THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOU OH LORD, ARE MY SHIELD…..

In today’s Scripture, David was saying, “God, my enemies are multiplying.” He not only had other ARMIES trying to stop him, but his own SON Absalom was trying to take the kingdom from him. David could have thought, I can handle people from the OUTSIDE trying to take me down, but now it’s my own SON. I’m DONE. This could have been David’s END. But after David stated the hard FACTS, he took it one step further and said, “BUT You, O Lord, are my SHIELD.” Notice that David added the “BUT.” “I’m having a lot of trouble, BUT the Lord is my SHIELD.” What’s the message?

Don’t let the enemy have the last WORD. Always add the “BUT.” “The medical report doesn’t LOOK good, but the Lord is my HEALER. “A coworker did me wrong, but GOD is fighting my battles.” “I went through a LOSS, but God has BEAUTY for ashes.” Every time something negative happens, answer back with a “BUT.”

Today’s Scripture

Psalm 3:1, 3, NKJV

LORD, how they have increased who trouble me!… But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

DISCONNECT FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE HINDERING YOUR GROWTH AND FIND NEW “FAVOR CONNECTIONS”

When the great flood covered the earth, Noah’s family was the ONLY one that was saved. It was because NOAH found FAVOR with the Lord. It doesn’t say Noah’s SONS had favor, but because they were CONNECTED to Noah, their lives were SPARED. The principle is, when you are CONNECTED with people who are FAVORED, people who are further ALONG, people who are more SUCCESSFUL, then that favor will flow down to YOU. YOU’LL see increase and blessing because of your ASSOCIATION.

The QUESTION is, are you CONNECTED to people who INSPIRE you, CHALLANGE you, and make you strive to do BETTER? Or, are you connected to people who are negative, drain your energy, and cause you to COMPROMISE? Eventually, you’re going to become like whoever you’re CONNECTED to. You need to DISCONNECT from people who are hindering your GROWTH and find some FAVOR CONNECTIONS—people who are GOING places, who are at another LEVEL, who have what you DREAM about.

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 6:8, NLT

But Noah found favor with the LORD.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOU CAN’T STOP THE STORM AROUND YOU, BUT YOU CAN STOP IT FROM GETTING IN YOU

Today’s Scripture

Psalm 91:1, NKJV

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

BE YOUR BEST AND TRUST GOD TO TAKE CARE OF THE REST

In life we all have days of trouble, days of opposition, days of darkness. But the same God who said there will be a day of trouble also said there will be a day when that trouble ends. You may be in difficulty right now. Be encouraged—it’s not permanent. God has set an expiration date to it. You’re in the middle now, but at the appointed time, the end will come. Don’t be overwhelmed by a sickness, or a legal problem, or a situation in your finances—each has an expiration date. It’s one of those days of trouble for which God has a day of deliverance, of healing, of breakthrough.

You can’t control everything that happens to you. Just take your stand in faith, be your best, and trust God to take care of the rest. God has you in the palms of His hands. Right now He’s working out His plan for your life. Don’t get discouraged by the process.

Today’s Scripture

Ephesians 6:13, NKJV

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD IS GOING TO CAUSE THOSE STORED UP BLESSINGS TO FIND YOU

Peter was an experienced fisherman and had been out in the boat all night. He had WORKED hard, used his best TECHNIQUES, threw out the nets JUST where he thought the fish would be, again and again, hour after hour, but NOTHING. Early the next morning, a man shouted from the beach to throw the net on the RIGHT side of the boat. When they did, they caught SO many fish they couldn’t haul the NET in. RIGHT then, Peter RECOGNIZED that the man on the beach was Jesus.

Like Peter, YOU may have worked hard toward your DREAS, done your BEST, used your EXPERTISE, ESHAUSTED yourself, and come up empty. But God knows where your FISH are. God is saying, “Throw out your nets ONE MORE time.” The struggle, the disappointment, and the lack were only TESTS. Your fish are still there. If you’ll throw out your nets AGAIN, God is going to cause those stored up BLESSINGS to find you.

Today’s Scripture

John 21:6, NIV

He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

THE PAIN WILL STOP IF YOU LEARN THE LESSON

When we make poor CHOICES, get into a relationship that we knew would not be good, or get in over our head in our SPENDING, there’s always PAIN that follows. We talk about how important it is to let go of the PAST, to let GO of the DIOVRCE, the FAILURE, the bad BREAK, and that’s TRUE. But BEFORE you let go of the negative event, remember the LESSON you learned from the EXPERIENCE. You’re doing yourself a disservice if you go through a painful time and don’t come out with what you were supposed to gain. Don’t WASTE the pain and go through it AGAIN.

Are you bringing pain on YOURSELF? Are you struggling with RELATIONSHIPS that don’t last, perhaps because you keep SAYING everything you FEEL like saying? The pain will STOP if you learn the lesson and zip it UP. Be BIG enough to say, “HERE’S where I missed it, but I’m NOT going to do it AGAIN.”

Today’s Scripture

Proverbs 24:32, NIV

I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD IS NOT LOOKING FOR RELIGION, HE’S LOOKING FOR BELIEVERS

When a Roman officer came to Jesus and said, “One of my employees is very sick, but you DON’T have to come to my HOUSE. Just SPEAK the word, and I KNOW he’ll be healed,” Jesus marveled at his FAITH. In Mark 6, it says that Jesus also MARVELED at the UN-belief He was met with in HIS hometown. What’s interesting is that the people who DOUBTED were the RELIGIOUS people. They were in the synagogue every WEEK. The Roman officer was NOT a religious person. He hadn’t been indoctrinated to think that it COULDN’T happen. He simply BELIEVED that Jesus WAS the Son of God.

When God looks at YOU, what does He MARVEL at? Why don’t you come over into FAITH? You may think that you’re not RELIGIOUS enough, that God would NEVER help you, but God is not looking for RELIGION. He’s looking for people who simply BELIEVE in Him, for people who know that He CAN do the impossible.

Today’s Scripture

Matthew 8:10, NIV

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD LIKES TO DO THINGS THAT WE CAN’T EXPLAIN…

There was a crippled man who had been lying by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years. The people knew when it was the season for the angel to come. This man knew that was his window of OPPORTUNITY to get well. One day Jesus came and said to him, “Do you want to get well?” I can imagine the man was confused. It wasn’t the right SEASON for the angel to come. But Jesus said to the man, “Get up, pick up your bed, and WALK.” INSTANTLY the man was healed.

Don’t be SURPRISED when God shows up and you aren’t EXPECTING it. God likes to break the RULES, so to speak, to do things that we can’t EXPLAIN. You don’t see any WAY, the odds are AGAINST you. God doesn’t have to wait for the TRAINING, for the BOSS to like you, for the LOAN to go through, for the ECONOMY to improve. HE controls the UNIVERSE. He’s NOT limited by seasons.

Today’s Scripture

John 5:4, KJV

For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD WILL MAKE THINGS HAPPEN THAT YOU COULD NEVER MAKE HAPPEN

The prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of a valley filled with BONES. It was like a huge GRAVEYARD of bones from PEOPLE who had died. Bones represent THINGS in our life that LOOK dead, situations that SEEM impossible and PERMANENTLY unchanging. God said, “PROPHESY to these dead bones.” Ezekiel started SPEAKING to the bones, TELLING them to come ALIVE. As he was SPEAKING, the bones started rattling and coming TOGETHER, morphing back into PEOPLE. Finally, BREATH came into those bodies, and they stood up like “a vast ARMY.”

You may have THINGS in YOUR life that SEEM dead—a RELATIONSHIP, a BUSINESS, your HEALTH. All you can see is a valley of dry bones, so to speak. It’s not enough to just PRAY about it; you need to SPEAK to it. PROPHESY to those dead bones. Call in HEALTH. Call in ABUNDANCE. Call in RESTORATION. God will RESURRECT what LOOKS dead. He’ll make things happen that you could NEVER make happen.

Today’s Scripture

Ezekiel 37:4–5, ESV

Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

THAT PRESSURE IS NOT GOING TO STOP YOU, IT’S GOING TO INCREASE YOU…..

After the death of Joseph, the people of Israel living in Egypt were BLESSED and increased GREATLY in numbers to the point that many years later, Pharaoh FEARED them and put them under slave masters to OPPRESS them with forced labor. But today’s Scripture says the more Pharaoh AFFLICTED them, the more the Israelites MULTIPLIED. Pharaoh thought he was STOPPING them, but in FACT, he was INCREASING them.

Sometimes when God wants to PROMOTE you, He doesn’t send you a GOOD break; He sends you an ENEMY. He’ll cause a SUPERVISOR, perhaps, to turn up the HEAT and put you in an UNFAIR situation. Don’t get discouraged—the more OPPOSITION, the more you’re going to INCREASE. We may not like it, but we GROW under PRESSURE, our CHARACTER is developed, and we discover TALENT that we didn’t know we HAD. Get ready for NEW levels. Get ready for PROMOTION. That PRESSURE is not going to STOP you; it’s going to INCREASE you.

Today’s Scripture

Exodus 1:12, NKJV

The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.