During times of deep challenge make a choice to trust God!

Challenges come to all of us. Sometimes they can feel overwhelming. When they do our tendency is often to become discouraged in our faith. where you might ask “Why would God let me go all the way down this road only to close the door now?” When life is tiring and confusing it’s easy to lose hope in God’s ability to work on our behalf. We can become weary and not bother picking up the Bible to hear what His Spirit has to say to us. We can cease to pray, feeling that God isn’t hearing us anyway. If this is where you are today I hope this message will minister and encourage your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. Psalm 37:5

God knows our nature is to fall away when times are hard and we are confused. He knows we will tend to neglect His Word. Hard circumstances in life can be times of equipping. The roots of a mighty tree must go deep so it will be grounded when the fierce winds blow.

During times of deep challenge make a choice to trust God. Make a decision to allow God to equip you with spiritual understanding and wisdom for your next step. Stay disciplined. Keep equipped by standing on the promises of His word. Keep the door of your heart open with an invitation to Him to lead you every step of the crooked way.

He will build a track record in your life that will secure you in your faith. He is faithful. Be determined to continue to equip yourself with prayer and His word. Though circumstances and people may disappoint you, God never will. His strength will hold your hand and your heart through those times when your world is shaken.

Have a wonderful day as you stay in the Lord’s presence. Love you all.

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Ask, Seek and Knock!

Such simple instructions really, when you think about it. Jesus came right to the point. If you are a follower of Christ and believe, these things will happen. The precept of this Scripture is these things will happen when you pray. Have a wonderful day as you remain in His presence in prayer continuing to ask, seek and knock.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

Ask – “Pray; pray often; pray with sincerity and seriousness; pray, and pray again; make conscience of prayer, and be constant in it; make a business of prayer, and be earnest in it. Ask, as a beggar asks alms. Ask represent your wants and burdens to God, and refer yourselves to Him for support and supply, according to His promise. Ask as a traveler asks the way; to pray is to enquire of God.” I believe in having an attitude of prayer where prayer or at least the knowledge of opportunity to pray is always existent.

Seek – “Seek as for a thing of value that we have lost, or as the merchant man that seeks goodly pearls. Seek by prayer” Seek as if what was lost is the most important thing in your life.

Knock – “Knock as he that desires to enter into the house knocks at the door. We would be admitted to converse with God, would be taken into His love, and favor, and kingdom; sin has shut and barred the door against us; by prayer, we knock; Lord, Lord, open to us. Christ knocks at our door.” “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)

My friends, Jesus is ready to answer your prayers. He desires to pour out His love and favor. Prayer is the key. A prayerful life is the key. Prayer offers believers a means of acknowledging the character and purposes of God and the opportunity to seek guidance concerning His will for them. Prayer is a conversation. That’s what it is. And conversation must be two-way. As you seek God in prayerful conversation, He will hear you and respond to you. What else do you need to know? The Word of God says, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:24) Pray – Believe – Receive. Hallelujah!

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Are you tired?

“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”‘ Matthew 11:28

In my quiet time I was led to this very familiar passage and I feel in my spirt that some of you are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and need to hear this word. There are so many things that can get us down. Long hours at work or maybe not enough hours, strained relationships, financial difficulties, medical conditions, emotional stress, family responsibilities or a myriad of other things that can over burden us. But Jesus wants you to find a resting place in His presence right in the middle of our worries.

Why would He want to handle our burdens? Because He loves us and doesn’t want us living in bondage. His invitation is given out of love, and we never have to fear coming to Him.That’s who He is; that’s how He operates—He loves us no matter who we are or what we’ve done. God will energize, encourage, motivate, and equip us as an expression of His love for us. When He bears our load, we don’t have to worry about it. There’s nothing that He cannot handle—no pressure so heavy that He can’t lift it off our shoulders. He daily enables us to live with our burdens without feeling the weight of them. So come to Him and surrender. Today, instead of letting your worries make you weary, respond to His invitation and come to Him -. He will comfort you, He will guide you, He will give you rest.

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See the Power of God at Work to get you Through!

Good day to you all!!!

I was led to this message for everyone to reflect on. “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10. Wow! what a powerful statement of faith by the Apostle Paul in this passage. His spiritual view was crystal clear. He could see his sufferings as a reason to rejoice, because he knew that in them all of Christ’s power was at work. There are times that we don’t look at things from a spiritual point of view. We see what is in front of us and respond accordingly. We look at them as stumbling blocks or things that are in the way of us getting from one place to another. But not so much with Paul. He saw what he faced with a different viewpoint. He looked at them through the eyes of Christ. He saw the Power of God at work to get him through. So I hope this message encourages you like it does me that when we we are weak, then we are strong when we allow the power of God to work through us. Love to you all.

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10

God is all-powerful. He is able to do whatever He wills. God’s power is limited only by His character. “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) God demonstrates that power through the redeeming grace of His Son, Jesus. The same power that conquered the grave lives in us. The same power that defeated sin and death lives in us. This is what Paul understood.

How does the knowledge of this change the way we pray? Well, it’s like this. There is no illness, no sickness, no disease that is more powerful than the Power of God. There is no criticism, no accusation, no rebuke that is more powerful than the Power of God. There is no necessity, no requirement that is more powerful than the Power of God. There is no attack, no harassment, no oppression, no mistreatment, no intimidation that is more powerful than the Power of God, and there is no suffering, no pain, no sorrow, no anguish, no grief, no heartache, no concern, no worry, no misery that is more powerful than the Power of God.

The Apostle Paul’s faith was grounded in incredible belief. Paul encouraged Timothy by presenting himself as a model of faith and belief. “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” (2 Timothy 1:12) And we must also carry this faith with us in what we face and how we go about praying through it.

My friends, as followers of Christ, God cares for us and defends us. He protects us and teaches us. He guides us and keeps us. God is the guardian of His Word and His promises. When we pray, we must believe that the Power of God is at work in us and through us and resides in our prayers. We must simply believe that God is and He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

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Difficult places

“Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow Your steps.  When they walk through the Valley of Weeping it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains! They will grow constantly in strength.” Psalm 84:5-7

I want to encourage you this morning with this uplifting passage if you’re going through a difficult time in your life, and you’re beginning to feel worn out and weary. There are some powerful truths contained in these verses that we can’t afford to miss if we intend to walk in the victory and power that belong to us in Christ. The Lord is telling us here that when we find our strength in Him, the difficult places we have to travel through in life will become places of blessing and refreshment. If we fail to depend on God as our source of strength, we will grow weak and weary. But if we lay hold of the strength that the Lord offers us, we will “grow constantly in strength.”

No matter what difficult places you may be walking through today, the Lord wants to transform them into places of blessing and refreshment. Call upon Him now, and let Him fill you with the strength that only He can give!

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One with Him

“I have given them the glory You gave Me – the glorious unity of being one, as We are – I in them and You in Me, all being perfected into one – so that the world will know You sent Me and will understand that You love them as much as You love Me” John 17:22-23

WOW when I read this passage from Jesus to God the Father, I can’ t help but leap from in excitement when I realize that God loves me and you as much as He loves His only begotten Son! What is more, He loves us unconditionally. That means He loves us not because we are good, or worthy of His love, but simply because of who He is.

Of course, the miracle of it all is that when Jesus, who is the incarnation of God’s love, comes to live within us when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior , that same supernatural love becomes operative within us, enabling us to love others supernaturally as well. Let this truth dominate your thinking today. It will lift you from the pit and set your foot upon the rock so you can walk in victory. God loves you same as Jesus. Don’t forget that.

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God, you are faithful!!!

I was sitting here just reflecting on God’s timing in answering prayer. Believe me I would love to tell you that if you stay in faith, if you believe, then God will always answer your prayer within 24 hours, or at least within the first week. But we know that’s not reality. God promises He will be true to His word, but He never puts a time frame on it. In fact, He tells us that we need patience to see the promises come to pass.(Hebrews 6:12) Sure, it would be a lot easier if God told us when we were going to get well, when we were going to get the right job, when we would meet the right person, when our child would come back to Him or a myriad of other things. But the truth is, that wouldn’t take any faith. It takes faith to say, “God, I don’t know when You are going to do it, but I trust You enough to believe that You will do it, that the answer is already in my future, it just hasn’t been manifested yet.”

Today and every day let me encourage you to allow this to be your prayer: “God, give me the grace to accept Your timing.” That means you’re asking for God’s strength, His supernatural empowerment to stand strong while you are waiting. Choose to keep believing, choose to praise Him, and choose to accept His timing knowing that He is faithful.

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Do you desire to please God?

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” Philippians 2:13

Do you desire to please God? When we become a believer by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God begins working in us. He changes our desires from self-seeking to God-seeking. When you and I sin it displeases Him, most times, we know it immediately. There’s uneasiness on the inside of us. We might even feel a little sick to our stomach. That’s because the desire to please God is built inside of us. That “feeling” is the Spirit’s gentle conviction (not condemnation) that keeps us on the path He has for us.

But notice He didn’t just give us the desire to please Him; He gave us the power to please Him, too. He didn’t just call us; He equipped us! Let me encourage you like I do myself to follow that inner prompting so that your actions will line up with your heart’s desire. And remember, even when you make a mistake (sin), even when you have a setback, just repent of your sin (to turn away from it) God is always ready to help you. He loves you so much, and He wants the best for you. He wants you to continue growing spiritually. His plans and purposes for your life are good. And when you are submitted to Him, nothing can stop the Him from accomplishing great things in and through you!

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Overcoming Despair!

Good day everyone!!

We live in a world that is filled with despair. The enemy strikes hard with the spirit of despair. It’s deep-seated and it’s everywhere—even within the body of Christ. The devil will scream in our ears, “You’re no good.” “God’s will for you is not good.” “Your situation is hopeless.” It’s hard to live in victory when we believe enemy lies. But we overcome despair and are transformed by changing how we think and by the renewing of our mind. We need to know what God is like, who we are in Christ (Romans 5), and what we believe.

If we were to admit it personally, there is not one of us who hasn’t had the enemy strike hard at us with feelings of despair at one time or other. We live in the world system, and we fight the devil on a daily basis. There is a battlefield of the mind where we wrestle against the powers of darkness. Intercessors especially are a target of the enemy because the enemy hates prayer. He will try to defeat us through a spirit of despair.

We are called to enjoy our relationship with Jesus fully. We are equipped to experience God’s transforming grace by renewing our minds with the truths that give us the assurance of how God accepts us and views us with mercy (even when we feel weak) Understanding God’s mercy motivates us to give ourselves fully to God with confidence.

We don’t have to live in despair. It is our God-given right to live in joyful confidence. We can walk out of despair and hopelessness, and into the transforming power of God through the renewing of your mind: It’s time to take charge of negative thinking. You have power to cast down all thoughts of despair and hopelessness. You do not have to be a captive to negative thoughts that lead to despair. You can renew your mind in God’s Word. It’s not by trying harder to change, but by seeing more clearly how God evaluates you.

Have a wonderful day as you remain in His presence. Love you all.

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God within

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

In my quiet time I was led to mediate on another of my favorite passages. Gosh I think back on wonder how could I have possible lived so many years with my faith in the world and in man. I was without Jesus with my old way of thinking, of choosing, of doing…me at the center, not Him; my will being done, not His; my pleasure being pursued, not His. Thank you Jesus that the old way of living is over…not improved upon, patched-up, painted over, or made better…all things have become new…there is nothing about my old (selfish) self that is worth bringing into my new life in Christ.

My friends what about you where do you place your faith? Do you place your faith in the world and man or do you place your faith in the power of Christ? Our lives, from beginning to its end, is totally dependent on either the grace and mercy of man or upon the grace and mercy of God. It’s a choice we have to make. I will tell you that God has loved you since before the foundations of the world. He has always loved you, but He gives you and I a choice. God never forces His will upon anyone. I ask you today, what choice will you make? I once lived for the world and man. I no longer live that way. I now live as the apostle Paul said in this  passage. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”