Do your troubles ever seem so great that you doubt Gods power to act on your behalf? In the midst of his trials Job recalled the greatness of God. Job 26:14 Be encouraged that the same God Who is powerful enough to hang the earth on nothing Job 26:7 has promised to act on your behalf.
My flesh & my heart may fail, but God is my Rock and firm Streangth of my heart and my Portion forever Psalm 73:26 God will never forsake us Heb13:5 O God our hearts so often fails, so many times we turn away from You. today we humbly ask for your Mercy. Hear our cry and draw us into your Presence Amen
Trials comes in many ways it can be emotional, financial, physical relational etc. Trials test our faith they bring us back to basics and remind us of our priorities,. it mature us and it is designed to make us stronger or more complete. Let us stand on Jas1:2-4 when we face our trials and be victorious in our circimstances.
Psalm 107:9
'For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul has filled with what is good (good things).' - God wants to come and satisfy you and fill you. - He has good things in store for you. - Dispel all doubt and uncertainty about His goodness. - Receive and be filled with His goodness today. PRAYER: Lord, I open up my life to receive Your goodness and kindness. Satisfy my thirsty soul I pray. Amen. When people sin, they earn what sin pays—death. Rom 6:23
Sin does to a life what shears do to a flower. A cut at the stem separates a flower from the source of life. Initially the flower is attractive, still colourful and strong. But watch that flower over a period of time, and the leaves will wilt and the petals will drop. No matter what you do, the flower will never live again. Surround it with water. Stick the stem in soil. Baptize it with fertilizer. Glue the flower back on the stem. Do what you wish. The flower is dead… A dead soul has no life. Cut off from God, the soul withers and dies. The consequence of sin is not a bad day or a bad mood but a dead soul. The sign of a dead soul is clear: poisoned lips and cursing mouths, feet that lead to violence and eyes that don't see God… The finished work of sin is to kill the soul. In the Grip of Grace (Max Lucado) For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4 : 16
All over the world, Jews celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Occurring usually in the month of September, this feast is celebrated with the blowing of trumpets — the shofar or ram’s horn. That is why it is also called the Feast of Trumpets. The Jews observe seven feasts: The Passover, Unleavened Bread, First-fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. The first four have been fulfilled literally by Jesus. He was the Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), the bread of life (John6:35) and the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:20) And when Pentecost had fully come after His ascension, He sent us the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:1–4) So the next feast that we are waiting for Jesus to fulfil literally is the Feast of Trumpets. Why is this feast significant to us? Because when Jesus fulfils it, it means that we are going up to meet Him in the clouds! I am talking about the rapture of the church. When the trumpet sounds, “in the twinkling of an eye”, we who are alive will be changed. We will put on new bodies that will be like Jesus’! Those who are dead in Christ will rise and also receive new bodies. They will go up first followed by us who are alive, and we will all meet the Lord in the air. (1 Corinthians 15:51–55) This means that there is a possibility that you might not see death! The Bible says, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) It is one thing to happen to be alive, but quite another to remain alive. I believe that there is a generation of Christians who know the resurrection power of the Lord. They know how to walk in their inheritance and put off sickness and death until the coming of the Lord. My friend, may you be counted as one of them as you take the Lord Jesus and His finished work as your victory over sickness and death! God's LOVE is: JESUS, and JESUS is LORD ! The grace-given--give grace! Is grace happening to you? Is there anyone in your life you refuse to forgive? If so, do you appreciate God’s forgiveness toward you? Do you resent God’s kindness to others? Do you grumble at God’s uneven compensation? How long has it been since your generosity stunned someone?
Since someone objected, “No, really, this is too generous?” If it’s been awhile reconsider God’s extravagant grace. Psalm 103:2-3 says, “Forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity.” Let grace unscrooge your heart. Like Peter encourages us in 2 Peter 3:18, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” When grace happens, generosity happens. Unsquashable, eye-popping, big-heartedness happens! You simply can’t contain it all. Let it bubble over. Let it spill out. Let it pour “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”(2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV)
If you’ve accepted Jesus today, then you are the righteousness of God. That means you are one with Him and an extension of His virtue. You are approved by Him. You are in right standing with Him. You belong to Him. Not only did Jesus pay for the punishment for your sins, the Bible says He actually became sin. He took sin upon Himself and into His being so that you could take God’s righteousness upon yourself and into your being. It’s the great exchange. Today, don’t let the enemy hold you back by making you feel guilty or condemned. You are not who you used to be; you are the righteousness of God in Christ! First John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If there is anything in your life that is holding you back today, confess it to God. Let Him cleanse you and make you new. Remember, He paid a precious price so that you could be His righteousness. Meditate on this truth and let Him set you free! Father, thank You for cleansing me and making me new. Thank You for making me the righteousness of God in Christ. Help me to fully understand this so I can walk in the fullness of the blessing You have prepared for me in Jesus’ name. Amen. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Ephesians 5 : 17 God wants us to walk as wise men and women, and not as fools. (Ephesians 5:15) Now, He will not tell us to walk in wisdom without showing us how. That is why His Word goes on to say, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” So what is the will of God? The next two verses tell us how to identify it: “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”. (Ephesians 5:18–19) As you allow yourself to be filled with the Spirit by lifting songs of praise to the Lord, singing or speaking (God knows some of us can’t sing!) psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and making melody in your heart to the Lord, God promises that you will know what His will is for your situation. You will then have the wisdom to decide wisely what to do next. I have found this to be true in my own life. Whenever I face a difficult situation, the more I think about it, the more confused I get. The more I try my best to come up with a smart solution, the further the answer seems to get from me. But when I turn away from my problem and turn to God, singing in the Spirit and praising Him, I get a clearer perspective of the problem when I come back to it later. I also find an inner prompting to make certain decisions which in the end, turn out to be better than anything I could have come up with on my own. So my friend, lift up songs of praise to the Lord, whether times are good or bad. For when you fill your mouth with praises to God, He will lead you and guide you in all the affairs of your life. Even if you are stuck with a problem, He will show you the way to go or make a way out for you. Either way, you will get the wisdom and help that you need! God's LOVE is: JESUS, and JESUS is LORD ! Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.”(Psalm 103:4, NIV)
I know people who feel like they’ve wasted years of their lives because of poor choices. They spent years in a relationship that was toxic, years with an addiction, years at a job where they weren’t fulfilled. But you have to realize, nothing you have been through is ever wasted. Your past experiences, good and bad, have deposited something on the inside of you. Those challenges have sharpened you to help make you who you are today. When the enemy brings hardship into your life, God has a way of taking that experience and turning it around for your advantage. You may think you’ve hit a dead end, but if you’ll stay in faith, you will see God begin to open up a new route. He’ll put the right people in your path, the right opportunities, the right circumstances to move you forward toward the blessing God has in store for you! Today, don’t focus on what’s happened in your past, focus on what God will do in your future. He wants to restore your soul and revive your dreams. Keep believing, keep expecting, keep hoping because God has a new route for your future! Father, I come humbly before You today. I give You my past, present and future, knowing that You will redeem my life. I release those who have hurt me. I choose forgiveness so I can be free to move forward in the path You have for me in Jesus’ name. Amen. |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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