10 nuggets of wisdom for your Saturday (Part 229)

Let the fragrance of your love for Jesus fill up the room. Make everything smell like His peace, His joy and His love through your actions and your words!

Starting the day with a storm doesn’t mean the day won’t end with the sun. The Son of God will make the sun shine again. Stay encouraged!

Worry is not from God. When you worry, you side with the enemy whether you know it or not. You accept defeat and you ignore the power of God.

The results and the outcome are God’s job. Your job is to stay in faith during the process. You are not in charge of the outcome. You are in charge of your faith before the outcome.

Jesus is the solution of all solutions. Nothing is too hard for Him to solve. He is the key to every mystery and the answer to all our prayers. Let’s fix our eyes on the One who can fix anything!

When things don’t go your way, go God’s way. Pray and you will go God’s way. Praise and you will go God’s way. Give thanks and you will go God’s way. Stay in the Word and you will go God’s way.

Everything you need, God’s got it. There is nothing you can’t find in Jesus. He has it all so trust Him in all you do.

Fear depicts a bad picture of tomorrow. Fear tells you that you won’t manage tomorrow so you might as well be miserable today. Faith sees hope in tomorrow. Faith says that God will save tomorrow so you can be at peace today.

God is great. God is amazing. God loves you. God blesses you. Nothing can change that about God. Nothing can stop God from loving you and blessing you! Keep that in mind!

Don’t give up! God is going to help you. Don’t get discouraged. Jesus, the King of hope is with you and He won’t leave you. Things are going to get better for you!

Suggested reading: Psalm 47:1; James 1:2-3; 1 Peter 1:8-9

10 nuggets of wisdom for your Saturday (Part 228)

Let God words be louder than the words of the world. Listen to His words at the highest volume possible by staying in the Word.

God can give you faith without borders. Faith that can take you places with no limitations. That faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God.

They say that every day is a gift but you have to make sure that your wrap every day with Jesus. Let Him cover you and your circumstances all day by trusting Him all day.

Faith gives you God’s tunnel vision. In that tunnel anything is possible. In that tunnel miracles abound. In that tunnel there is no lack, no fear and no doubt. In that tunnel God is in control.

The more you walk in faith, the more you are a threat to the enemy. The more you walk in love, the more you are a threat to the enemy. The more you pray, then more you are a threat to the email. The more you praise, the more you are a threat to the email. Be a threat to the enemy daily in the name of Jesus!

God shouldn’t be your second best. He should be your first asset. He is the power behind all your victories!

Go with what God has to say about your situation. What seems impossible is always possible with God!

Send fear packing. Don’t let it enter you. Don’t entertain it. Don’t argue with it. Don’t give it an audience. Constantly speak faith against fear and it will run away.

This week the Lord is not going to leave your side. He is going to walk with you, talk to you and listen to you. Acknowledge Him in all you do!

God’s love is the reason why you are here. You are loved and you count. God so loved you that He gave His Son for you. Keep that in mind!

Suggested reading: Jeremiah 24:7; Matthew 15:8; John 17:3

10 nuggets of wisdom for your Saturday (Part 226)

God should be the reason behind your reasoning. Think through His Word. Think with Him in mind. Let Him be the reason why you have hope, peace and joy. Let Him make sense of the unconditional love that you receive from Him.

God will work it out for you. God will make it happen for you. God will give you victory and triumph. God will bless you and help you. God will turn things around for you and you understand the powerful God that He is.

Keep on loving your neighbors as yourself. Keep on walking in love even when the world is walking in hate. Keep being a distributor of love who never gets weary and who never stops. Keep on giving Jesus to the world!

Nothing can separate you from God’s love. Remember this all week. Hold on to that truth. No circumstances, no trials and no tribulations can separate you from God’s love. You are going to make it. God’s love will make a way. Stay encouraged!

If you are living in a state of confusion, ask God to help you move out. Ask Him to transfer you to a better spot. He will help you pack your bags and take you to a state of hope and clarity.

Jesus is alive and well. Hope is not dead. Don’t give up. The Lord is going to help you and to bless you in the middle of your storm. Remain in Him. All is not lost. Stay encouraged!

Choose to believe that God is going to do something amazing in your life. Choose God over your fears. Choose God over your doubts. Choose to believe that God will make a way and He will!

There is nothing better than time spent with God. It is never a waste of time and it is never in vain. The Lord wants to have a one-on-one conversation with you. Make the time to listen to Him and He will make the time worthwhile for you!

The Holy Spirit can open the eyes of your spirit and show you the truth according to God. His truth is comforting and it will set you free.

There is a song in your heart that wants to come out. The Lord dwells in you and He has written a song of freedom on your spirit. Sing His song and silence the noise of doubt and fear!

Suggested reading: John 14:20; Hebrews 13:21; 1 John 4:16-19

10 nuggets of wisdom for your Saturday (Part 224)

Don’t trust yourself without God. You are everything in Him and He should be everything to you. God and you make an amazing pair. You need Him more than anything. Be in Him all the time!

God will equip you to do what your mind tells you you can’t do. God will give you the power and the strength to be all you can be when you rely on Him. You are equipped and you are highly blessed! Stay encouraged!

You are beautiful! God believes it. God says it. God will always think it. Don’t be hard on yourself. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank God He made you beautiful inside and out!

You are seen and you are loved by God. God doesn’t close His eyes when you wake up and goes to bed all day avoiding you. He is watching you and watching over you. He loves your company and He can’t get enough of you!

Don’t get discouraged. God is going to be with you all week. He is going to protect you and to guide you. Trust Him. Depend on Him. He is your fortress and your stronghold!

There is going to be a big change in your life because the Lord wants to bless you. He has an amazing plan for you so stay in faith. The best is yet to come!

Faith is the best shield there is. It protects you from the fiery darts of the enemy and it keeps you in the truth of the Lord. It covers you when doubt is trying to pour down on you and when fee is trying to overwhelm you with its unpredictable bad season of worry.

When we keep our eyes on Jesus, the veil that covers who we are comes down. The more we look at Him, the more we get glimpses of who we are.

Today is a beautiful day because it is the day the Lord has made. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the beauty that lies in every moment today.

Collect the words from God that will get you through anything. Collect them, keep them and guard them with your heart. Those words will bless you and save you when you need them!

Suggested reading: Colossians 3:15; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 6:15

The nature of God

What is the nature of God? What characteristics does He have? Do you ever ask yourself those questions? What are God’s most important traits? I think those questions are important because the way we see God will underline what we expect from God. We can have faith in what God is and sometimes our faith is based on a wrong approach and wrong perspective. We can also focus on aspects of God while missing the most crucial traits and characteristics of the Lord. I used to see God as a God of provision more than anything else. He does provide for us and He cares about His children but is that the most significant aspect of who He is? God is love. Before anything else God is love. He has love and He is love. If we want to get to know Him better, we have to remember that He is love and that His love is eternal, indestructible and always powerful. The nature of God is found in love. Think about what that implies and let that truth correct and mold your vision of God.

God has always existed. God has always been around. God is everywhere. God is always everywhere at the same time. God is powerful. God has the power to do anything and to change anything. God is love. God is love all the time and He has love for everyone. Love is where it all starts but love has always existed. It might have come into your life at a certain point but it has always been there. I believe it is necessary to see the power and the magnitude of love. It is helpful to understand that love has always been around and that it has stood the test of time. The most powerful force in the universe is with you and in you. God is with you. His nature is with you. His love is with you. The nature of God is living in your life and you should get to learn more about it and to embrace it. We have so many representations of God in the world. There are filtered presentations of God that are not accurate. Get to know God through God. Know love, know God. Know God and you will always know love.

If anyone portrays the nature of God with a lack of love, don’t take it at face value. Question anything and anyone who removes love from who God is. Love is what saved you. Love is what saves you. Love is what helps you. Love is what keeps you going. Love is behind the blessings and the miracles in your life. Love gives meaning to your relationship with God. Love is the link that connects you to God. Love is the reason you are here today. Love is spiritual and remember that God is spirit. His nature is to be Spirit. We ought to worship Him in spirit and in truth with love as our backdrop. You can worship the Lord with music and you can worship Him with prayers and with actions motivated by love. When we have a relationship with God, we can’t help but imitate Him. We take after Him and the number one thing we should show the world is the love that is in God. We have His love and we need to give that love to the world. We can’t be a church that thrives on judgment and on criticism. We can’t be a church that puts love on the back burner because when we do, we redefine God and we don’t do Him justice.

The nature of God is in you and me, friend. We are the ones that can give the world a better idea of who God is and what He is all about. God is light and in Him there is no darkness. We carry His light and we carry His love. Let’s take the nature of God in consideration every day and let’s give His incredible nature a chance to shine through us. There is so much pain and so much sadness in this world. People need the nature of God. People need to be touched by love. People need to be introduced to the Lord who saves, loves, helps, protects, cares, provides because He is love. My prayer is that we will all be servants of love that share God’s love and that silence the wrong representations of God. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: John 4:24; 1 John 1:5; 1 John 4:8

10 nuggets of wisdom for your Saturday (Part 223)

God is going to help you through this season. He is going to turn up the temperature of your blessings and make it rain in your desert. You are going to come out of this cold spell and enjoy the beautiful sun of the Son of Man. Stay encouraged!

Jesus will make your life a living Heaven when the enemy tries to make it a living hell. Trust Jesus. Side with Jesus. Stay in faith and enjoy the life that Jesus gives you now.

Rise above the trials, the bad breaks and the suffering. God will give you the strength to rise above anything so trust Him in everything!

Keep your bucket of hope full. Keep it overflowing with the power of faith. See what you have in Christ and don’t focus on what the world says you don’t have. You have Jesus! Your bucket runs over. You have more than enough! Praise God for that!

The Word of God is more than a manual about life. It is life. It gives life. It can fill your life with God’s life. It is the living Word of God almighty. Embrace the life that is in the Word. Embrace the Lord and you will have an amazing life!

Put down fear, worry and anxiety. Don’t put them on. Put them away by giving them to God. He will give you the garment of praise and the armor of faith. Put those on and you will be dressed for success!

Be mindful of where your head is living. Don’t let it dwell on the street of fear and overthinking. Keep your head on the path of hope and life. Be sure that your mind dwells in the house of the Lord and you will live in the best place there is!

When you walk with God you walk with love, peace, joy, hope, patience, triumph, victory and blessings. The enemy will do his best to sabotage your walk so remind him that you are walking with the cross that defeated him. Keep walking with God no matter what!

Good habits are hard to develop but when you meditate on the Word of God good habits become a mindset. Keep meditating on the Word and your mindset will become a lifestyle!

With God you have all you need. Your faith will show you that God always provides, nothing is lacking and you can always make it. God has it all. Let your faith give you access to it all!

Suggested reading: Mark 11:24; Ephesians 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 5:7

When life gives you lemons

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” they say. When life gives you lemons, use the fruit of the Spirit and turn a sour situation into something sweet. The fruit of the Spirit is what we should use every day and what we should focus on. There are so many bitter and tough situations that can make us feel bad and resentful. I know that it is easy to resent life when things are not good. We tend to swallow the sour grapes and we can’t digest them. We overthink and we try to figure out how we can get out of a bad situation but we are left with a negative taste and we can’t think straight. The Holy Spirit comes to our rescue. Not only does He come to save us but He also has a whole setup that allows us to deal with every situation in life. Life might give us lemons but the Spirit gives us fruit for every occasion, peace in every circumstance, and joy in every setting. We are blessed to have the fruit of the Spirit and we ought to let it grow and use it every day.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is a powerful fruit we are given when we accept the Lord into our lives. The Holy Spirit comes and dwells in our spirit and He gives us all we need. Now, it doesn’t mean that we access all He gives us. The fruit of the Spirit is a spiritual element of our lives in Christ and we have to let our spirit tap into the fruit. Every day can be a struggle when it comes to accessing the fruit of the Spirit because we have to contend with the flesh. The flesh is weak but the spirit is willing. Being kind, being patient, and showing love are not something our flesh wants to display. Our flesh will fight us every chance it gets. This is why it is important we surrender to the Lord and we give in to His Spirit. When we do, we can flow with the Spirit and the fruit can be uncovered. I love fruit and I eat it every day. I love the Spirit of Jesus and I interact with Him every day. It is crucial that I spend time in communion with the Lord through His Spirit. It gives me a chance to express the fruit of the Lord.

When life gives you lemons, remember that you have fruit from God and His fruit is pleasant and sweet. For every bad thought, there is a great positive thought from the Lord. For every bad fruit and bad seed that life throws at us, there is a fruit that is good all the time. Love, joy, peace, and the rest of the fruit are amazing gifts that are free of charge. It doesn’t take much to express the good fruit. It takes a willing heart and a surrendered mind. We ought to think in line with the Word and think that we have the fruit of the Spirit. That is where it all starts. It starts in our thinking. If we think that we don’t have what it takes to make it in this Christian walk, we won’t tap into the power of love. Let’s keep in mind that we are children of the living God and that love is a fruit that dominates our lives. Peace, joy, forbearance, and the rest are how we can face anything in life. The sour lemons of life might be abundant but the power of the fruit of the Spirit is much greater and much better than the bitterness and the sourness in this world. When life gives you lemons, give back the fruit that changes everything. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Matthew 26:40-43; Galatians 5:22-23; Colossians 3:12-17

God the facilitator

A facilitator is a person that makes an action or process easy or easier. When I think about the Lord, I often think about what a great facilitator He is. Looking back I can see how He has made things easy or easier in my life. I see that the Holy Spirit has facilitated so many moments in my life. He has stood by me and made things happen. This great phenomenon takes place when I let Him be in control. I do the praying, I stay in faith and He facilitates my life. It gives meaning to everything and He blesses me in ways I could never imagine. One thing I have learned is that His timing is always perfect but it can be very different from my timing. He has facilitated some life events at a time when I had almost lost hope. In those desperate times, He reminds me that He is the facilitator and nothing is lost. He reminds me that He knows what He is doing and he is in charge of the process. Today I want to encourage you to trust God’s ability to facilitate your life. He can make things easy or easier. Give Him control of the process through faith and you will experience amazing breakthroughs and great moments of joy!

I have been to professional development workshops where a facilitator was hosting the event. The facilitator is there to guide and make things happen but he or she expects us to do our part. The facilitator makes sure that things go as planned but we need to be engaged in the process to some degree. The same is true with God. He wants to see your faith and He will guide and lead us. He will make sure that things happen for the best. He won’t give us all the answers we want along the way but He will share His promises with us and He will keep them all. You might be going through a life event right now that requires a lot of faith. Your faith is not in vain. The facilitator is preparing everything and He is pulling strings for you. He knows the best opportunities, the best breaks, the best people, and the best times for your breakthrough. The Spirit of God is orchestrating your life now so put your trust in the Lord. You are blessed to have Him and you have exactly what you need. God, the facilitator is doing something great behind the scenes. Let your faith bring you to the point where you see it all come together.

When you stay in faith, God manages your situation and He paves the way for success. It might not look like it at first but faith doesn’t depend on how things look. Faith knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that things are going to get better. Your facilitator has a great goal for you and He will make sure that the goal is achieved. Sometimes He will do it despite you because He understands that you might want something that can harm you. He is a good, good Father. He loves you and He loves taking care of you. As a facilitator, His Spirit will help you make decisions and He will steer you in the right direction. You don’t need to understand it all. All you need is faith in the One who can make anything (good) happen. If you want to see a presentation of what the Lord has in store for you as a facilitator, spend time in the Bible. You will discover a powerful presentation of God’s love and His blessings for you. Let God facilitate your current circumstances. Don’t panic. Let Him handle it all. He adores you. Keep trusting Him. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Isaiah 55:8-9; Psalm 73:26; 1 Peter 5:6-7

God is the encouragement

You have probably heard a lot of encouragement based on the Bible. You have probably read verses that have given you a boost when you needed it. Now, think about all this encouragement coming from God. He is the author of the best encouragement there is. He wouldn’t encourage you to keep going and to continue if there wasn’t a good reason. The reason is Him. God is the reason for the encouragement. Why keep going? Because of God. Because the reason why you are going to make it and things are going to get better is God Himself. He is alive and well. He is the reason why tomorrow is going to be better. He is the reason why you can stay in the present and enjoy life even when things are tough. The reason for the encouragement today is God. That is the best reason you can get. Let Him encourage you. Let Him make your life a place where you win and where you have peace. God is the reason. Not your pastor and not the preacher. They are delivering messages but remember that God is the message. God is why you are blessed and that will never change.

Are you blessed? Yes, if Jesus is your Savior, you are highly blessed and favored. Why is it then that you go through troubled times and you feel like bad luck is following you? First of all, the enemy is the one who is trying to make you believe those lies. Bad luck and misfortune are not what is happening to you. If you believe the lies of the enemy long enough, you will accept his fate easily. Bad things happen to everyone including believers. You are still blessed. You are still favored. You still have the Lord. God is still the best encouragement. Take Him at face value and reverse your thinking. You have all it takes because you have the Lord. When things are not going well, you need the best encouragement you can get. God is the best encouragement. What you need right now is a hug from Heaven and Jesus gives the best hug. Don’t dwell on the problems. Don’t spend time imagining how bad it’s going to get. Shake yourself off and turn to Jesus. Turn to the best encouragement. A few minutes with the Lord can change a whole day of headaches into moments of bliss. You need to hold on to the encouragement that never disappoints.

How is God going to be your encouragement? Make a choice. Choose Him over the aggravation. Choose Him over the lies of the enemy. Choose Him over the stress and the anxiety. It’s not easy but you can surely do it. Take some time to turn to God. Say a simple prayer. Pray and surrender. Accept His encouraging words. Find scriptures that give you hope. Know that Jesus is hope and that with Him nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible. Have a face-to-face with God. Whatever that looks like for you. Develop face-to-face times with the Lord. Times when you can get inspired and encouraged. The One who can encourage you more than anyone else will have something to tell you and He will change your perspective. He will bring you along and take you on a path of hope and peace. God is the encouragement you need today so turn to Him now. Enjoy what He is going to do for you. He is going to change everything around and leave you with incredible peace. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Deuteronomy 20:4; Isaiah 12:2; John 16:33

Disconnect so you can connect

Sometimes you need to disconnect so you can connect. Let me explain. We are a very connected society. More than ever. Our phones have become a link factor that connects us and that keeps us informed of what’s going on in the world all the time. We can use them for many reasons but the main function of a phone is to connect us and to keep us in the know. We are extremely connected to the world and for that reason we are often disconnected from the Lord. When I bought my current phone, I prayed over it. I thanked God for it and I asked Him to help me use my phone to His glory. I do a lot of my daily writing and daily devotion on my phone. However, I find that I need to disconnect from my phone so I can better connect with the Lord. There is a great benefit from turning the phone off and turning communion time with God on. God is a one-on-one God. He doesn’t need any media and any buffer to connect with us. We don’t need any in-between to get in touch with Him. He is a personable God who adores talking to us and listening to us. I have a hard time hearing Him when I am so involved with my phone. Today I want to encourage you to disconnect so you can better connect with God.

I used to worship God using a boom box. I didn’t start playing worship music on a phone. I used a separate device. Sometimes it was a CD in my car. Then I learned to worship and adore the Lord with my own words. I created my own music if you will. That new concept revolutionized my praise time. The words came from my heart and went straight to the heart of God. I have kept that practice going. It is one of the best practices that I will never change. Worshipping the Lord in spirit and in truth. I speak to the Lord when I first get up and my praise and worship time doesn’t require a phone or a device of any type. I am the device. I am the worship machine. I am the vessel of praise. I can do that when I disconnect from the world and I connect to the Lord directly with no interference. 

Another way of disconnecting from the world is isolating myself and sitting there with the Lord. I love those meditative times. I close my eyes and I listen. I close my eyes and I thank the Lord. I close my eyes and I focus on Jesus. I close my eyes and I run verses through my head. I close my eyes and I embrace the smile and the love of the Lord. I close my eyes and I shut down the world. I close my eyes and I open my heart to the Lord. I close my eyes and I give myself a chance to learn from the One who knows all things. I close my eyes and I open the door to wisdom, peace and encouragement. When I am too connected to the world, I have a hard time getting into prayer mode and my mind is filled with distractions that eat at my faith. Disconnect from the world on a daily basis, friend and you will get the right connection.

God has a lot to say. God has a lot He wants you to experience and to understand. God wants you to see Him for who He is and not to see Him for who other people say He is. God loves spending time with you and He is looking for your undivided attention. Give Him the time of day every day. Give Him your undivided attention on a regular basis. Get the right connection and you will grow in the things of the Lord. You are in this world but not of this world. Spend time with family. God is family. If you connect with Him a lot, you will love Him more and more and you will become a greater blessing to others. Disconnect from the world every day and connect with the creator of the world every day. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: John 4:23-24; Philippians 4:6; Romans 10:17