When I say good morning I mean to say:
G-od O-ffers us His O-utstanding D-evotion to M-ake us O-bedient & R-eady for a N-ew day with Him. I-nspire others please, and N-ever forget G-od loves you! “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
(Matthew 6:10, NIV) God longs to give you a glimpse of heaven while you are here on earth. He wants to show you His wonderful plan and bring it to pass in your life. Have you ever thought about how God’s will is accomplished in heaven? In heaven, God’s will is automatic. There are no opposing forces of darkness or anything that would come against His will. On earth, His will is activated in our lives when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior; and then, we must choose His will on a daily basis in our thoughts, words and actions. On earth, we have to stand against the forces of darkness and refuse those negative, self-defeating thoughts that come against His will. Today, open your heart to the will of God which is the Word of God. As it says in Ephesians 6, you will be empowered by your union with Him. Declare what God says about you and be empowered to overcome opposition. Stand strong in faith and see God's will come to pass in your life just as it is in heaven! Heavenly Father, I humbly come to You today and invite Your will to be done in my life. I submit every area of my heart to You. Let everything I say and do bring glory to You in Jesus’ name. Amen. — Joel & Victoria Osteen If you suffer for doing good, and you are patient, then God is pleased. 1Pe 2:20
Is there any emotion that imprisons the soul more than the unwillingness to forgive? What do you do when people mistreat you or those you love? Does the fire of anger boil within you, with leaping flames consuming your emotions? Or do you reach somewhere, to some source of cool water and pull out a bucket of mercy—to free yourself? Don't get on the roller coaster of resentment and anger. You be the one who says, "Yes, he mistreated me, but I am going to be like Christ. I'll be the one who says, 'Forgive them, Father, they don't know what they're doing.'" Walking with the Savior (Max Lucado) Pastoor Andy Stanley skryf: 'Ek hou 'n klein kaartjie in my lessenaar wat lees: "Moenie klein drome droom nie, want dit roer niemand se hart nie." Daardie eenvoudige sê-ding het my meer as eenmaal weerhou om van my drome af weg te draai. Uit ervaring weet ek dis onmoontlik om sonder 'n droom te lei. As leiers nie meer bereid is om te droom nie, is hul volgelinge kort voor lank nie meer gewillig om te volg nie. Dus, droom! Droom groot. Droom dikwels. Iewers in daardie willekeurige idees wat in jou kop maal, is een wat jou hart en verbeelding sal aangryp. En daardie oënskynlike willekeurige idee mag dalk net ontwikkel in 'n lewensvisie.' Elke groot prestasie begin as 'n droom in iemand se hart. Alle ding is twee keer geskep: eers in jou kop en dan in jou lewe. Dromers laat hul gedagtes buite die grense van wat is rondsweef om 'n geestelike prentjie te skep van wat kan wees. Hulle is nie altyd die mees talentvolle of mees-geleerde nie - net die wat weier om hulle denke te begrens of om hulself te beperk tot wat ander gedoen het. Om dit te doen, verg moed, baie moed! Op die hakke van elke droom is die duiwel van twyfel. Die oomblik dat jou droom ontstaan, begin jy skielik dink aan al die redes waarom dit dalk nie kan werk nie. En daar sal baie mense wees wat dadelik daardie redes sal beaam. Ten spyte daarvan moet jy voortgaan om te droom; anders gaan jy die res van jou lewe ander mense se drome uitvoer. 'Jy moet opstaan, want dit is jy wat hierdie ding moet doen. Jy moet sterk wees en jy moet dit doen."'
Sielskos: Eseg 37:1-40:9; Lukas 4:1-13; Ps 95; Spr 14:29-33 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Gal 6:9
Are you praying for something that’s taking longer than you thought or expected? No matter how long you may have been standing on God’s promises, don’t give up! Your season is coming. Your harvest of blessing is on its way. It might be today, it might be tomorrow, it might be next week, next month or next year; but remember, at just the right time, you will experience your breakthrough. Be encouraged today because God is faithful and His promises are true. Keep standing, keep hoping, keep believing. Keep doing good. Keep declaring the promises of God over your life. Choose to be around people who are going to encourage you and fill your heart and mind with God’s Word. Let a song of praise come out of your mouth. Press on in faith and keep an attitude of victory. Don’t get tired of doing what is right because your harvest of blessing is on the way! LEVITICUS 2:4 ‘And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.
Private pains, deep hurts, shameful addictions. You may think that nobody understands what you are going through, but God does. He can identify with all your pains and is able to help you. (Hebrews2:18, 4:15) In the Old Testament, the grain offering brought to God speaks of Jesus’ life on earth. The fine flour, which the grain offering is made with, is flour that has been pounded, ground, beaten and sifted through to get it consistently even and fine. Therefore, it typifies the humanity and sufferings of Jesus. One of the ways the Jewish women prepared the grain offering was to bake it. The baking done in the depths of the oven speaks of the “hidden” sufferings that Jesus went through. I believe that Jesus faced sufferings that we cannot fully understand. Even as a young boy, He must have gone through sufferings that prepared Him to die for all humanity at the cross. And during His ministry years, it must have grieved Him when time and time again, He found unbelief not just in the people around Him, but even in His disciples. Jesus also suffered at the hands of men—slanderers who misunderstood Him. Once, the Pharisees insinuated that He was born out of wedlock because His mother was with child before she married Joseph. (John 8:39, 41) That scandalous remark, probably not the first, must have hurt Him. Consider also the temptations He faced. There were not only three. God’s Word says that He was tempted for 40 days! (Luke 4:2) Not all the temptations were recorded. Those 40 days must have tried Him sorely. What do all these mean? My friend, Jesus went through all those temptations and sufferings for you, yet He did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15) There is no temptation or suffering that you are going through that He cannot identify with. So come to His throne of grace today and receive His superabounding grace to face and overcome those trials in your life! Hope gives you the strength to keep going
when you feel like giving up. Don’t ever quit believing in yourself. As long as you believe you can, you will have a reason for trying. Don’t let anyone hold your happiness in their hands, hold it in yours, so it will always be within your reach. Don’t measure success of failure by material wealth, but by how you feel. Our feelings determine the richness of our lives. don’t let bad moments overcome you, be patient, and they will pass. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help, we all need it from time to time. don’t run away from love but towards love, because it is our deepest joy. Don’t wait for what you want to come to you, go after it with all that you are, knowing that life will meet you halfway. Don’t feel like you’ve lost When plans and dreams fall short of your hopes. Anytime you learn something new about yourself for about life, you have progressed. Don’t do anything that takes away from your self-respect, feeling good about yourself is essential to feeling good about life. Don’t ever forget how to laugh or be too proud to cry It is by doing both that we live life to its fullest. "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. Behold, I am doing a new thing!" (Isaiah 43:18)
My child, Give up! Give up those hurts of the past. It's time to move on. Satan loves to have you live in the past because that renders you ineffective to live in the present-in the now. Tell Me, child. What is it that has happened to you? Who hurt you? What mistakes have you made that you regret? Did what happen to you change the fact that Jesus loves you, and He died on the cross for you so you could live in heaven with Him for all eternity? Can anything or anyone ever change that fact? You know that nothing can ever nullify what Jesus did for you on the cross. If that's true, and it is, then nothing else matters, does it? There is nothing that can happen to you, nothing anyone can do to you that can ever change the fact that My Son, Jesus, loves you and died on the cross for you so you gain heaven for all eternity. No one can ever take that away from you. No One! Hold on to that thought. Put things in their proper perspective. When you do that, you'll see that being loved unconditionally, attaining salvation and the right to go to heaven is your ultimate goal. Everything else pales in comparison to that. Even physical death cannot take heaven away from you, for then the real you-your spirit-just changes abodes. Physical death for Christians is moving from living in the temple of the Holy Spirit, your body, to living in heaven. I know, My child, I know. Your mind is often filled with hurtful things that happen to you. Sometimes you even say to people "You don't know how much it hurt Me when such and such happened." Well, I ask you again, does what happen to you in the past change the fact that Jesus loves you and died for you, and now you can spend eternity with Him in heaven? I don't have to wait for your answer, because I know immediately your mind said, "No!" Then, child, nothing else matters! Compared to eternity, all problems are nothing. Loving Me, being in My family, gaining the right to live in heaven for eternity-that's what's important in life. If you lose that, you've lost it all. Don't hold grudges. forgive! Nothing you can gain on earth can make up for that loss, and nothing can happen to you on earth that can take that away from you - Nothing! Love, God Author Unknown Posted at Food for Thought 1 CORINTHIANS 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God…
It is believed that there has never been a wealthier king than King Solomon. God gave him wisdom that not only made him wise in matters of justice, but also brought him gold and silver. (1 Kings3:12–13) According to a report by the Illinois Society of Architects in 1925, the cost of Solomon’s temple in terms of existing values would have been about US$87 billion! The priests wore garments costing more than US$10 million! These amounts only cover what Solomon spent on the temple and not his personal assets. We can go on talking about the riches of King Solomon, but the Bible tells us that there is one greater than Solomon. (Matthew12:42) His name is Jesus, and He is the most prosperous Man who ever lived and who will ever live. If there was a need to feed the hungry, He simply multiplied whatever food was placed in His hands. On one occasion, He multiplied five loaves and two fish to feed 5,000 men, not counting women and children. And incredibly, there were 12 baskets full of leftovers. (Matthew 14:15–21) If any of His own faced lack, it was not long before abundant provision flowed to them. Once, when His disciples caught nothing after a whole night of fishing, He merely spoke a word of command and schools of fish obeyed, swimming toward His disciples’ boat so that they received a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fish. (Luke 5:1–7) In another incident, He provided the money for the temple tax, even if it took a fish to bring it to them! (Matthew 17:24–27) My friend, this same Jesus has become for you wisdom from God. If you are a businessman, with Christ in you, you have wisdom that is greater than the wisdom of all the world’s business gurus put together. And if you are a student, Christ in you will manifest wisdom that is greater than all the wisdom of the brilliant minds in the academic world. Beloved, believe that because Jesus, God’s wisdom, is in you, there is no reason you cannot prosper today, and astound the world in the same way Solomon did! The righteous choose their friends carefully.” Proverbs 12:26a NIV
The Bible says in Proverbs 12:26, “The righteous choose their friends carefully” (NIV). If you’re supposed to choose your friends carefully, you should be even more careful about who’s going to be your life partner. Notice it is a choice. God doesn’t do this for you. God says you make the choice. God leads us, God guides us, and God gives us guidelines. But ultimately, it’s your choice. However, many people believe the myth that there is only one right person for them. That’s very romantic, but it’s just not true. It’s also not biblical. And it’s not even logical! If there were only one right person for everybody in the world, it would only take one person to make a wrong decision and break the chain for everybody else. Let’s say I was supposed to marry a woman named Susan. Instead, I marry Kay. Then all of a sudden, it upsets the apple cart for everybody else on the entire planet! It is a total myth. It’s romantic, but it’s a myth. In your life there are multiple people God would say it’s OK for you to marry. There are millions that he would absolutely rule out, but there are multiple opportunities that God would say “OK” to. It’s your choice. It’s your preference. There’s another myth that many people believe: Love alone is enough reason to marry. I talk to people all the time who are getting married. I look at them and think, “There’s no way.” The family background isn’t right. The spiritual background isn’t right. The personalities aren’t right. They don’t have the same amount of energy or ambition. They don’t even have the same values and goals. But, they “love each other …” Just because you love someone does not mean you should marry that person. God doesn’t tell you who to marry. But he does give you a description of the kind of person that he desires for you to marry. If you want God’s blessing and protection on your marriage and you want success in your marriage, then you need to listen to what God has to say about the kind of person you should marry. |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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