Isaiah 63:9

In all their suffering, He suffered, and the Angel of His Presence saved them because of His love and compassion; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of the past.

When you suffer, God suffers. It is not His perfect will for any of us to suffer or hurt. He can, however, take our hurts and use them for our benefit and His glory. God’s attitude toward us is one of love and compassion. He is our Father, and He loves us with the love of a Father. He does not find joy in seeing us suffer, nor does His ultimate plan for us end with suffering. If we find ourselves suffering, God will either send the Angel of His Presence to save us, or He will enable us to endure with a reward at the end. He never sends us through painful experiences just to see us hurt.

Suffering is a part of the fallen nature. We will suffer because we live in a fallen world. While poor choices can cause us to pay consequences, we should never assume that painful experiences are always the result of divine punishment. Anything God allows us to endure is always for the purpose of drawing us closer to Him. The closer we come to Him, the more He will reveal to us. The more revelation we receive, the more blessed we are. God’s ultimate intention is to bless us, even though some blessings might begin with pain or heartache. 

Job’s friends mistakenly thought that all health and prosperity were signs of a blessed life by God. If Job were experiencing problems in those areas, God must be punishing Him for something. They never took into consideration the fact that we have an enemy who readily attacks us where God has blessed us. God displayed Job’s faithfulness by allowing the devil to attack him. Neither Job nor his friends were ever given an explanation of this. God does not owe us an explanation. He loves us with an unfailing love, and we can always trust His love for us. When nothing seems to make sense in your life, cling to the fact that God loves you, and trust in His unwavering love for you. It is the key to surviving enemy attack.

If you are suffering today, know that God suffers with you. Seek Him and Praise Him. Your victory is found in His Presence, and He dwells in the praises of His people. You can always trust His unfailing love for you, and that is something for which you can praise Him! Watch your situation turn around when you fight the enemy with the weapon of praise!

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 68:28

Your God has decreed your strength.  Show Your strength, God, You who have acted on our behalf.

For whatever trial you find yourself facing today, know with full assurance that God has decreed your strength to endure it. To think that we just cannot take another day proves that we are believing a lie from the enemy that we just don’t have what it takes to get through a particular difficulty. The truth is that God has promised us His strength in our weakness, and He will never leave us or forsake us. When our strength fails, we are to rely upon His strength.

To rely upon God’s strength, which never fails, we must be willing to lose our independence.  We must be willing to forfeit control over the situation and allow God to work on our behalf.  When we do, we find that He can handle the matter much better and bring us a blessing we could never imagine! That is the nature of the God we serve! He is always loving, good, just, and merciful toward His children. 

Where are you hurting or in need today? Know that God has already decreed your strength to overcome. Where do you seem to be losing the battle? Rely upon the strength of God, who has already acted on your behalf. He is the source of your strength, and He will not bring you to fight any battle alone. Call on Him, trust in Him, and rely upon Him to bring your victory.  He has already decreed it, and what He decrees will surely come to pass!

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 25:14

The secret counsel of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He reveals His covenant to them.

God will certainly speak to those who fear Him. In fact, He continually speaks today to anyone who will simply listen. To fear in this verse means to respect or revere. For those who truly desire to know Him and honor Him with respect according to His word, He will speak of things to come and gently direct us toward our destinies. His secrets are worth knowing. While His wisdom may seem strange at times, it can save us from disaster and open doors that no one else could open. The secret counsel of the LORD is His favor.

God also reveals His covenant to those who fear Him. We must remember that we live under the covenant of grace. God gives us what we do not deserve. Those who continue to try to earn God’s blessing will be disappointed as they learn they can never do enough. God saved us by grace, and He will bless us by His grace. As we seek Him, He will unravel blessings to us that we know could only come by grace. He will teach us to depend upon His covenant of grace in everything we do.

Are you facing an important decision today? Do you need direction for your future? Seek the secret counsel of the LORD by respecting and revering His word. Honor Him and submit yourself to Him to learn from Him. He will teach you marvelous things as He gently turns you in the right direction to receive His blessing. Be pliable in His hands. Be teachable. Watch God bless you in ways you never imagined and certainly don’t deserve. We live under a covenant of grace through the blood of Jesus, and its rewards are never ending! 

Have a blessed day!

Acts 2:39

For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.

While this verse was originally written to Jews, it applies to all Christians today. We are a part of those who the Lord has called. Just what is promised? Verses 37-38 describe forgiveness through repentance, which is salvation through Jesus Christ. God is gracious to forgive all who repent and follow Christ.

Just as God loved you enough to draw you to Himself through the Holy Spirit, He also loves your children enough to draw them. Never give up praying for this. If you have a strong relationship with Christ, He longs for your children to have a strong relationship with Him, too. He knows just what it will take to bring them into His fold, and He will draw them out of His great love for you. If it matters to you, it matters to God. It doesn’t matter how far off a child or a grandchild may have strayed, they are never out of God’s reach.

I pray every day that God will give my son a heart to love Him and to make him a man after His own heart. While he made a profession of faith at a very young age, he still has many spiritual battles to overcome. The same God who promised me victory in Christ makes the same promise to him. Just as God drew me to Himself and directed me to a different road, I can trust God to direct my son’s path and to continually draw him where he needs to be. 

Sometimes, the best thing we can do for our children is to pray and trust. We can’t fix everything, and we cannot make decisions for them. To a certain degree, we can only teach them to make wise decisions and love them through the bad ones. Know that if God cared enough about you to awaken you spiritually and draw you into relationship with Him, He loves your children enough to do the same for them. They are a part of you. To be saved means to be made whole. Just as God desires for you to be whole, He also desires for your children to be made whole, and He is working toward that goal. 

Thank God for His promises today. Pray that He will make them a reality in your life and in the lives of your children. Pray that all those who are far off from God will be drawn to His promise of forgiveness and answer His call. The next generation is depending upon it. 

Have a blessed day!

Acts 17:29

Being God’s offspring, then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.

Gold, silver, and stone are all resources we can fashion to use for our own desires and benefit. When God saves us and changes our nature, He does not become a resource to use for our own convenience or pleasure. Many who have mistakenly believed God was there to do their bidding have become disillusioned with Him and have failed to see God’s blessings in their lives. Becoming a new creature in Christ means that we are transformed into His image, and we are here to serve Him. We have a purpose greater than ourselves, and God’s work in our lives is designed to draw us into that purpose.

Are you allowing God to fashion you into the image of His Son, or are your becoming frustrated because God isn’t doing what you want? It may be time to re-evaluate your thinking. Sometimes the biggest blessing awaits us through acceptance. When we cannot change, manipulate, or alter our situations to suit us, the best thing is to just accept it and surrender our will to God. He can work through those things to create something beautiful we never imagined. 

Acceptance brings growth. It opens our minds and our hearts to something new. God can still change what we cannot, and He may yet decide to change things to suit us. Until then, however, He has blessings awaiting us on the journey that we do not want to miss. Allow His blessings to overtake you! His purpose is better than your plan. 

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 19:14

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

Before you ever speak a word, your heart has already conceived it. That is why we must be careful about the things upon which we concentrate or ponder. The more we think about something and rationalize it, the more sensible it becomes to us. The more we justify a desire, the more we will act upon it. 

God gives us His word for meditation. When we ponder His word in our hearts every day, it will eventually spill forth from our mouths. The more of His word we have in us, the more we are able to reject impure thoughts and reject the devil’s influence. The more we focus on what is noble, pure, honorable, and godly, the more we will speak it forth. Since our words have the power of life and death, we must learn to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ so the words of our mouth will prosper us and not condemn us. 

Be careful about what you think today. If it makes you depressed, angry, or fearful, know that it must be brought under the subjection of Christ, who can do all things and gives us the power to do all things by His strength. If your thoughts bring cheer, rejoicing, thankfulness, or peace to your heart, they can be used to bless others. This is acceptable to Christ, who is our rock and our Redeemer. You may not be able to help which thoughts come to your mind, but you can sure determine what you choose to let stay there! Let the love of Christ stay, and kick the devil out! By doing so, your life will be blessed, and you will be a blessing to others!

Have a blessed day!

Colossians 1:15-16

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation; because by Him everything was created in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.

We must remember that we were created by God, through God, and for God. We are not here for our own purposes, pleasures, or agendas. Every legitimate authority or government on earth was created by God for the purpose of maintaining order and, therefore, must ultimately answer to Him. He who has the authority also has the responsibility. One does not come without the other. 

Jesus, the firstborn over all creation, properly reflected the glory of God. As fallen creatures, we can reflect the glory of God only through Christ. That does not make those outside of Christ any less accountable. Only in Christ can a government, ruler, or authority properly reflect the image of its Maker. If that government, ruler, or authority chooses to walk outside Christ, it is still accountable for its actions, even though it may not agree with God’s standards. May God have mercy upon our country!

We must daily pray for our leaders, even if we don’t agree with their policies. They will answer to God for their actions as those who were given authority. Just because you don’t believe in God or honor Him does not mean that you will not suffer consequences or one day stand before Him and give an account for the authority you were given. 

While most of us are not in government positions, we have all still been given a certain amount of authority on earth. We will be held responsible for the authority we were given.  Are you being a good steward of that authority? Does your life reflect the glory of God? The only way you can properly reflect the glory of God in your life is in Christ. He must be central to everything you do, and He has given us the command to go and make disciples of all nations, including our own.

We must remember that we cannot change the hearts of people through our government.  We must change our government through the hearts of people – one person at a time. Our government is a reflection of its people, and people are corrupt in nature. Only if our people become committed to follow Christ will our government ever change to reflect the same principles. You cannot legislate morality for it is a matter of the heart.  Just because something is legal does not make it moral. We must learn to distinguish the difference. 

Make a commitment today to remain in Christ and to uphold the authority He has given you.  Pray for our leaders to come to know and honor Christ. Determine to share the love of God and the gospel whenever an opportunity presents itself. Our greatest mission ground is just under our feet!

Have a blessed day!

Acts 1:1

All these were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.

After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples banded with a little group of women and Jesus’s brothers. They had all seen Jesus minister and had sat under His teaching.  In addition, they had personally experienced His death and His resurrection as they watched Him ascend into heaven to return to the Father. Each had received the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations. Just how was this group of about 20 people supposed to change the world?

I’m sure they had questions, too. Who would believe them? How were they to reach everyone? Would they die for their convictions? I’m sure they felt the burden of a huge responsibility. They began their great task by continually uniting in prayer.

With such a small group of people compared to the Jewish religious system of the day, one would think they would soon die out. Just as the grave could not hold Jesus, neither the Jews nor other governing authorities could stop the early church. God sent His Holy Spirit to them, and Peter was able to draw 3,000 to Christ in his first sermon! Apparently, Jewish religiosity and traditions were not meeting the needs of people who were hungry for God. One encounter with the Holy Spirit led them to Christ!

Today we hear that Christianity is on the decline. False gods and demonic religions abound, and it is not popular to offend any of them. The media attacks Christian values and deems them immoral while government leaders try to force their own version of morality upon us.  Yet, those who are seeking real answers are not satisfied. Just how can we reach them as Peter did? 

This verse reveals the key to sharing the gospel effectively: they were all continually united in prayer. We must remember that it was the release of the Holy Spirit that led 3,000 to Christ and not Peter. Members of the early church simply prayed, and God went to work. He gave Peter the opportunity to speak, and the Holy Spirit fell upon the people.

If we are ever going to be effective in making disciples of all nations, we must begin with prayer. We pray and seek God, then He opens a door of opportunity. As we move in obedience to share the word, He moves in power with the Holy Spirit. Without Him in our plans, our efforts are futile. With Him, however, we are unstoppable!

Join me in prayer for world-wide revival. Pray that God would make us effective in His kingdom and that we are successful in bringing His kingdom to our world. The devil would have you think Christianity is dying so you would lose hope and quit trying. Christianity, however, is based upon a resurrection! You can’t kill something that has the divine power to rise again! If we continually unite in prayer, what could God do with us and through us? Let’s find out!

Have a blessed day!

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

This world will certainly wear you down and cause you to feel the demise of its fallen condition. It takes effort to come out of that pattern of conformation and to change into something different. Just as time, life, weather, and age will wear on the paint of your house, so this world and its corrupt nature wears on us. It can be easy just to let life take its toll and slink into a destructive pattern. To prevent further wear and tear on your home, you have to take action and do something about it. A fresh coat of paint, renovations, or new fixtures can greatly increase the appearance and value of your home. To transform our lives, however, a different kind of change is necessary.

A changed life indicates a change of mind. To break a pattern of behavior, you must first change how you think about something. You must learn to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. You must replace fear, despair, hopelessness, and apathy with faith, trust, hope, and love for Christ. While some may think this should be automatic for a Christian, this is simply not true. Unless you take active measures to change your thinking, you will continue in the same destructive patterns of the sinful nature. Actively digging into God’s word on a daily basis, meditating on that word, and applying it directly to your life will change your thought patterns in such a way that it will transform your life. Believing what God says about you and rejecting negative thoughts, words, and emotions will drastically change your whole outlook on life and give you hope and excitement for each new day. 

If you think you will never be out of debt, you are probably right. You need a new thought process to overcome. If you think you will always be alone and lonely, you will. You need to change how you think in order to develop the right kind of relationships. If you don’t start something because you think you will fail, you have already failed. You need a fresh coat of paint on those negative thoughts so you can see something new happening in your life. 

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind today. Spend time in God’s word and see just how much He loves you and wants the very best for you. Believe that you have His favor, and start to live life afresh. The transformation you will see is well worth the effort you spend getting to know your heavenly Father!

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.

This verse indicates that happiness is a choice. If you can remove sorrow from your heart, you have the power to choose to do so. You have the power to live above your circumstances and not be ruled by them.

We cannot help but be sorrowful over some things. When a loved one dies or tragedy occurs, we will experience sorrow. There comes a time, however, when you have to put that pain aside and decide to live and enjoy life again. It is an act of your will. 

Life is short, especially in the view from eternity. Make the most of it. Determine that you will be happy, and begin to appreciate where you are in life. Things may not be ideal, but if you wait for everything to be perfect, you will find yourself waiting forever and missing the abundant life God is placing before you. Acceptance and thankfulness will carry you far.  Never underestimate the power of God’s grace or the strength of a thankful heart. Happiness awaits in the midst.

Have a blessed day!