THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD IS NOT LOOKING AT HOW RELIGIOUS YOU ARE…..

In Matthew 8, a Roman centurion, a commander of a hundred soldiers, came to Jesus asking him to heal his paralyzed SERVANT who was suffering TERRIBLY. This influential man was standing in the GAP for a SERVANT, someone whom MOST people back then would have written OFF. He wasn’t coming for HIMSELF or a FAMILY member. When he started heading out to see JESUS, I can imagine others asked why he would go to such great lengths “for one of the LEAST of these”–somebody whom SOCIETY said had no IMPORTANCE.

Jesus MARVELED at this centurion’s faith. This man wasn’t a Jew, yet Jesus said HE had more faith than all the people AROUND them. God is NOT looking at how RELIGIOUS you are, what CHURCH you attend, or how you were RAISED. What gets HIS attention is when you’re concerned about the LESS fortunate. When you stand in the GAP for those who don’t have the OPPORTUNITY that you do, for those who have been dealt an unfair HAND, God calls that GREAT faith.

Today’s Scripture:

Matthew 25:40, NIV

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

STAY FOCUSED ON WHAT GOD SAYS, AND YOU’LL GO PLACES YOU COULDN’T GO ON YOUR OWN

In the darkness of night, Jesus came walking to His disciples across the stormy sea. Based on His WORD to “come,” Peter had the courage to walk on the water to Jesus. Imagine how AMAZED Peter was as he took step after step, looking at JESUS, doing the IMPOSSIBLE. As long as Peter FOCUSED on what Jesus SAID, he was FINE. But when he started focusing on what he SAW, he began to doubt and SINK.

It’s the SAME principle in life. If you stay FOCUSED on what you SEE, you can get talked OUT of your dreams. If you’re FOCUSED on how the medical report is not GOOD or how you’ll NEVER get out of debt, you’ll be LIMITED. You have to stay FOCUSED on what God SAYS. When you FOCUS on what He PROMISES, you’ll walk ON water. You’ll go places you couldn’t GO on your own. You’ll overcome OBSTACLES that are much BIGGER. The winds and waves are a TEST. Don’t get DISTRACTED and start FOCUSING on the NEGATIVE.

Today’s Scripture:

Matthew 14:30, NLT

But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD HAS A BREAKTHROUGH COMING YOUR WAY

We ALL face setbacks in our finances, health challenges, struggles in relationships, and unfair SITUATIONS. When we’re in the VALLEY, it’s EASY to get discouraged and think it’s NEVER going to improve. You may feel STUCK in a valley of trouble, a valley of loneliness, a valley of debt, a valley of sickness. But don’t let the valley FOOL you. Today’s Scripture says that God is about to TRANSFORM that valley into a gateway of HOPE, INCREASE, FAVOR, and HEALTH. The VALLEY is leading you to NEW levels, to BETTER relationships, to greater INFLUENCE.

Perhaps YOU feel that you’ll always be trapped in a valley of addiction, because your relatives ALL struggled in the same VALLEY. NO, this is a NEW day. That VALLEY is about to be TRANSFORMED into a gateway of freedom and VICTORY. God has a BREAKTHROUGH coming your way. The addiction, the loneliness, or the anxiety is NOT going to hold you back. You were created to be FREE, to be HAPPY, to live an ABUNDANT, FULFILLED life.

Today’s Scripture:

Hosea 2:15, NLT

I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

BE PATIENTLY CONFIDENT, YOUR TIME IS COMING

When things happen that aren’t FAIR, when doors CLOSE that don’t make sense, when you’re doing the RIGHT thing but the WRONG thing keeps happening, you have to trust that God is STILL in control and that HE knows what’s BEST for you. He doesn’t always TAKE us down the path that WE thought. Be PATIENTLY confident. Your time IS coming. He’s ALREADY lined up the breaks you need, the open DOORS, the RIGHT people, the HEALINGS. It’s ALREADY on your schedule.

If you don’t cast away your CONFIDENCE, God will richly REWARD you. You may have gone through some DISAPPOINTMENTS, but He’ll make things happen that exceed ANY of your expectations. The reason He CLOSED those doors is because He has something BETTER. Do NOT be discouraged by what didn’t work out. Stay in FAITH. The right opportunity IS on the way. Now don’t get talked OUT of your dreams. You haven’t SEEN your best days. God is going to do something you’ve NEVER seen, something that will CATAPULT you to a new LEVEL.

Today’s Scripture:

Hebrews 10:35, NKJV

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

WHEN YOU AGREE WITH WHAT GOD SAYS, YOU’LL DEFEAT ENEMIES THAT ARE MUCH BIGGER

There is NOTHING more powerful than saying what GOD has spoken about you. When you have God’s promises coming out of your MOUTH, you CAN’T be defeated. Even when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He said, “It is WRITTEN.” With EACH temptation, He went back to the Scripture and quoted what GOD said. When YOU’RE in difficult times, don’t just say what YOU feel, what you THINK, or what you WANT. Say what GOD says about your situation.

Today, you can say with His AUTHORITY, “I’m BLESSED. I’m PROSPEROUS. I’m REDEEMED. I’m HEALTHY. I’m a MASTERPIECE. I have the MIND of Christ. I have peace that PASSES understanding. I’m MORE than a conqueror through CHRIST. My LATTER days WILL be better than my former days.” When you go around with HIS thoughts playing in your mind all day, you activate the power that will OVERCOME obstacles that look INSURMOUNTABLE. When you agree with what GOD says, He’ll open doors you CAN’T open, and you’ll defeat ENEMIES that are much BIGGER.

Today’s Scripture:

Isaiah 55:11, NKJV

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

THE ENEMY MAY HAVE DONE HIS BEST, BUT HIS BEST WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH

We ALL face things that are trying to push us DOWN today. THOUGHTS will tell you, “You’ll never get WELL. This setback has RUINED your finances. You’ll ALWAYS struggle with this addiction.” Don’t BELIEVE those lies. No more saying, “It’s never going to CHANGE.” Rather, you NEED to say with the apostle PAUL, “The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives inside ME.” The forces of darkness did their best to STOP Jesus, but they couldn’t keep Him from RISING. That tells ME that nothing YOU face can keep YOU from your PURPOSE–no PANDEMIC, no SETBACK, no LAYOFF. The enemy may have done his BEST, but his best will NEVER be ENOUGH.

You may FEEL as though you’re down in a PIT. The GOOD news is that the Most High God will lift you OUT. He’s about to FREE you from that addiction. He’s about to turn the medical report AROUND. He’s about to open NEW doors, bring new OPPROTUNITIES, new RELATIONSHIPS. The pit is NOT your destiny. Get ready to RISE.

Today’s Scripture:

Psalm 40:2, NKJV

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

GOD PAYS YOU BACK

Today’s Scripture tells a story about the disciples’ SURPRISE when they found Jesus sitting beside a well, totally REFRESHED. When they had left him, he was tired and hungry after traveling a long way to SAMARIA. But in the MEANTIME, He had met a woman and given her life a new BEGINNING. Jesus explained the secret to His renewed STRENGTH: “I get FED by doing what GOD wants Me to do. My STRENGTH, PEACE, JOY, and SATISFACTION come when I serve OTHERS.”

God wants you to make the lives of OTHERS better. When you do the will of your FATHER, you feel ENERGIZED, STRONGER, and REFRESHED. You MAY volunteer in your community or get up early on Sunday and serve in the children’s MINISTRY. You’d THINK you would leave TIRED, but when you help OTHERS, you get REPLENESHED. Strength, joy, energy, peace, and HEALING come to those who SERVE. God reenergizes and REFRESHES you so that at the end of the DAY you AREN’T down, you are UP. GOD pays you BACK.

Today’s Scripture:

John 4:34, MSG

Jesus said, “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

IF YOU’LL THRANSFORM YOUR THINKING, GOD WILL TRANFORM YOUR LIFE

Your life follows your THOUGHTS. If your thoughts have been running in a NEGATIVE pattern for year after year, it’s as though they’ve dug a deep RIVERBED that flows in only one DIRECTION. With every pessimistic THOUGHT, the riverbed is a bit deeper and the current STRONGER. FORTUNATELY, we can dig a NEW river, one going in a POSITIVE direction. When you start to dwell on God’s WORD and see the BEST in situations, you are REDIRECTING the flow of that river ONE THOUGHT at a time. As you REJECT negative thoughts and redirect the FLOW, as you choose FAITH instead of FEAR, expecting GOOD things, that negative stream will DWINDLE and the POSITIVE river will flow with FAITH-filled thoughts of VICTORY.

Keep in mind that the river of negativity wasn’t formed OVERNIGHT, nor will it be REDIRECTED without some conscious, strenuous EFFORT on your part. God will HELP you. Start expecting GOOD things. Stay full of FAITH, full of JOY, full of HOPE. If you TRANSFORM your thinking, God will transform your LIFE.

Today’s Scripture:

Ephesians 4:23–24, NIV

…to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

SURELY, OUR GOD IS NOT LIMITED BY WHAT ‘WE’ DON’T HAVE…

When Moses sent twelve men to spy out the PROMISED Land, ten spies came back saying though it was more than they ever DREAMED, the inhabitants were too big and STRONG and the cities too FORTIFIED. They were fully persuaded that they couldn’t DEFEAT the opposition. The two OTHER spies, Joshua and Caleb, came back fully persuaded that they could “SURELY” overcome and take the land. They had a surely MENTALITY. “SURELY we will defeat these enemies, OVERCOME this trouble, and live in the Promised LAND.” What’s INTERESTING is they were the only two ISRAELITES of that generation who MADE it INTO the Promised Land.

Don’t get talked out of your DREAMS. There may be GIANTS on your land—a SICKNESS, a DEBT, an ADDICTION. Do as Caleb did and put a “SURELY” on the front of what you’re BELIEVING for. “SURELY I will defeat this giant. My God is not LIMITED by the environment, by the ECONOMY, by what I don’t HAVE or by who’s AGAINST me. SURELY He’s on MY side.”

Today’s Scripture:

Numbers 13:30, LEB

And Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “Surely, let us go up and let us take possession of it because surely we will be able to prevail over it.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

LET IT GO AND TRUST GOD TO MAKE YOUR WRONGS RIGHT

The reason many people have no joy or ENTHUSIASM is because they go to bed each night with unforgiveness in their HEART. They’re reliving their hurts, thinking about their disappointments, stressing out about somebody who’s trying to make them look bad, upset because somebody’s playing politics in the OFFICE. Here’s the PROBLEM: If the sun goes down with BITTERNESS, it will come back UP with bitterness. If it goes down with RESENTMENT, it comes back UP with resentment. That’s blocking God’s BLESSINGS. That’s giving the enemy a FOOTHOLD.

BEFORE you go to bed each night, you NEED to say, “God, I’m RELEASING every negative thing that’s happened to me today–every HURT, every WORRY, and EVERY disappointment. I’m forgiving the people who did me WRONG. God, I’m going to bed in PEACE.” When you do THAT, the sun will go down with nothing blocking God’s BLESSINGS. Don’t go to bed at night with any kind of DEFEAT still in your mind. Let it GO and trust GOD to make your wrongs RIGHT.

Today’s Scripture:

Ephesians 4:26–27, NIV

In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.