow. He is not getting there too late. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. It might seem too late in the natural world but with God nothing is ever too late. Meditate on that truth. Thank Him for the impossible. Trust that things are going to come back to life. Hope is alive and well and Jesus will show you that it is the truth. Stay in faith. Don’t get discouraged. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Luke 5:1-11; John 2:1-11; John 11:1-44