He will never fail YOU!

Every day presents a new day of challenges, bumps, unexpected circumstances and even blessings when we keep on living in this thing called life! Just over a week ago, I experienced a test that not only caused me to assess my own heart and attitude, but tested me to my core- causing me to dig out God's Word at another level to know and trust that He will never fail us. Not only was it a process of seeking Him, but going to His word for solace!  

In that moment, I read the gospel of John 16:33 where the Word reassures, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." What a great comfort!

Through scriptures like these, I learned, and we can learn that we are to not let our circumstances make or break us. Instead I can develop the habit of asking the Lord how He would have me to respond to these circumstances when they come to try us as the most difficult times. Did you know that 10% of our successes in life is what actually happens to us, but 90% of our successes in life is well we respond to those same circumstances?

All that to say is your life events does not have to define you or your outlook on your life. The Word of God should be your defining moment and factor used every day in how you function, operate, plan, and respond. No matter how long we have been in the Lord, this lesson is worth hearing, acting upon, and repeating in our hearts every day- that we don't lose sight of the victories that are promised to us in His Word!

In 1 Corinthians 10:13 it states, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” That means no matter how challenges of life come at you, it will never be more than what He has equipped you to handle!

It goes on to say in Deuteronomy 20:4, “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."

I want to encourage you today to continue to trust in the Lord. We can always call on and depend on our faithful Lord and Savior who never changes, never reneges on His Word, never abandons, and never forgets US- who truly cares for us in every situation! \0/ 

So I encourage, you, "He will never fail YOU!” God bless you!

Let Go and Let God!

How often do you feel like life can break you down?  Often there is a perfectly good reason!  Consider all the significant change that occurs every day-financial, emotional, spiritual, technical, ethical, moral and the list goes on and on...!  So, can one ever manage to "feel secure, even in the midst of cataclysmic changes?"  By being more and more aware of Christ's "continual Presence." By learning to "let go," releasing "more and more things into (His) care." (Jesus Calling)

It is so important -when we think of change that happens in everyday life, that we remember the fact that Jesus is always a constant we can depend upon!

I must release my worry, my cares, so that I can look upon the one who cares for my burdens. He is my burden bearer! It is truly now unto HIM – Jesus- who is able to keep us from falling and present us faultless before His presence with exceeding Joy (Jude 1:24), even when it seems odd that we can have His joy in adversarial circumstances. When we loosen our hold on controlling our lives, and let the Lord be our fence, our strength, and our guide; we can learn to live at another level of trust in the Lord, and as a consequence be victorious in life as well.  

I want to encourage you today to also trust in the Lord. The only variable that never changes in life is the presence of change itself; however we can trust in another constant- that being our faithful Lord and Savior who never changes, never reneges on His Word, never abandons, and never forgets US- who truly cares for us in every situation! \0/  

So I encourage, you, “Let Go and Let God on today!”

PRAISE Him at ALL Times! \0/

When is the best time to make a joyful noise by praising God? The best time to praise God is all day, everyday to the greatest extent we can, with joy in our heart, and with a song on our lips. Too many of us easily fall into the trap of just existing in the mundane (accepting the world's attitude about life) 'Blue Monday', 'Hump' Wednesday, 'TGIF' (Thanking God Only on Fridays) throughout our weeks on end- of work, rest, play, family time and worship. When we do this, we not only mistake opportunities to have God's outlook on life, but we shortchange ourselves in the very being and nature God has called us to live EVERYDAY. Worship and praise should be into the fabric of everything we do not only on Sunday morning.

Joyful Noise is PRAISING Jesus with a joyful Heart!

Today find a little more time to lift your concerns to God in prayer, and make a JOYFUL noise to Him for all that He has done! \0/

Psalm 100 (KJV)
100:1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

No FEAR!

 Fear is one of Satan's favorite weapons. When you start to feel afraid, affirm your trust in the Lord. Speak out...Resist the devil in His Name, and he will slink away from you. Refresh yourself in His holy Presence. 

Our lives are filled with moments of weakness, painful insults, unforeseen catastrophes, unfair persecutions, and mounting pressures that can overwhelm the best of any saint...but I am so grateful that...My God is Greater Than My Fears!

2 Peter 1:3-4 states, "For His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness...He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them (we) may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world..." 

Living in His Presence is like "living in two realms simultaneously." To be an overcomer, I must 'come over' and capture more and more of His Divine Nature through the application of His "great and precious promises!"

Christ's power resides in us...in weaknesses, in insults, in catastrophes, in persecutions, and in pressures, for 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 states, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. Yet, when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor.12:9-10)

We must not become weary in well-doing nor walk in FEAR (trust in false evidence appearing real) what can go wrong, when God has called us into His marvelous light and caused us to triumph in every good work. What is your challenge on today? I dare you to give it over to the Lord and trust that His strength is being perfected within your process of life. Pursue, Praise, Pray, and purpose in your heart that today will be a different day!  \0/

Wading Willingly Into His Will

"I speak to you from deepest heaven...in(to) the depths of your being. 'Deep calls unto deep...(My) billows sweep over you.' Psalm 42:7 states, I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.

On several occasions as I took several beach vacations this summer, I was awed each time by the vastness and magnificence of the God we serve. While the ocean intrigued me, it also however intimidated me...both at the same time. The way that waves can roll in, crashing over each other, or the way a breeze can send gentle ripples over the glassy surface, gives it an ever-changing, nearly living, breathing, expression of nature. I am clearly reminded that though we serve a mighty big God. He is so personable in that He remembers mere mortals, human beings like you and me and the very things that concern us.

I am also reminded that God's grace, His mercy, His unfathomable love goes far deeper than any soul struggle I may experience or encounter. I cannot earn it, I cannot say that I have arrived or attained from it. I simply can receive from all that God – the Great I AM has, as I do from the beauty and vastness of His great creation, the ocean!

Just as God’s ocean is unending, so is His love, His grace, His mercy! And in realizing this, my misery calls out to His mercy. My sin cries out to His saving grace. I am overwhelmed with praise, captured in worship, as the deepest part of my heart is caught up in the depths of His love. 

I am challenged to come out my comfort zone and delve into the depth of His purposes and plan for my life!  Let go on today, and trust that when you feel you may be sinking that God’s grace is sufficient. His ultimate call over your life is unfailing and His Mercy is not moved by your inadequacies.

Wading willingly into Waters of His Will….

Drawing Near to Hear.

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8)  What do you need to do today, this week, to actively choose your relationship with Jesus over the many important and busy tasks that call for your attention? He longs to bring that freshness to your soul!

Make a choice to become active in pursuing God afresh. Actively choose to spend time in His presence, to expose yourself to music that inspires, to turn off the TV, to invite Him into every decision, to ask Him which fruit of the Spirit He wants to cultivate in your life today, to pray in a quiet space and not just on the run, to listen for His voice, to read his Word and not just a devotional book, and to ask Him to teach you.

Many of times, it is impossible for our physical bodies to exist in its healthiest form if we are not investing physical foods, nutrients, vitamins, minerals and water, and the rest it needs daily to be restored, renewed, and healed of the days activities.

Just like we are unable to operate in our greatest spiritual potential, if we are not investing seeds of God’s truth, the washing of the water of His Word, and the place investing in moments of quiet rest to be renewed and restored in His strength – over our own. 

Therefore, we must choose to make the right choices actively and daily - He will be true to His promise! He will come near and refresh your soul. Then you will once again have that fresh lunch to place in His hands to multiply and to work a miracle today.

If I could a pray a prayer with you today, “Father God, thank you for each person You have brought into your Kingdom.  Thank you for each of their specific roles in the Body of Christ. Give them fresh bread in their times with You so that they will have the freshness of Your truths overflowing in their hearts. Give them insight, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to speak and to do just what the souls around them need so that they can be drawn on in their journey to You.

Bless and protect each of the members of the family of God. Draw them into quiet places to have their own hearts refreshed with the simplicity of Your truths.  Give them divine insight in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.