Carrying Others Burdens!

We need to ask the Lord to fill our hearts with His love and compassion, and to help us to do more than speak of love, but to all allow His love to multiply in our lives and touch others. And to ask Him to forgive us for turning the other way, and neglecting to share the mercy, and love we have so freely been given, but instead to a make a difference in someone’s life today. Have a wonderful day making a difference in someone’s live. 

 

“Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” ~Galatians 6:2

 

Genuine love comes from God. We don’t have the ability to show the level of compassion, love, and mercy of God to the world, unless we receive it from Him; the kind of love that will reach out to the lost, feed and clothe the poor, and understand and show compassion, to those who are hurting physically and emotionally. There are millions who are lonely and feel ostracized from society, all because of a lack of love and understanding, and through Christ, we have the ability to make a difference. We are ambassadors for Christ, and His hands extended towards the hurting, outcasts, sick, and oppressed of the world. When we simply talk of love, it is easily and quickly forgotten. When love is demonstrated, it makes an everlasting impression. 

 

Fill our hearts Lord, with your love and compassion. Help us to do more than speak of love, but allow Your love to multiply in our lives and touch others. Forgive us for turning the other way, and neglecting to share the mercy, and love we have so freely been given. Make a difference in someone’s life through us today. Amen.

Advertisement

“I know the Lord is always with me.”

It is such a wonderful Psalm of encouragement to the Christian and it’s a great prayer to God. We all have a tendency to dominate our thoughts with ourselves. How much better if our speech and thoughts were filled with faith and praise to Christ. We look to Christ as our Lord, our portion of our inheritance, the One who maintains our lot, Who gives us counsel, and Who is always at our right hand. Have a wonderful day know that God is always with you. 

 

 “I will bless the Lord who guides me, even at night my heart instructs me, I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken for he is right with me.” ~~Psalm 16:7-8

 

There is one prayer that we should read every day and it will make all the difference in your life. It is a form of discipline, for if we don’t pray this prayer we wont keep our Spiritual vitality. The prayer is simple and yet powerful. It is, “I know the Lord is always with me.” Knowing  that God’s is always with us will make all the difference in the world. Because David was conscious of the fact that God was always with him, right beside him, he was not shaken during life’s struggles. Instead God guided him and instructed his heart at night.

 


How about you? What if today we were conscious of God right next to you? What if you knew that He was in the same room you were? What if you sensed that He heard your thoughts and prayers and would to answer the questions you have? What if you experienced His comforting presence when you are under pressure? What if you knew He was present to hold your hand when you had that extremely difficult task to do? God is. God is always with us. Let us be conscious of His presence in all that we do today.

 

Dear God, thank you for being with us constantly. Please make us aware of your presence today. Help us to see how relevant you are to our lives Help us experience your presence, to really know that you are always with us, in fact right beside us. Father, open our eyes to see you, our ears to hear you and our heart to sense your very presence.
In Jesus name. AMEN

Don’t be anxious about anything!

The Word of God is still very applicable to our lives today just as it was then. As you see the Apostle Paul wrote do not be anxious about anything but to bring them to God in prayer. Another words friends it doesn’t matter how big or how small it is take it to the Lord in prayer. Our Heavenly Father wants to be taken into all the secrets and longings and desires of our heart. He wants no desire hidden from Him, but every desire turned into a prayer.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” ~Philippians 4:6

In some people’s life something little may come up and they may say hey it’s nothing big so who cares. The truth of the matter is God does care. The scripture says to cast our cares upon Him for He cares for us( 1 Peter 5:7 ). It doesn’t specify the type or when, it just says to cast them upon Him for He cares. Remember we serve the very author of love for God is love( 1 John 4:8 ). Instead they try and handle the situation thinking hey its small I can handle it. Before long the small problem grows and then they are crying out to God saying why God why. They are asking the right question of course they are usually asking Him why is happening to them instead of why didn’t I seek you first. God will never get mad if we come to Him about little issues. Remember God desires a deep intimate relationship with you. He desires those who seek Him. Friends when you make your requests known to God, ask believing He will answer your prayers( Matthew 21:22 ). In addition you notice it says with thanksgiving. This means thankful. So when we bring these request to God not only should be all things to Him, but we should thank Him. Thank Him, knowing that He has answered your prayer. Remember God knows our deepest need. Despite how things may seem at the time God has everything in control. Friends I encourage you as you walk with God to tell Him about your day. Let Him know about all that troubles, big and small. Believe me He loves you( John 3:16 ) and He will meet your every need, just seek Him first( Matthew 6:33 ). Take the time to get to know the Master. Get deep in His Word and grow in Him. Don’t conform yourself to this world, but instead identify yourself with the standard, Jesus Christ.

Have a wonderful day in His presence and God bless you.

Be Strong and Courageous!

We can let fear dominate our life or we can choose to be strong and courageous. I say we can “choose” but have you noticed in today’s verse it is a command? Why would God do that? Why would He command us to be strong and courageous? Because we NEED it and He is WORTHY of it! However, we do have options. We can let fear grip our heart and influence our decisions. We can rationalize why we can’t be strong or courageous. We can justify why we should be discouraged and drown in self-pity and yet what does God command? “Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Today, decide to obey the Lord. Be strong and courageous in all you face today. 

 “This is my command–be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” ~ Joshua 1:9

 

We have to be strong and courageous. And to remember that God would never leave us or forsake us. We know in our heads that God will never leave us or forsake us, but when a crisis hits, we often feel like He already has.

Like Joshua, we face big moments of decision, times when we have to put our faith on the line and be strong and courageous. We may fear the outcome, but we don’t have to. Even if the outcome isn’t what we expected, God will be with us in the surprise or disappointment. But He will also be with us in many victories. Whatever we have to walk through, He is there.

Stake everything on that, no matter how present or absent He seems to be. Trust Him even when you can’t sense Him. He made a binding promise to be with you. And He never breaks a promise.

Have a wonderfully blessed day in the presence of the Lord.

No one can Destroy what God has accomplished through you!

The Apostle Paul reminds us that though we may think we are at the end of our rope we are never at the end of our hope. When you feel like quitting and when opposition, slander, or disappointment threaten to rob you of the victory, remember that no one can destroy what God has accomplished through you. What happens to you is not what matters most; what happens after that matters more. 

 “We get knocked down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.” ~~ 2 Corinthians 4:9 

Things don’t always go well. Things won’t always go in your favor. It’s not always what happens to you that matters most; usually, it is what happens after what happened that matters more! Don’t give in to your feelings to give up. Dust yourself off, and get ready to resume the journey. You will heal. Neither your frustration nor your failure is final, just inconvenient bumps in the road. Wow; that sounds like a lot of clichés. But I think that’s good and practical advice.

 

Do you wish your situation had happened differently? Of course you do, but it didn’t; deal with the reality. Examine your situation honestly but positively. Lay it out before the Lord, asking His wisdom and direction. Don’t waste the experience; learn something useful to help you in the future. Resume life quickly; continue forward as soon as you feel capable of doing so. Expect things to be better not worse. If Paul, writing from prison, was able to say “the things that have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel” (Philippians 1:12), then you and I can trust God to rule in the events and circumstances of our everyday lives.

Without Faith it’s Impossible to Please God!

Even though I don’t know where God is taking me I choose to move forward in Christ. I may not know any details of the journey or the destination; nonetheless, I am not discouraged from continuing to walk on, through faith in God. The New Testament believer is commanded to walk by faith and not by sight. Even so, what exactly does that mean to us who have placed our trust in Jesus? It simply means that we have chosen to surrender control of our lives to Christ on earth, both now and in our future, and to allow the Holy Spirit to guide our steps. Have a wonderful day walking by faith and pleasing God.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” ~~Hebrews 11:6

What are we really giving up or surrendering when we finally yield our plans and desires to the Lord? Do we actually have the ability to determine just how long we live or how well our life will be in future years? We absolutely do not! We are not God; however, we can be rewarded if we will seek God first and please Him by faith.

I bring up the issue of having plans to point out to you a deeper truth. Even though you have plans for your life, and though you may be on track to fulfill most, if not all, that you have purposed in your life, it doesn’t mean that your life is pleasing to your heavenly Father. There is no eternal value in our plans unless we come into an agreement with God’s plan and will for us.

The Word of God tells us that we have no promise of tomorrow. God only promises us today. “Today, if you will hear His voice and not harden your hearts…” Just having plans doesn’t mean we will have a hope or a future, but when we surrender our agendas and dreams to include God’s will, then He can guarantee us both fulfillment in this life and eternal bliss in the life to come. The great reward that I have learned from trusting the Lord and obeying His plans over my own plans is this: I don’t have to sweat the details. I simply obey what He requires of me, and I leave the rest up to Him to work out for me and my family.

God Answers Prayer!

In our discouragement over unanswered prayer, the Lord reminds us, “Don’t quit!  Keep praying, keep Believing, keep persevering and keep coming before me with your needs.  I hear you and I care.  I will answer at the proper time … if you don’t quit.”

When it comes to the spiritual discipline called prayer, we are routinely confronted with the temptation to throw in the towel and quit.  Much of the time, the answers to our prayers are seemingly slow in coming.  We can start out so gung-ho over a need or a dream or a desire only to lose steam as nothing visibly changes.  The devil likes to show up in those moments and whisper in our ear, “You are wasting your time, your fool.  God is not going to answer your prayer.  He either doesn’t care about your need, or He is unable to help you.  Regardless, you ought to cut your losses, get off your knees, and stop believing in the pipe dream that prayer changes things.  It doesn’t.”  Have you ever heard those thoughts swirl through your mind?  I think we all have.    
 
You see, the Lord loves persistence; He loves it when we dig in and choose to trust Him, no matter what the circumstances say.  He loves it when we refuse to throw in the towel on the prayer need that He put in our heart.  When we pray according to His will, we can have great confidence that He will answer us when the time is right  (read 1 John 5:14-15). 

Have you thrown in the towel on prayer?  Have you given up on that dream, that need, that desire God placed within you?  Pick up the towel, and get back on your knees.  If your prayer is a little off center, ask God to refine it so that is in complete accordance with His will. 

 

Have a wonderful day in His presence. 

 

All of life’s Circumstances are under God’s Control

We need to believe that all of life’s circumstances are under God’s control, knowing God is in control and loves us and His timing is always perfect enables us to remain faithful regardless of our circumstances. Have a wonderful day in God’s presence trusting Him with your circumstances.

“But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying You are my God., My future is in your hands. Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly.~~ Psalm 31:14-15 

In this chapter the Davis is saying that he trusted God to deliver him, and he trusted Him to do it at the right time.Trust requires us to say, “My times are in Your hands” (paraphrase).

I have learned that trust requires us to accept that some questions will be unanswered and to place our times in God’s hands-believing that even though we do not know all the answers, He does. He has a perfect timing for all things in our lives. We all desire and believe for good things to happen in our lives, NOW not later!

As we continuously mature in the Christian life, we learn to believe for things not NOW but in God’s perfect timing. We can always have faith now, but we cannot always have the manifestation now.

Trusting God often requires not knowing how God is going to accomplish what needs to be done and not knowing when He will do it. We always say, “God is never late,” but He is generally not early either. Why? Because He uses those opportunities to stretch our faith in Him, and we grow during times of waiting. By seeing God’s faithfulness over and over, we let go of trusting ourselves, and gradually we enter God’s rest and place our trust in Him.

Don’t Let The Events Around You Control You!

 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NIV)

In this scripture we see how Habakkuk’s feelings we not controlled by the events around him, but by faith in God.’s ability to give him strength. When nothing makes sense in our lives and when troubles seem more than you can bear, remember that God gives strength to the weak. So take your eyes off your circumstances and look to God.

What qualifications do you put on happiness? So many times it seems as if we put conditions on whether or not we are going to rejoice. We must be liked. We must be successful. We have to have the right kind of car, house, clothes or social status before we can really find happiness. But what happens if those things that we feel are so important to “who we are” are taken away from us? What if we lose our job or a friendship tanks or we face bankruptcy? What if we are falsely accused of something or our friends turn on us? Then what happens to our peace, joy or happiness?

 

Somehow Habakkuk found the secret. It was in his relationship with God. He was able to rejoice in Him no matter what. He had committed himself to God and when troubles began to brew, he was able to trade his commitment in for trust. Finally, when times were at its worst, his trust allowed him to return to joy from painful situations. This joy came from a deep trusting relationship with God. This didn’t happen by accident. Habakkuk had a relationship with God that he could return to over and over again. Today begin with trust. Trust Him with everything you have and everything you need. Trust Him with today, tomorrow and the future. Then, when you need it, just like Habakkuk, your trust will help you return to joy.

Are You Really Enjoying Life?

Seriously, take a moment right now, think, and honestly answer this question, are you enjoying your life? I am not asking you if everything is perfect in your life, since that will never be the case. We will always have things that we are facing, battles to fight, challenges to overcome, that is simply part of living in this sin-filled and fallen world we are passing through. But today I want you to take some time and reflect and tell me whether you are enjoying your life or not.

“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” ~~ John 10:10

You see, the Lord wants us to enjoy our life. After all, the Bible tells us that He came to give us life and LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY! This is a Biblical truth that we often forget and I am afraid a promise from the Lord we don’t embrace enough. What happens is we get so caught up in our day-to-day trials and tribulations we forget that we are supposed to be enjoying our life along the way.

Here is the key and the message I want you to hear today. No matter what your trials may be, no matter what your challenges may be, no matter what your battles may be, you can still enjoy your life and embrace the promise that Jesus came to not just give us life, but life more abundantly! That means despite the hurts and pains you may be experiencing today, you can still enjoy your life and the abundance Christ promised you.

I know you’re probably asking me how you can enjoy your life when you are going through a relationship problem, or dealing with a major health crisis, or in bondage to some addiction, or have serious financial problems, or children who are living in rebellion to God, or need a job, or any myriad of things that may be going on in your life today. The answer is your relationship with Christ! Because of HIM, you can face all of the problems that are out there and still enjoy your life.

Life is too short to not enjoy it. The greatest enjoyment of all is when we are fulfilling our purpose which is to serve and glorify Him with our lives. I can guarantee you that if you are allowing the Lord to use your life you will not only find that perfect peace and great joy, but each day ENJOY YOUR LIFE!!!