Isaiah 61:11

For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables what is sown to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

The earth brings forth whatever you plant in it. The soil nurtures the seed and enables whatever has been sown to spring up. In the same way, God plants righteousness and praise within His people. He nurtures what He has planted in us so that at just the right time, we experience a harvest that displays His glory and the work of His hand before a world that desperately needs to know Him.

God has planted something in you that He wants to come forth. Some gardens take longer to grow than others. What flourishes in one garden might not flourish quite as well in another. Still, God uses the soil of our hearts in whatever condition it may be to plant a seed that will produce a harvest that depicts His glory. We do well to find what He has planted in us and begin to nurture that seed and work the ground of our hearts to bring forth that harvest in the best condition it can be.

The seed God plants in us is our passion – our spiritual gift. What do we love to do more than anything else? What drives our thinking? How are we wired? What love has He given us that we feel compelled to express? God has given us the righteousness of Christ within us. He has given us praise within our hearts to express our love to Him. Whatever He has planted in us will depict these two things and reflect His glory before the nations.

Bring forth what God has placed in you. Nurture that seed of passion until it just comes growing forth as a vine from you. Use whatever gift God has given you to build His kingdom and not your own. Whatever He has planted in you will display the righteousness of Christ and bring praise to Him. Expect a bountiful harvest, and look for your garden to grow!

Have a blessed day!

Ecclesiastes 11:10

Remove sorrow from your heart, and put away pain from your flesh, because youth and the prime of life are fleeting.

I think most of us can relate to this verse. We can certainly see how youth escapes us, and before we know it, the old person looking at us from the mirror doesn’t match the young spirit we feel inside. If only we could live life to our fullest potential when we are young, then, perhaps, we would have no regrets. Wisdom, however, comes with age and experience, and hindsight offers a more complete perspective than foresight.

Regardless of our age, removing sorrow from our heart is wisdom. Worry only robs us of the time we have now. Seize your time, and live life in the present. Enjoy the people God has placed in your life for this season. Make the most of what you have right now, and allow the glory of God to shine through you.

To put away pain from your flesh is to forget the troubles of your body. Our flesh is limiting by nature, and we have to train it to cooperate with our spirit. Sometimes, you just have to walk off that arthritis pain, go one step further in physical therapy, or take another ibuprofen and move forward. When your body absolutely will not cooperate, find another way to do what God has placed in your heart. God gave us imagination and creativity to overcome obstacles, and His grace will empower you to move mountains through faith. Fortunately, there is no age limit on grace or faith!

Refuse to believe life has passed you by. Start living your life to the fullest right now, and don’t let failures of the past prevent you from succeeding in the present. None of us can control what happens tomorrow, so don’t let worry rob you of today. God has an abundant supply of grace and favor to do whatever He places in your heart to do, and the only thing that limits you is your faith. Your mind may be much stronger than your body, and what you believe will determine what action you take. Choose to believe God for the best, and take responsibility for your own happiness. You can be happy and full of joy at any age, so do it!

Have a blessed day!

Matthew 19:24

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

Jesus made this comment to His disciples just after the rich young ruler came to Jesus asking what he should do to inherit eternal life. While the young man had done many good things, his life was not perfect. His selfish heart was revealed when it saddened him to think he had to give up the comfortability of his riches to give to those less fortunate. This ounce of selfishness prevented him from receiving eternal life by his own merit.

While it is certainly not a sin to be rich, a rich person has trouble receiving grace. When all of your needs are met, you are blind to your own corrupt nature. Our lack helps us understand where we are deficient and to seek grace in overcoming our downfalls. If we see riches as blessings from God that our lives are in order, our own pride will mistakenly lead us to think we have earned favor with God. We will fail to recognize our sin or our need for mercy and forgiveness. 

We can never be worthy enough to receive eternal life. God does not bless us just because we are good. Any blessing we receive is a gift of grace, and we should realize that His grace is the only way we can receive eternal life. Regardless of how rich we are, we are still in need of mercy and forgiveness from a perfect God. The rich man’s need is the same as the poor man’s need, and those needs can be filled only one way – by the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Take time today to thank God for the many blessings He has given you through His grace. Consider the selfishness of your own heart, and understand that it is by God’s grace alone that you may inherit eternal life. Share the grace God has lavished upon you with others, and make your life a little richer by giving of yourself to someone who needs to see Jesus in you. Be thankful for any lack you may have, knowing that it is simply a reminder that God’s grace is bigger than your need.

Have a blessed day!

Matthew 27:62-64

The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive, He said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come, steal Him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ Then the last deception will be worse than the first.”

The chief priests and Pharisees knew well what Jesus had taught and prophesied about Himself. They were both angered and terrified of his prophecies. The people regarded Him as a prophet, so if they sought to arrest Him or kill Him without discrediting Him, they would have an angry mob on their hands. It seems they were trying to control the narrative and were concerned about “misinformation.” Since a prophet always speaks the truth, they were afraid He really might rise from the dead, so they had to insure it didn’t happen. They had to make sure that tomb was sealed and guarded so there was no chance He would escape. If death could not keep Him, why would they think a silly stone would keep Him in the tomb? 

I’m both amazed and amused that the chief priests and Pharisees believed Jesus’s teaching more than His own disciples did. While the chief priests and Pharisees insured the tomb was sealed so a resurrection couldn’t happen, the disciples didn’t even bother to show up on the third day to see if it would! They accepted His death but did not believe He would rise as He said He would.

The chief priests and Pharisees cared about what people thought. They lived for the respect and honor from men, and keeping public opinion in their favor is what kept them in power. If people even thought Jesus rose from the dead, there would be a greater faith and a greater religion than the traditions they had built, and the people would eventually follow someone else. They just couldn’t let that happen, so they sealed the tomb and placed it under guard. They had to protect their interest. If people thought Jesus rose from the dead, He was more than a prophet – He was the Messiah!

A sealed stone couldn’t keep Jesus from raising from the dead, and no attempt from the enemy to seal your future or steal your blessing will prevail! You cannot keep down what God has ordained to rise!  Don’t worry about the things others have done to harm you or to prevent you from success. If God has predestined it, their weak attempts to contain you will only serve to magnify God’s glory when He reveals it! No stone in your life is greater than the power of God to raise you to a new level! Rejoice in the fact that Jesus died for you so His power could work in you! You are not bound by the opinions and attitudes of men. You have a purpose ordained and anointed by Almighty God, and He will bring you to it!

Have a blessed day!

Ephesians 4:15

But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head – Christ.

In this text, Paul was teaching the church at Ephesus to grow in their Christian walk. God had equipped the church with every spiritual gift so it might work together to grow its members spiritually and bring them to maturity. If they did not grow spiritually, they were vulnerable to every teaching that made them feel good. Without spiritual growth, they would be like little children, tossed by every form of unhealthy doctrine or comfortable influence.

God designed for us to grow in every way – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. If we fail to grow in every area, we become vulnerable and often dependent in the areas where we do not experience growth. Any area of weakness where we do not grow becomes an opportunity for the Devil to devour. God wants us whole and able to overcome the enemy’s schemes in our lives so we may enjoy the fullness of life in Christ.

Growth, however, may sometimes feel uncomfortable. We often have to reach beyond our limits to find how far we can really go. If we choose to remain comfortable, we will never experience all God has for us. Pain can signal that something is wrong or that we are growing and overcoming another limitation in our ability to move forward. Physical therapy, for example, is often painful, but it is designed to stretch us beyond our current limits and take us forward. My son would sometimes complain with leg pain as a child, and this was often followed by a need for longer pants. What he experienced were normal growing pains and were actually very healthy because it meant he was growing.

When an infant fails to grow for no apparent reason, doctors often classify the problem as “failure to thrive.” I believe many Christians today experience a “failure to thrive” in their spiritual or emotional being because they aren’t willing to participate in the painful process of becoming whole. Why depend upon God to move in your life when you can get a quick fix from people or things that make you feel warm and accepted? Why walk forth in obedience and sound doctrine when giving into temptation feels more satisfying? Satan knows that if you grow in your faith, you will experience more of God’s anointing, and that is a threat to him. He can make it easy for you to turn to other people or things so you “feel” like everything is okay. The problem with his solution for you is that “feelings” are only temporary. When you are alone with yourself without that person or thing to make you feel comfortable, the void returns, and you are left to face the truth of your situation again. Growth, however, diminishes the void and charges your faith to take you into the next level of development. In this way, those who follow Christ truly live “from faith to faith.”

Don’t just survive this life; determine to thrive. God wants you to be whole, and He never intended for you to live a fragmented life on a permanent basis. Surround yourself with people who help you grow to reach the full potential God has for you and challenge you to go beyond your limits. Dig deeply into His word every day to see what He has to say to you. The more you grow in your faith, the more you will grow in all other areas. Growth is required to thrive, but it can be painful at times.

Have a blessed day!

2 Corinthians 3:17

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

In reflecting upon this verse, I began to see that our freedom is really based upon the Spirit of the Lord and where He resides. We live in a free society that is aggressively trying to take our freedom from us, and if we are not careful, we will willingly relinquish our God-given rights for the sake of doing what is supposedly “best for us.” Just how can we protect our freedom in an evil world? This verse tells us.

Real freedom stems from the Spirit of the Lord. If God is not in it or does not approve of it, there is no freedom in it. For this reason, God gave us His word so we could know His heart and be free from that which so easily ensnares us. Spend time in His word each day so you will know the difference between right and wrong instead of allowing culture to dictate morality to you. We must be careful what we accept, what we tolerate, and what we normalize because embracing sin will absolutely enslave us individually and as a nation.

Always accept people and love them where they are. Those who are enslaved have been deceived and desperately need the grace and mercy that God eagerly wants to give. Jesus died so we could be free of such slavery. The devil would love nothing more than to have us all fighting and arguing in order to cause hatred, division, and chaos so he could continue to steal, to kill, and to destroy. We must remember that only the Holy Spirit can convict and ultimately change a heart, so our greatest weapon in protecting our freedom is to call upon the Holy Spirit. Pray for a great move of God’s Spirit throughout the earth to awaken those who are ensnared and to draw them to Him. A real revival in this land would truly set us all free. I believe it is coming.

Exercise your freedom to pray today for those who need true freedom. Thank God for setting you free, and willingly relinquish any area of your life where you have become ensnared. If God isn’t in it, you don’t want it because He won’t bless it. We have greater levels of freedom yet to be reached by simply seeking the presence of His Spirit.

Happy Independence Day!

Isaiah 31:6-7

Return to the One the Israelites have greatly rebelled against. For on that day each one will reject the silver and gold idols that your own hands have sinfully made.

God will protect Jerusalem and His people. He is coming again to rule and reign, and every knee will bow and confess that He is Lord. When He does, people will turn from their money and the false gods they’ve served. It will be too late, however, for many. Now is the time to turn to Him while we are still living in the age of grace.

Many in the church have fallen away to chase other things. Some fail to see the relevance of the church in the pursuit of the happiness of life. For others, serving God just isn’t convenient in their busy schedules. Some who have made a profession of faith fail to see the importance of discipleship and actually living out the faith they profess to have. To those who don’t make God a priority, He beckons with the call, “Return.”

If you have loved ones who have fallen out of church and into the clutches of the world, pray that God will draw them back in these last days. Prayer is much more effective in reaching the prodigal than arguments because it appeals to the One who knows exactly how to reach each lost or straying soul. Pray for your children and grandchildren to see their God given purpose and desire to follow it. Pray that your loved ones will develop a close, personal relationship with Jesus Christ that is more than just a profession of faith in Him. Pray for a genuine and whole-hearted return of God’s people and for world-wide revival to generate the largest harvest of souls ever known to mankind. If your own heart has wandered in some area, answer His call to return today. He is coming again, and His reward is with Him.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 12:1

Help, LORD, for no faithful one remains; the loyal have disappeared from the human race.

David wrote this Psalm, and it is clear he thought he was the only one who still remained faithful to God. In our society, we may feel the same way at times. In the midst of so much antagonism toward Christianity, we may feel as if we are the only one amidst a sea of ungodliness. The truth, however, is that there are many Christians in our country, but the enemy is trying to silence their voices so we think we are alone.

The Devil brings difficult times upon us to make us think we are alone. Widowhood may make us feel isolated and completely “different” from our peer groups. No one wants to be the odd man out of a group; loneliness will cause us to retreat. The enemy knows this and tries to convince our minds and emotions that we are alone in our situations, therefore, we should just give up.

While we may feel alone in our widowhood, there are MANY widows out there! We are by no means alone in this world! If we united, we would pose a major threat to the enemy because it would empower us to live above our distresses. His tactics are to keep us isolated, depressed, and lonely and thinking that no one else understands. David thought he was alone when God had everything planned for him to take the throne. His plan is for us to take dominion of our circumstances, too. We have to stop thinking we are the only one and start believing that God is working in our lives.

Elijah thought he was the only one in Israel who still served God while Ahab was king. God had 7,000 who were faithful to Him, and Elijah didn’t have a clue. His understanding was very limited! How could he miss 7,000 men? He failed to recognize them because he was focused inward – upon himself, which prevented him from connecting with others who would no bow the knee to Baal.

If the enemy has you convinced you are alone, retaliate by declaring you are not alone in your journey. Find ways to connect with other widows. Take your eyes off of yourself and begin to notice the world around you. God intends for you to take dominion over the place where He has placed you, but you will never do it if you shrink back in depression and isolation. Find your life by pouring yourself into someone else’s. You are not alone, and you never have been. You just haven’t found anything or anyone else by looking within yourself. Now is the time to look out and look up.

Have a blessed day!

John 6:68-69

Simon Peter answered, “Lord, who will we go to? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God!”

Peter knew he had come too far with the Lord to turn back. He had learned too much truth to successfully walk in his old way of life again, and he would soon learn that he would not be able to run from that truth. While he would later deny Jesus and even try to return to his life as a fisherman, he was forever divinely ruined for God’s purpose.

When hard times hit us, we have nowhere else to turn but to Jesus. Only He has the words of eternal life for us that we need to continue to survive. Holding on to every word that we receive from Him during those times helps build our faith as we see His perfect plan emerge. Through these times, we come to see the evidence of Jesus as the Holy One of God.

God’s word refreshes and encourages us. His word edifies and uplifts us to a point where we have the faith to believe and to receive from Him. His word changes our thinking from being victims to being victors who overcome adversity. Eternal life springs forth from His word and begins to permeate our being, giving us a passion for living that only God can give.

You can easily spot the words of the Devil from the words of God. Satan’s word to you will always try to destroy you, tear you down, or even paralyze you. God’s word, however, will encourage you, inspire you, and give you a desire to move forward and beyond your hurts. The Devil’s word will bring death to your spirit, while God’s word will bring life.

Peter knew he had no one else to whom he could turn. Neither do we. Jesus has the words of eternal life for all of our situations, and we must believe He is the Holy One of God. Whatever life may throw at us, He has the answer. He is the answer! Turn to Him today and find what He has to say to you. There is no better place to run than into His arms.

Have a blessed day!

Genesis 30:22-24

Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my shame.” She named him Joseph: “May the LORD add another son to me.”

After granting Leah six sons of her own and two through her slave, He finally remembered Rachel and listened to her. The fact that He listened to her must have meant that she cried out to Him. We must all come to the point where we no longer try to manipulate our own blessing and cry out to God for an answer. Rachel could not conceive on her own; her child was a gift from God.

Rachel certainly bore the shame of having no son of her own, and she believed this son was God’s answer to take away her shame. A married woman without children was scorned by the community, and this child released her from public humiliation and gave her reason to rejoice. Just as God had a heart for Leah’s pain, He also had a heart for Rachel. He did not allow her to continue to hurt.

While God may allow us to go through seasons of pain for some reason, He does not allow us to stay there. We may have to learn – like Rachel did – that He is the source of all good things. We cannot manipulate a blessing nor make ourselves worthy enough to receive a blessing from God. Everything from His hand is a gift of grace. He has a heart of compassion for His children, and He is always just a cry away.

The word, remembered, here means to mark, as in to be recognized. God had not forgotten Rachel. He simply chose this time to recognize her by giving her the son she so desperately wanted and needed to take away her shame. He paid attention to her. When both Leah and Rachel came to the end of themselves and could help themselves no longer, God paid attention to their need and gave them sons.  Leah could do nothing to make her husband love her, so God recognized her by blessing her. Rachel could do nothing to conceive a son on her own, so God recognized her. When we can do nothing to meet our own desperate needs and cry out to God, He will recognize us and bless us in a way that only He can. He will give what truly satisfies. Every good and perfect gift is from Him (James 1:17).

Whatever you can manipulate, you must maintain. If God grants it, He sustains it. Cry out to Him and wait for Him to respond. Suffering is not His ultimate goal for you. He wants you to overcome and be a reflection of His glory. At just the right time, He will remember you, listen to you, and open the right doors for you to receive a blessing that only He can give. At that point, His glory shines upon you, and you will find everything worth the wait!

Have a blessed day!