THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

THE LORD IS MY LIGHT AND MY SALVATION SO WHY BE AFRAID?

David had all KINDS of things come against him—people, armies, even his own FAMILY. He had MANY reasons to live worried, upset, and bitter. But HE said, “The LORD is my light and my SALVATION—whom shall I fear? Why SHOULD I be afraid?” David lived with THIS attitude, “God’s GOT this. I’m NOT going to worry or live in fear. He will HIDE me when trouble comes. He will place me out of REACH.”

You may have discouraging situations and difficulties coming against YOU, but God has placed you out of REACH. They can’t defeat you. Now do like David and remain CONFIDENT. Keep your PEACE. You may feel like you’re surrounded by an ARMY, but the truth is you’re surrounded by God’s FAVOR. The forces that are FOR you are greater than the forces that are AGAINST you. God’s GOT this. He’s done it in the PAST, and He’s not going to stop NOW.

Today’s Scripture:

Psalm 27:5, NLT

For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF AND RECEIVE GOD’S LOVE TODAY…

“REAL love” is not our love for GOD, it’s God’s love for US. When we try to PERFORM to gain His love, the problem is that we can NEVER measure up. There will ALWAYS be something we can’t do right, some reason we can’t feel GOOD about ourselves. Why don’t you take the pressure OFF and receive REAL love, God’s love for YOU?

That’s what the lady who was caught in the act of ADULTERY had to do in John 8. When her religious accusers walked AWAY, failing to CONDEMN her, Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin NO more.” He didn’t say, “Go and change your WAYS, quit giving in to the TEMPTATION, and THEN I’ll love you, then I’ll be FOR you.” Just the OPPOSITE. He FIRST said, “I don’t CONDEMN you.” BEFORE He talked about her behavior, before he addressed the ISSUES, Jesus made SURE she knew SHE was the one whom He LOVED.

Today’s Scripture

1 John 4:10, NLT

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

WHEN EVERYTHING COMES TOGETHER, IT WILL FIT PERFECTLY INTO PLACE

We all go through painful TIMES when we’re hurting, lonely, undergoing medical treatment, and on the SURFACE, the pieces of our life don’t make SENSE. We think they CAN’T be a part of God’s plan. Pain is a part of LIFE, and it often feels like a dark PLACE. It’s easy to get discouraged and think, God, why did this HAPPEN? You have to trust that even THEN, God doesn’t make any mistakes. He’s already designed your life and laid out EVERY piece down to the smallest DETAIL. He never said we would UNDERSTAND everything along the way.

God didn’t promise that there wouldn’t be any pain, suffering, or disappointment. But He DID promise that it would all work out for our GOOD. That PIECE that’s painful, that doesn’t LOOK as though it makes sense—when everything comes TOGETHER, it’s going to fit PERFECTLY in place. You just can’t see it NOW because the other pieces are not in PLACE.

Today’s Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:12, NLT

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOU HAVE TO STIR UP WHAT GOD PUT IN YOUR HEART….

Scripture says, “Without FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.” That means you can be OBEDIENT and yet have a sour ATTITUDE and NOT please God. You can GIVE, help the POOR, and VOLUNTEER, which are good things we should DO, and NOT please God. If you’re not believing for things BIGGER than you can accomplish on your OWN, if you’re not EXPECTING difficulties to turn AROUND, if you’re not anticipating new LEVELS, and thanking God that He’s opening doors you CAN’T open, thanking Him that He’s bringing PROMISES to pass, then you’re not releasing your FAITH. You HAVE to stir up what God put in your HEART.

Maybe you’ve been PRAYING, BELIEVING, EXPECTING for a long TIME. Stay in FAITH; it’s going to happen SOONER than it looks. Get ready because God is FULL of SURPRISES. Many times He’ll do it SUDDENLY, out of the ORDINARY, you didn’t see it COMING. EXPECT His goodness, and you’ll PLEASE God.

Today’s Scripture

Luke 8:48, NIV

“Your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

WHEN YOU WORRY, YOU’RE USING YOUR FAITH IN REVERSE…..

Studies show that we talk to ourselves up to thirty thousand times a day. There is ALWAYS something playing in our minds. The Scripture tells us to MEDITATE on God’s PROMISES. The word MEDITATE means “to think about over and over.” We need to pay attention to what we’re meditating ON.

MEDITATING is the same principle as WORRYING. When you WORRY, you’re just meditating on the wrong THING. You’re using your FAITH in REVERSE. If you go through the day WORRIED about your FINANCES, worried about your FAMILY, and worried about your FUTURE because you’re allowing the wrong thoughts to PLAY, it’s going to cause you to be anxious, fearful, negative, and discouraged. The whole problem is WHAT you’re choosing to MEDITATE on. YOU control the doorway to your mind. When those negative thoughts come knocking, you do NOT have to answer the DOOR. You can say, “NO, thanks. I’m going to choose to MEDITATE on what GOD says about me.”

Today’s Scripture

Psalm 119:148, NIV

My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

THE ONLY THING HOLDING SOME PEOPLE BACK, IS THEIR TONGUE

ONE reason people get stuck in life is because they haven’t learned to control their MOUTH. They say hurtful things, put people down, and argue. They don’t realize their mouth is keeping them from rising HIGHER. God won’t PROMOTE you if you don’t have the character to back it UP. Pay ATTENTION to what you’re saying. Sometimes we’ve spoken a certain way for so LONG we don’t realize that we’re harsh, sarcastic, and condescending. Others may not TELL us this, but they don’t LIKE it.

WORDS can tear APART, leave scars, and make others feel insecure, inferior, and not VALUED. Before you SAY something, ask yourself, “Is this going to be BENEFICIAL to others? Is it going to make them feel BETTER about who they are or put them DOWN? These are TESTS that you have to pass. The only thing holding some people back from a healthy MARRIAGE, growing FRIENDSHIPS, and their best LIFE is their TONGUE.

Today’s Scripture

Ephesians 4:29, NIV

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

THE CLOSEST THING TO THE HEART OF GOD IS HELPING HURTING PEOPLE

In Luke 10, Jesus told a parable about a priest who didn’t stop to help an injured man. After all, he might get his white robe “UNCLEAN” and have it interfere with his religious DUTIES. He had all kinds of EXCUSES. But TRUE RELIGION gets dirty. True RELIGION doesn’t hide behind stained glass or fancy clothes. It goes to where the NEEDS are.

When you get down LOW to lift somebody UP, in GOD’S eyes, you can’t get any HIGHER. The closest thing to the heart of GOD is helping HURTING people. Don’t be a passerby who’s too busy in your career. Don’t just be someone who feels SORRY for others. God is COUNTING on us. When you take time to restore the BROKEN, ENCOURAGE them, wipe away their TEARS, let them know that there are new BEGINNINGS—that’s the RELIGION Jesus talked about. True RELIGION doesn’t judge people to see if they deserve our HELP.

Today’s Scripture

James 1:27, NIV

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

IF YOU’RE GOING TO REACH YOUR FULL POTENTIAL, YOU HAVE TO ASK BIG

The name Jabez means “pain, sorrow, suffering.” Every time someone said, “Hello, Jabez,” they were saying, “Hello, sorrow. Hello, pain.” They were PROPHESYING defeat and failure. You can imagine how he could have let that make him feel inferior and insecure. But despite what people LABELED him, he had the boldness to ask BIG, that God would BLESS him with ABUNDANCE and PROTECTION. And God BLESSED him INDEED.

Like Jabez, you may have REASONS to settle where you are—what you didn’t GET, what people SAID, the ODDS may be against you—but the GOOD news is that God is FOR you. He can THRUST you further than you EVER imagined, but you have to pray BOLD prayers. Ask in SPITE of the circumstances. Ask in spite of what people are SAYING. Ask in spite of what the ENEMY keeps whispering in your ears. If you’re going to reach your highest POTENTIAL, you have to learn this principle of asking BIG.

Today’s Scripture

1 Chronicles 4:10, MSG

Jabez prayed to the God of Israel: “Bless me, O bless me! Give me land, large tracts of land. And provide your personal protection—don’t let evil hurt me.” God gave him what he asked.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME LOOKING BACK…..

In the Scripture, Joseph was betrayed and sold into slavery by his own BROTHERS, then falsely accused and put in PRISON. He could have used excuse after EXCUSE to be bitter and angry, but he had a “NO excuses” MENTALITY. He kept doing the RIGHT thing when the WRONG thing was happening. And in the end, he came out VINDICATED, PROMOTED, and in a place of INFLUENCE and RESPECT.

People may have said things about YOU and DONE things to you that hurt and OFFENDED. Don’t waste your time looking BACK, nursing your wounds. RELIVING what they did, thinking about what DIDN’T work out are DISTRACTIONS. Let it GO and GOD will be your VINDICATOR. Life is TOO short for you to waste another DAY in self-PITY. It’s not always EASY to get over it and move forward, but here’s the KEY: the pain of letting it GO is less than the pain of holding on and missing your DESTINY.

Today’s Scripture

Leviticus 19:18, TLB

“Don’t seek vengeance. Don’t bear a grudge; but love your neighbor as yourself, for I am Jehovah.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD WILL PUSH YOU INTO THE FULLNESS OF YOUR DESTINY

The prophet Elijah had just gone from one of the greatest VICTORIES of his life to running away in DEFEAT at the death threat of Queen Jezebel. He was sitting under a tree so DEPRESSED that he didn’t want to LIVE. He said, “God, I’m DONE. It’s OVER.” He’d just seen a great MIRACLE, but now he was TIRED of standing strong in faith.

Maybe YOU’VE been doing the right thing, PRAYING and BELIEVING, but you’ve lost your DRIVE. You may not have given UP on life but given up on your DREAMS. Here’s the GOOD news: God doesn’t condemn us or disqualify us or write us off when we get TIRED. God sent an angel to cook and FEED Elijah once, and then a SECOND time to STRENGTHEN him. That is what He’ll do for YOU. He’s going to cause BLESSINGS to chase YOU down. He’s coming a SECOND time to push you into the FULLNESS of your destiny.

Today’s Scripture

1 Kings 19:7, NIV

The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”