John 16:33

I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.

I am learning more every day to live by the motto, “Nothing is so big that God can’t handle.” There are certainly many things that are too great for me to handle, but He is capable of opening doors, overcoming obstacles, moving mountains, and even changing hearts. I’m learning to leave these things to God and to expect the best from Him. I may not always get my way, but He knows far better than I do. If He sends me a resounding, “No,” He has a better, “Yes,” waiting.

Suffering is as much a promise in this world as is God’s blessing because it comes with human nature. We will definitely suffer if we rely upon or act out of human flesh. Turning a matter completely over to God, however, will grant us peace. When we surrender to His authority, He becomes responsible for the outcome. Sometimes, our greatest acts of courage are in this kind of surrender.

If Jesus can conquer the world by conquering death, the grave, and even hell, He can absolutely conquer our little disputes, disappointments, or setbacks. In fact, everything we face seems minor compared to the things He has already conquered for us! Choose Jesus today, and choose peace. He is fighting for you!

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 13:3-4

Consider me and answer, LORD, my God. Restore brightness to my eyes; otherwise, I will sleep in death, my enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him.” and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

David is the author of this Psalm, and he appeals to God during a time of vulnerability. He had the keen sense to pray and praise during a time of heartache, and he saw God’s deliverance and restoration. In these verses, he simply asks God to consider his condition. David was anxious and threatened by his enemy, and he pleaded to God to deliver him. Everything seemed dark, and he asked God to restore brightness to his eyes so he could see clearly. Otherwise, his enemy would prevail.

When we go through difficult times, everything in front of us may seem dark, especially if we have just lost a loved one. Unless God restores our eyes by giving us new promises or new purpose, we may remain in a dark situation. God had marvelous things in store for David, and He has wonderful things planned for us, as well. We will be wise to ask God to restore brightness to our eyes so we can begin to see His perfect plan for us. We all need something for which to dream, for which to hope, for which to look forward. Satan’s weapons against us are designed to cause us to lose hope. If we lose hope, we will lose faith. If we lose faith, we will doubt and fall into fear and anxiety. We need a strong promise on which to stand and the assurance God will do what He says He will do. The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us that promise! If God can raise Jesus from the dead after carrying all our guilt and shame, He can surely raise us from our dead situations!

In the following verses of this Psalm, David begins to praise God. He still doesn’t have his answer for deliverance, but he praises God because he knows God will surely respond. Begin to praise God before you see your answer, and know that He will restore brightness to your eyes. You have a life worth living, and He wants to reveal it to you.

Have a blessed day!

Titus 3:10-11

Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning, knowing that such a person is perverted and sins, being self-condemned.

Wherever the Holy Spirit is working, you will find unity. God desires for His people to work together, and when you find divisions, you can bet that the Devil has gained a foothold in the door. With some people, however, you will find a pattern of division and hidden agendas. When you encounter someone who continually seeks to damage relationships for his/her own self-interest, you have a divisive person.

God does not tolerate divisive people, and He doesn’t want us to do so, either. To deliberately create division is an act of outright rebellion against God. Within the Church, people are to work together using their spiritual gifts to edify, build up, and strengthen the body of Christ. Anyone who seeks to damage others and destroy relationships is working against God’s plan. This verse instructs us to give a first and second warning, then to clearly reject them. Such a person is committed to serve the Devil’s purpose and not God’s. This person is self-condemned and brings trouble on themselves, even if they try to blame someone else by presenting themselves as a victim.

If you are encountering a divisive person, reject their arguments. Don’t listen to anyone who tries to turn you against someone you know you can trust. Tell them to take their argument up with the person who has created the offense and to leave you out of it. Adhere to God’s instruction to always love, always build up, and always protect within the body of Christ. Self-condemning people will bring their own destruction, and you don’t want to go down with them when they fall by taking up their offense. God has given you a life of purpose to live on your own, and you don’t need to live in someone else’s drama!

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 103:3-5

He forgives all your sins; He heals all your diseases. He redeems your life from the Pit; He crowns you with faithful love and compassion. He satisfies you with goodness; your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Why do we turn to people and things that cannot solve our problems? These verses clearly tell us where we can find real answers. Only God can forgive our sins and fill the voids of life. We cannot remove our guilt by compensating in other areas. Ultimately, it is God who heals all our diseases. Only God can redeem us from the pits of life, where we fall by accident or purposefully jump from stupidity. When we can’t help ourselves, He reaches in to deliver us.

It seems He is always rescuing me, and at times I’ve wondered if I just exhaust Him. I’m sure I’ve aggravated Him a few times. According to this verse, I find that he crowns me with faithful love and compassion. It seems He never tires of bringing me out of the messes I create. What a Savior He is!

He satisfies us with goodness. We must remember that only He has the power to satisfy. Any temptation of the devil will only leave us hungry for more if we bite. God fulfills. The devil will increase our longing and never satisfy the ache beneath it. God is good to us, and He will withhold no good thing from us.  We must trust Him.

I often think, “If only I knew then what I know now!” I wonder how my life would be different and more productive had I understood in my youth what I know now from the mistakes I made then. I can’t get those days back, but God can renew me and redeem the time. He can give me the strength of my youth, even though I’m long past it in age. God knew exactly the roads I would take, and He arranged for me to be where I am now. He can use everything together for my good and enable me to fly high above any adversity life throws at me. In fact, it seems the older I get and the more trials I face, the more He strengthens my wings. 

When life becomes tough and you don’t know who or where you are anymore, don’t forget Whose you are. If times are confusing, turn to Him. Every answer to the troublesome questions of life are found in Christ. He has not given up on you nor forsaken you. He is not weary nor impatient with you. Turn to Him, and watch Him crown you with His faithful love and compassion. He is always good to you, even if you have trouble seeing it. Submit your cares to Him today, and watch Him give you strength to fly above your circumstances. He is the answer you need.

Have a blessed day!

Isaiah 12:6

Cry out and sing, citizen of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is among you in His greatness.

I know there are times when we feel all alone and wonder just where in the world is God in the middle of our difficult circumstances. We may even seek to find Him, feeling as if He has abandoned us for some reason. In these times, we have reason to cry out and sing because He has not left us. God is among us in His greatness, even when it doesn’t feel that way.

From my own experiences, I’ve learned to pray through everything. There are certain prayers I’ve prayed for years, wondering if God were even listening. Then, suddenly something started to change that let me know not only was God listening, but He was there in the middle of my situation working on the answer the entire time. When a door opens now, I can look back and remember prayers I’ve prayed often weeks, months, or even years previously that led to this moment. God is certainly among us, and we should never hesitate to cry out and sing to Him.

Regardless of how great your difficulty may be, realize that God is greater. His greatness depicts His sovereignty. There is nothing He cannot turn around for your good and His glory. Cry out and sing to Him, and discover the greatness of the Holy One of Israel that is walking with you through your storm. Even when things are going well, He is greater still and can show you glorious things you never imagined. There is greatness in your midst, and His name is Jesus!

Have a blessed day!

Valuable to God

Psalm 147:11

The LORD values those who fear Him, those who put their hope in His faithful love.

If you want to be valuable to God, this verse instructs you how to be. Simply fear God, and place your hope in His faithful love toward you. When you do, you become someone God can use for His glory. You don’t have to be talented, smart, wealthy, or even healthy. You just have to trust His love for you.

Too many of us work to try to gain God’s love when He loves us already. We may even look at others and their abilities and think God could really use someone with great talent or strength. Such things, however, are useless unless our hope is in God. He values those whose faith is firmly planted in His love for us and not our love for Him. When we realize we really have nothing to offer God except a broken heart, we become of great value to Him. He can use a broken vessel to do great wonders in His kingdom because He has full charge of the broken and can do with it as He sees fit. Until He has full charge, we are not truly valuable to Him because our willingness to be used by Him is limited.

Do you truly want to be valuable to God today? If so, put your hope fully in His faithful love toward you, and surrender yourself to Him. Stop relying upon your own self-efforts to be accepted or loved, and relish in His faithful love already lavished upon you. Recall the many blessings He has given you, and trust Him to carry you further. You don’t have to earn a thing or take care of yourself. He will take care of you because He loves you. You are valuable to Him.

Have a blessed day!

Acceptable to God

Acts 10:34-35

Then Peter began to speak:  “In truth, I understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him.”

God did not send Jesus for the sake of the Jews alone, although Peter had a hard time understanding this. God had to show Peter in a dream that he could not call anything unclean that He had made clean.  He makes us clean in one way – through the blood of Jesus Christ. Every person who surrenders to the blood of Jesus Christ is considered righteous, and we have no right to consider such a person to be unclean.

Peter’s words were addressed here to Cornelius, a Roman Centurion who desired to follow Christ. Peter would have disqualified him except for the fact that God had already instructed him in the dream.  Cornelius did not have a full understanding of the gospel. He merely had the desire to submit to it.  Therefore, God sent Peter to witness to him. God had already considered Cornelius to be righteous based upon his desire to submit and learn more.

God does not accept you based upon your understanding of His word. His acceptance is  based upon your desire to follow Him. He will bring you the understanding you need.  The qualifier is never how much you know – it is how much you are willing to proceed once you learn. 

What do you need to understand today? God will provide the wisdom you need. Are you willing to obey when He reveals the truth to you? Cornelius’s willingness alone made him accetable, not his works.  Submit your heart in full worship today, and watch to see what He shows you. He may bring you the full truth of a problem, or He may send you to witness to someone whom you’ve disqualified but He has already made clean by a willingness to follow Him. Either way, God’s kingdom will benefit.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 30:5

For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor, a lifetime. Weeping may spend the night, but there is joy in the morning.

God deals with sin in His people, but His favor is much greater than His punishment. He corrects us in order to change our thinking and turn our behavior in the right direction. To cast an attitude of disapproval toward us consistently would merely drive us right back into sin. When we have fully turned to Him after having been corrected, He gladly and freely lavishes His favor upon us so we may know that every good and perfect gift is from Him, according to James 1:17.

David wrote these words, and he knew well both the anger and the favor of God. From his own experience as an adulterer and murderer, he had felt the wrath, conviction, and redemption of a loving Father. Although he had made grave mistakes in his past, David learned to trust the favor of God. While he couldn’t change his past, David changed his path by believing God had his best interest at heart and would lead him to experience good. In fact, David wrote strong words of faith to express his conviction.

Psalm 27:13

I am certain that I will see the LORD’s goodness in the land of the living.

David was certain that God was with him and would lead him to experience good. When bad things happen, it is easy to think God is punishing us or that He is against us for some reason. Any correction He gives us is clear, precise, and designed to direct us to the right path. His hand of favor is always upon us, but we must learn to trust Him and believe He is leading us to experience good and not evil. The Devil knows that if we think God is against us, we will devise our own paths to avoid His anger and take us far away from His perfect will for us.

Rest today in knowing that God’s favor is upon you. He is not angry with you or denying you something because you are not worthy. While He may correct you to lead you back to Him, His anger is not remaining against you to cause you to suffer. His anger is very short, but His favor lasts a lifetime. You may weep for a night, but in Him, you will wake to unspeakable joy! He wants you to experience His goodness in this lifetime so you will be convinced of a better life in eternity. He favors you, and He wants you to trust and experience that favor all of your life. You are blessed and not cursed; you are the head and not the tail. You are His!

Have a blessed day!

Titus 1:15

To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience are defiled.

We have all encountered negative people, and some of us may even fall into that category. Negative people always see the bad in things, and nothing good ever happens to them because they can’t see it when it does. They believe in the bad, so the bad is what they experience.

Thankfully, we’ve all known positive people, as well. These are the people who see the good in everything and can make the worst days seem almost welcome. To them, the good in their lives far outweighs the bad, and they choose to focus on the positive, rather than the negative.

The difference between these two types of people is their belief. Negative people believe bad will happen, and it does. Positive people look for good to happen, and it does. Romans 8:28 assures us that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. For this reason, the Christian always has reason to expect good from God. Even when we must endure trials or hardships, God will bring good from it. There is no reason for us to remain negative and full of unbelief in a good God.

Choose to believe God for good in your life today. Do not be defiled in your spirit and allow unbelief to rob you of time or opportunity. Expect God to be good to you, and move forward with the things He has placed in your heart. Even if you should experience something negative, God can use it to your benefit. Look for good, and you will find it.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 119:65

LORD, You have treated Your servant well, just as You promised.

This verse is for all of us! God always keeps His promises, and He promises to treat us well! There is a difference between those who serve God and those who serve themselves or a lesser god. The devil is an evil taskmaster who can only provide a temporary satisfaction while increasing a longing. God, however, treats His servants well by satisfying the soul.

Have you ever received an answer to prayer? God has treated you well. Have you ever felt the love and warmth of family and friends? God has treated you well. Have you ever seen needs fulfilled or dreams come to pass? God has treated you well. Have you ever experienced a miracle or felt the presence of the Holy Spirit? God has treated you well. 

Today, I challenge you to focus upon your blessings. Where has God given you victory? Where has he blessed you immeasurably? These all serve as promises that God loves you and wants the very best for you. He desires to treat you well, so leave every care with Him. Submit every need and longing to Him, and just look at where He has already blessed you. There is no limit to His abundant grace or riches in glory! He has an ever increasing supply, and His desire is to treat you well. Lean on that grace today, knowing that you are both His child and His servant. You belong to Him, and He will always take care of you!

Have a blessed day!