Whom shall you fear?

“The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?”* declared David. David had a close relationship with God and He knew who God was very well. He knew that God was His light. He is a light that dissipates darkness. No darkness can win against God. No acts of the opposition and no acts of the enemy can win against David’s light. His light is more powerful than anything evil and it can show the way even where there seems to be no way. A light is hope, joy, peace and delight. David knew that His God was all that and more and He trusted Him all the time and in every situation. Friend, the Lord is your light and your salvation. Whom shall you fear? There is nothing to fear and no one to fear. Wherever you go, whatever you do, the Lord is your light and your salvation. You are going to be saved from any danger and you are going to make it through any circumstances.

The Lord is your light. Things can get very dark when problems pile up. Hope can take on a different shade and disappear before your very eyes. Difficulties come with a fair amount of gloom and doom and the light at the end of the tunnel is hard to see. However, it is in those dark moments that we need to remember that the Lord is our light and He is making every good thing shine when we turn to Him. You always have your light with you. Don’t hide Him under a bushel. I know it is hard to not put God into a small box and not forget about Him when things are dark. I have put the Lord in a box many times when things were not going well in my life. I took that box and put it away so to speak. I couldn’t look at God. I couldn’t call on God. I couldn’t think of God. The darkness was so intense that it clouded my vision and my judgment and the light of the Lord was out of sight. Jesus is better than a flashlight. He can change darkness into light in a flash better than anything and anyone.

If you are in the darkness now and hope is not in sight, turn on the light. Turn on the light of the Lord. All you have to do is tell Jesus that you are lost. Tell Him that you are in the dark and you can’t seem to see your way out. Tell Him that you are out of touch with hope and with joy and you need to be saved from your situation. You need to be taken out of the darkness and put back into the light. He will open the way for something better and something new. He will enlighten you and His love will shine all over you. One short prayer. One plea from the heart. One tear, one cry from the depth of your soul is all it takes. God hears what is deep inside of you even when you don’t have the words. He wants you to rely on Him and to see Him as the light and the salvation that He is. He is telling you today and every day that you have nothing to worry about and nothing to fear.

The Lord is your salvation. You are saved. You are blessed. You are going to get through this dark moment and come out victorious. You are going to find peace again and joy is coming back for sure. Your salvation guarantees it. Your salvation has secured it. You are saved. You are saved today and every day. Every day you are blessed. Every day the blood of Jesus covers you. Every day there is a way out of your problems and His name is Jesus, your salvation. Every day nothing is too hard for your salvation. Every day Jesus can do the impossible. Every day you are favored so next time the devil tries to intimidate you, remind him who your light and salvation is. You don’t have to live in fear. You don’t have to fear the enemy because Jesus is your salvation. Stand tall. Keep looking at your light. Hold on to your salvation. You have nothing to fear and nothing to worry about. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Psalm 27:1*; Psalm 118:6; Hebrews 13:6

Dealing with disappointing news

Dealing with disappointing news is never easy. I remember when I applied for a leadership position in my new job I was confident that my 12 years of leadership experience was going to help me seal the deal. I had an interview that went well. The committee liked my ideas and it sounded promising. Then I got the phone call. The phone call was a rejection. I was told that two other highly qualified candidates were getting the job. I felt good that it took two other people to do the job I had done by myself for 12 years but it was still very disappointing. I felt deflated and confused. I had been so encouraged by many people to apply. I didn’t get the job. What do you do with that? What do you do with disappointing news? Do you let it bring you down? Do you give it more power than it should have by letting it make you feel rejected? Disappointing news has to be looked at from different angles and the main angle should be the angle of the Lord. How is the Lord viewing the disappointing news? Is He sad and disappointed with you or does He have a different plan? God always has a plan for our lives that is often much different than our own plans.

My plan was to get the leadership position and my mind was set on it. I wasn’ thinking about the ramifications of the job on my life. Looking back I can see that during this year of not having had extra duties and work, I have grown in my relationship with the Lord. My faith has soared and my trust in the Lord keeps getting stronger every day. God did not intend for me to have that job because it wasn’t His best for me. His best plan for me and for all of us is to get to know Him better. His plan is that we grow in our faith and we learn to rely on Him. I had to depend on Him to supply my needs for the past year more than before. I developed a sense of belonging. I belong to Jesus and what He wants for me matters more than what I want for myself. What He wants for me is better than the thoughts in my head. I have worked on my thinking a lot more this past year. One of the things I have focused on is how to deal with disappointment. I don’t want my heart to fall apart when I find out something that is sad, that is not building me up or that seems to set me back. Setbacks are inevitable but a few steps back can be more a springboard for us to jump higher. When we regress, we have to remember that God is leading our steps and that regression won’t stop Him from helping us to jump to new heights.

Disappointment pulls us back and when it gets ahold of us we ought to take a leap of faith and move on. We ought to take a minute to refocus and redirect our attention toward Jesus. A disappointment blinds us and makes us forget that the Lord is with us. It really pulls us down and clouds our judgment. The Bible has a lot to say about disappointment. The Bible has a lot to say about how to fight against disappointment. One of the most famous verses of the Bible comforts us when we are disappointed. In Jeremiah 9:11 the Lord says that He knows the plans He has for us. Plans to prosper us and not to harm us. Disappointing news doesn’t come from God. He has a plan to right the wrong and when we are disappointed we can be assured that God will make things right and He will prosper us and bless us despite the negative poison injected into our minds through disappointment.

Jesus also encourages us in His Word not to let our hearts be troubled. Disappointment can shake us but we have Jesus and He is going to help us and to give us more than what we lost. Jesus can restore anything. Think about how He restored life through His resurrection. You have nothing to worry about, friend. Disappointing news is no fun but they don’t change the Lord. They don’t change His plan for your life and they don’t change His love for you. Hang in there. The Lord has some good news for you all the time. The good news of His Gospel will prevail so hold on to His Word. Stay encouraged! May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Psalm 18:3; John 14:1-3; John 14:27

Be bold and courageous

When you rely on God and you live your life through Him, you gain a new boldness and courage. God expands your personality so to speak. He stretches out the good in you and lets it shine. The fruit of the Spirit can be seen in your life. You get a daily dose of Jesus’ love, peace and joy and you share it with the world. You get a fire in your spirit and if you keep it going, it will take you places you never knew you could reach. You will visit aspects of your personality that are new and pure. Those enhanced aspects are the results of the new birth in Christ and the daily maintenance of the birth is crucial. It’s not that we have to maintain our being saved. It is a done deal but we have to live according to the Lord and enjoy the great benefits of life in Him. We can’t be born again and live the way we used to live when Christ wasn’t our Savior. Unfortunately it happens way more often than you think. It happened to me. I got saved, I thought I was following the Lord and I did for a while but then I was mostly following my own version of being saved and Christ wasn’t necessarily the center. I didn’t carry my cross and followed Him. I carried a made up cross and followed Him at times when it was convenient. Living with Christ is not always convenient and it is never about us. It’s about Him. He gives us boldness. He gives us courage. When we remain in Him and He remains in us, we become lions of the Lord. We become bold Christians who love unconditionally and who stand for what’s right in the name of Jesus.

Boldness and courage go hand in hand. They are the willingness to take risks, to act innovatively and to do things that could frighten us. The thing is, with the Lord we become bold and courageous because we know there is nothing to fear and nothing to worry about. When we stand on the Lord and our faith is focused on Him, we can be bold and we have the courage to live this life with peace. It’s not that we are strong within ourselves. The Lord is our strength. We can walk the Christian walk and talk the Christian talk without fear. We can keep going despite the traps of the enemy and we can stand up again after a fall. It doesn’t mean that we don’t fail at times and that we don’t have difficulties. It means that through it all we are strong and courageous and we dare to believe even when the enemy is taunting us. Friend, you have boldness in you. You have courage. Let them come out as you fix your eyes on Jesus. The spirit He gave you is powerful. Don’t let yourself be intimidated by your circumstances. You are a lion or a lioness of the Lord. Roar with faith. Show that you know that greater is the One that is in you than the devil that is in this world.

There is nothing to fear and nothing to worry about. It’s easier said than done but I can guarantee you that when you make Jesus the Lord of your life every day and in everything, you will not fear and you will not worry. Let Him be your “all in all.” Let Him be the King and the ruler of your life. Follow Him. Focus on Him. Pray to Him. Be close to Him. Adore Him. Worship Him. Read Him in His Word. Be His witness. Connect Him to your world. Carry your cross and keep your eyes on Him as you walk on this journey. Let His words become your words. Let His Spirit influence your spirit. Let love be your native tongue. Let His peace that surpasses all understanding surpass your understanding. Embrace His joy and you will have strength. Be humble. Be patient. Be loyal. Be faithful. God’s boldness and courage will become a big part of your life. You will speak up for Jesus and you will speak up for love. You will walk in the valley with confidence and you will climb the mountains with hope. My prayer is that you are as bold and as courageous as the Lord intended you to be. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!

Suggested reading: Joshua 1:9; John 15:7; 2 Timothy 1:7

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

Don’t give up

When God encourages us and He tells us not to give up, He truly means it. I hear that encouragement a lot in the depth of my spirit. Sometimes it sounds louder than other times but it always comes from the heart of the Lord and I love hearing it. When I am told not to give up, I meditate on those words and scan my life using the filter of the words “Don’t give up.” Where in my life should I not give up? Everywhere! I should not give up anywhere in my life. Giving up is what the enemy wants us to do. He is the king of discouragement and he doesn’t want to see any of us reach our full potential in the Lord. God has put great things in us. He has given us talents and gifts and the greatest gifts of all is the gift of Jesus. With Jesus in our lives, we have no reason to give up. Yet we lose hope very easily because the enemy convinces us and tells us that we might as well give up. He talks about God as a small god who can’t do much for us. Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever thought about how the devil talks about God to us and we buy into the lies? What we get in our heads is not always from God. I would say it is often from the enemy or from our own minds. God sits in there somewhere and we have to unearth Him and let Him dominate out thoughts. In the middle of words of despair and discouragement, the Lord tells us, “Don’t give up, child. You are going to make it. You have Me. You have nothing to worry about.” Those powerful words will always be true and today I want to remind you that you don’t have to give up because you have the One who can make anything happen. Stand the course. God is your ally.

God being our ally is such a great encouragement. The enemy and his friends are many but our One God can squash them all. I like to remind myself that the Creator of the universe, the One who was raised from the dead and who conquered death is my ally. He is my Father, my friend and my number one companion. I am never alone because God is with me. I am never alone and I am always surrounded by the best of the best, Jesus Himself. Your best friend is on your side telling you not to give up. He is not just suggesting it. He is telling you that you can’t give up. You have all the power from Heaven backing you up so you can’t give up. You could choose to give up but you would do yourself a major disservice by ignoring God’s encouragement. Like I said His encouragement is not void and it is not in vain. He knows that your potential is extraordinary and if you hold on tight and you keep going, something very good is going to come out of your effort. You are going to be able to accomplish whatever you are endeavoring to do now and more. There is no limit to what you can do in the name of Jesus. Don’t give up! The name above all names is giving you license to win. God is on the throne as we speak and He is on the throne when you are doing well and when you want to give up. He is unchangeable but He can change you!

When you are ready to give up, give your concerns and your worries to the Lord. He will assist you and He will transform you. He is an expert at creating faith warriors who go to battle and who stand strong. You are one of those faith warriors. That is how God sees you. He wants you to see His reflection in you. Him being in you allows you to do the impossible. You are going to make it without a doubt. You just might need a reminder from time to time but the song is still the same. The Lord is still singing over you saying how much He loves you and how much you can do through Him. Giving up is not in His vocabulary. When Jesus faced the grave, He kept going until He did what needed to be done so that you and I could conquer life every time problems might arise. Your idea of giving up is certainly a problem but you can defeat it. Rest assured that God will see you through it all. If you want to give up because you don’t see the end in sight, refocus your vision and position your mind on Jesus. He is the end in sight. He is the solution to every problem. He is the peace for every turmoil and the joy for every sorrow. Great days are coming ahead. Don’t give up. You will see that God has been faithful the whole time and you don’t have to worry about a thing. Stay encouraged! May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!
Suggested reading: 1 Corinthians 9:24; James 1:12 2 Timothy 4:7

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